Ridiculous quantities of 3G handsets weren't the only things showed off at this year's Mobile World Congress -- oh no, NetIndex, Kaga Electronics and Runcom shook up the norm a bit with their WiMAX-enabled portable VoIP phone. Reportedly, the trio joined forces to develop a VoIP handset that utilized a 802.16e module, and aside from "realizing all-IP voice communication," it also sports a web browser and integrated WiFi for times when a plain ole hotspot will do. Sadly, we've no idea where this thing will go after it leaves Barcelona (nor what it looks like), but here's to hoping it makes a commercial debut -- and can decide on a single logo -- in the not-too-distant future.

Part of the WiMAX World festivities taking place this week, Motorola was on hand in Chicago last night to demonstrate fragments of the Mobile WiMAX build-out it's been throwing together to support the upcoming launch of Sprint's Xohm service. A leisurely cruise took curious onlookers down the Chicago River while Moto demonstrated a variety of WiMAX-friendly goodies like VoIP and streaming video, with handoffs flawlessly (apparently) transitioning the signal from access point to access point amongst canyons of skyscrapers, steel, and cement. The company also took its demo onto the "streets along the Chicago River while driving at speeds beyond 50 mph," a clear violation of local traffic laws, so we're hoping Moto's got some money socked away in its meager coffers to pony up some fines. Anyway, if all goes well, the demos foretell a late '07 soft launch of Xohm's Chicago network, with a commercial release in April of next year.

Ah, so now we know why it takes those IEEE task forces so incredibly long to get anything done: infighting. Turns out, the working group for the emerging IEEE 802.20 mobile broadband standard -- "which was suspended last year after a fight over members' real company affiliations" -- has altered its voting rules. Now, each entity will be allowed one vote rather than members voting as individuals "regardless of whom they work for." Essentially, these changes are occurring amidst concern about "domination of the group," and 802.20 Committee Chairman Paul Nikolich reportedly hopes than the voting modification will "help deliver the standard in a timely way." Of course, considering that some of the technology in the protocol was developed by Flarion (which was swallowed by Qualcomm), there could certainly be more problems around the bend beyond a straggle of control freaks.

It looks like Samsung might be gunning to put another "world's first _____" title under their belt, announcing at CommunicAsia last week that a dual-mode WiMax / GSM handset is in the works for a H1 2007 release. The flavor of WiMax in question here is presumably 802.16e which Samsung says will presently haul 10.2Mb down to you each and every second, with a boost to roughly 40Mb/s in Q3 2007. Of course, Korea generally loves them some WiBro, but WiBro holds the promise of 802.16e compatibility so there may be no conflict of interest here. Samsung has said they expect their dual-mode phone to go on sale worldwide, so we can likely (read: hopefully) expect quad-band GSM in the box -- but whether any substantial population outside Korea will have access to an 802.16e network by 1H 2007 is another question entirely.

[Via Mobile Magazine]