An N800 with WiMAX would be ideal for making voice over IP (VoIP) phone calls, and could conceivably challenge the hegemony of cellular-based voice and data networks. And yet the prospect of such a device effecting Nokia’s bread and butter business, cell phones and smartphones, doesn’t appear to concern Nokia’s director of open source, Dr. Ari Jaaksi, all that much.
Sprint plans to become the first mobile operator to offer fourth-generation wireless service later this year, when it starts to roll out a mobile network based on the 802.16e or WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) standard. Shortly after that, in 2008, Sprint will offer a WiMAX-enabled edition of Nokia’s Linux-run N800 Internet Tablet.
