Reg Hardware reports that Vodafone has responded to calls from MacBook and MacBook Pro owners for a compatible version of its 3G Mobile Connect Broadband Datacard with a USB version of the gadget which it pledged to ship in the autumn.

Vodafone’s HSDPA-equipped Mobile Connect 3G Datacard does feature Mac support, but since it’s a PC Card device, it’s not compatible with the MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks, which use the new ExpressCard 34 slot for add-ins.

Tags: MacBook, 3G, HSDPA, Mac 3G

Palm today announced it has forged a new relationship with Vodafone targeted at expanding the adoption of wireless push email in Europe. The Palm Treo smartphone that will result from this collaboration will represent an industry first by operating on Vodafone’s 3G/UMTS network. The new Treo smartphone will be available first to Vodafone customers in multiple European countries, including the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and Netherlands, before the end of the calendar year.

Today, only an estimated 2 percent of business email inboxes worldwide are accessed via mobile, according to market research firm The Radicati Group. Palm, Vodafone and Microsoft will target this large, untapped market with real-time push email using Microsoft’s Messaging and Security Feature Pack available on Windows Mobile 5.0, which includes Direct Push Technology and enhanced security features.

Full Press Release

Tags: Palm, Treo, 3G Palm, 3G Treo, Vodafone, Microsoft

Vodafone now offers its customers in Germany mobile broadband services at DSL speed. The necessary technology is supplied by Siemens: High Speed Data Packet Access (HSDPA) accelerates data downloads from the Internet to mobile devices over wireless networks that use the W-CDMA standard.

As Vodafone recently announced, the mobile broadband service is being launched under the name “UMTS Broadband”, initially in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hanover and Munich. Vodafone customers in these cities can then access the Internet and their intranet at DSL speed, using a notebook or mobile phone for faster downloads than were previously possible. HSDPA now supports speeds of up to 1.8 megabits a second.

The transmission speed of the new technology will be increased in stages, beginning with its current rate of up to 1.8 megabits a second. There are also plans to roll out HSDPA technology quickly in all 1,800 German towns and cities supplied with W-CDMA.

Tags: Vodafone, UMTS, 3G

The new Dell Latitude D620 and D820 notebooks can be configured with Cingular’s UMTS/HSPDA-based 3G technology onboard, giving customers global wireless data capabilities from day one. In the U.S., Latitude users now have mobile broadband access in all BroadbandConnect markets launched by Cingular in 2005—and in most major markets by the end of this year—with seamless high-speed EDGE network coverage outside those areas in 13,000 cities and towns. Overseas, they can use their Latitude notebooks wirelessly in conjunction with EDGE or GPRS data service in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Tags: Dell, Mobile Internet, Cingular

Acer has re-iterated its plan to bundle Vodafone-branded ’super 3G’ HSDPA data cards with a pair of upcoming notebook PCs, pledging to introduce TravelMate and Aspire laptops with the cards in the coming months.

Both Acer notebooks will be Centrino-branded machines running Core Duo processors and 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi.

However, don’t expect HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) support on day one. According to Acer, the data cards it plans to ship with the TravelMate 4260 and Aspire 5650 will be standard 2100MHz 3G products and are merely “upgradeable” to HSDPA. The cards will also support GSM/GPRS/EDGE connections thanks to a tri-band (900/1800/1900MHz) radio.

Via The Register

Tags: Vodafone, Acer, HSDPA, Mobile Internet

NTT DoCoMo announced today three prototype high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) handsets developed with Fujitsu, Motorola and NEC, respectively. DoCoMo aims to start HSDPA services sometime between July and September 2006.

HSDPA, a high-speed packet transmission technology standardized by the Third Generation Partnership Project, offers a theoretical maximum downlink speed of about 14Mbps. At present, the prototype handsets have maximum speeds of 3.6Mbps, 10 times faster than current 3G FOMA handsets. HSDPA is expected to facilitate powerful new services by enabling high-volume downloads and the viewing of highly rich content.

Via SlashPhone

Cingular Wireless, the largest US mobile carrier, launched its 3G network in 16 cities on Tuesday, becoming the first mobile network operator in the world to deploy a 3G network based on HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology.

The company plans to continue to extend the network rapidly next year.

Cingular is the last of the big three US mobile operators to launch its 3G network – Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel have both rolled out 3G networks based on Qualcomm’s rival CDMA EV-DO technology.

The Cingular move also marks an important step for the world’s GSM network operators. HSDPA is the high-speed evolution of GSM/EDGE which share a common core network.

Tags: Cingular, 3G, EDGE