• Wired, Friday, September 21, 2007 10:34 AM

WiMax is coming, seriously, this time. Chip maker Intel, whose invested hundreds of millions into the technology, is so sure that WiMax will go live in 2008 it's pumping its next-generation semiconductor technology with a new Wi-Fi/WiMax module called Echo Peak.

What does any of that mean? On a larger scale, notebooks powered by the technology, called Montevina, will process information faster and be low-power, but they'll also support the new mobile WiMax standard being developed by Sprint Nextel and Clearwire that you've heard about for nearly five years. According to a recent Intel announcement, 150 million people will have WiMax access by 2008, 750 million by 2010 and 1.3 billion by 2012.

What will WiMax mean to you and me?' Intel CTO Justin Rattner answers that WiMax users will have ubiquitous wireless broadband access: in-home, out-of-home, at the office, wherever you go, on whatever Montevina-powered device. That's all fine and good, but Dewayne Hendricks of Tetherless Access, says WiMax isn't a wireless panacea. In fact, he says, "If the carriers deployed 3G, which they will, what would you need WiMax for?" WiMax, he says, is coming too late to a market that already has established standards--not to mention suppliers--for consumers.

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