Rogers seems set to sponge as much cake as they can out of your overtaxed mobile pockets with the announcement of two new HSPA data devices, the Novatel X950D and MC950D. We've seen the USB-friendly MC950D pop up before, but as a refresh: it rocks 7.2 Mbps triple-band HSPA, supports most popular OSes, quad-band GPRS / EDGE, and may well still be the world's smallest HSPA USB modem. The X950D, however, will be making its worldwide debut on the friendly Canadian provider's network, and we're sure a goodly pile of Canadians will be whooping it up at this news. Sporting triple-band HSPA, Mac and Windows-friendly, quad-band GPRS / EDGE, Novatel's newest express port product also features backwards compatibility with a handy PCMCIA adapter. Pricing on both is apparently the same: $49.99 on a three-year contract. Of course, with data rates what they are, that $50 is definitely gonna get you in a whole heap of trouble if you don't mind your bits.

Users of previous-generation USB modems from Sprint and Verizon -- the gargantuan USB720 comes immediately to mind -- know that they're a little on the portly side (and that's being kind). If you're going to have this huge mass hanging off the side of your lappie, it'd be nice if you could at least pack some additional functionality into it, right? Novatel appears to have heard both complaints, offering up the new USB727 in a significantly more attractive package that's nearly an inch shorter and half an inch narrower than its predecessor. Oh, and the "additional functionality" comes in the form of an integrated microSD slot supporting cards up to 4GB, making you feel a little less bad about having an unsightly black object protrude from your PC's otherwise clean lines. Naturally, the USB727 -- known simply as the U727 on Sprint -- supports both networks' EV-DO Rev. A airwaves, promising downlink speeds in the range of 600kbps to 1.4Mbps and uplink at a brisk 350 to 500kbps (that's Sprint's claim, anyway; Verizon says 500 to 800kbps). Verizon customers can pick it up online immediately for $100 after rebate on a two-year contract while Sprint gets it next month for "as low as" $80 on contract.

Read - Verizon USB727
Read - Sprint U727 (press release)

Following a thorough run-through of Verizon's plans for the rest of the year, this broader peep into Sprint's near future than we've seen before -- if real, anyway -- means that we now pretty much know everything there is to know about the wide world of CDMA here in the States for the next few months. It's a warm, fuzzy feeling, ain't it? Anyway, let's have a look: Palm is said to come swinging in with two, the 500 on the low end with a $99 price point on October 14 and an 800w ("w" stands for Windows Mobile 6 here, friends) up top -- though the latter doesn't grace shelves until Q1 of '08. Novatel gets down with an updated version of the U720 dubbed U727 (what else?) come September 30. Sanyo meanwhile should add the S1 candybar to replace the SCP-4930 on October 14, but November 4 is allegedly when things really start to heat up. That day should bring the LG LX260, RIM BlackBerry Pearl 2, HTC Vogue, and the UTStarcom PX-00, a low-cost Rev A data card to replace the PX-500. The Motorola Q9c -- possibly with GSM international roaming -- should drop by a little later in November, while a dual-mode CDMA / GSM rendition of the Samsung BlackJack replaces the IP-830w early next year. Again, this is all unconfirmed, but it seems plausible enough. We'll throw up any corroborating info as we get it.

[Via Slashphone]

We've noticed that 3G USB dongles tend to be behemoths, hanging like unfortunate growths off the sides of otherwise-attractive laptops -- so, needless to say, we're happy to hear that a manufacturer is making a conscientious effort to tighten up the dimensions a bit. Novatel Wireless is triumphantly claiming that its new Ovation MC950D is the world's smallest HSUPA modem -- though HSUPA's still pretty rare, so that doesn't necessarily mean much -- with downstream speeds topping out at 7.2Mbps and a healthy 2.1Mbps upstream. No word on partners or an exact release date, but Novatel says the device is in its "final testing stages" (across the pond, seemingly) with commercial availability coming later in the quarter.

We heard tell of this little guy last month when Apple let the model number out amongst newly supported WWAN products -- so what's this Verizon V740 card got going for it other than explicit Mac support? Well, EV-DO Rev. A, of course. Built by Novatel, the V740 is here to replace the V640 in ExpressCard/34 duties for Verizon, with beefier bandwidth and a dearth of aesthetic changes. The card will be hitting retail on March 30th, and looks to be going for $110 with two years of service -- cheaper than Sprint's EX720 offering, but Verizon will get you in the end with those hefty data charges.

The world just became a little less of a cold, dead, meaningless (or at least data-less) wasteland for Sprint customers rocking ExpressCard slots (of either the /34 or /54 variety) thanks to the official release of Novatel's Merlin EX720 modem on Sprint's website. Riding atop Sprint's glorious EV-DO Rev. A airwaves, the EX720 should deliver up to 1.4Mbps down and 500kbps up to virtually any ExpressCard-equipped device that needs it (MacBook Pros included), provided that the requisite $179.99 (after contract and rebates) has been forwarded to the appropriate bean counters over at your network. We can almost picture Cingular and T-Mobile folks seething -- for what it's worth, we feel your pain -- but hey, Sprintheads, go get your WWAN on.

Again, Verizon isn't really all about the surprises today, with an inconspicuous Rev A launch, and now the release of this USB720 Rev A modem from Novatel more or less right on target, but there ain't nothing wrong with that. Sure, they're playing catch-up to Sprint on this front as well, but everybody's gotta start somewhere, and Verizon has picked tomorrow to start handing out these USB modem dongles. And by "handing out" we of course mean charging $150 to people who sign up for a new two-year customer agreement, and $200 to the one-year types. Plus you'll need to pick up an unlimited data plan for all those gigabytes you'll be pulling, which will run you $60 a month on top of an existing $40 voice plan, or $80 a month all by its lonesome. Not cheap by a long shot, but just think of all those neat things Verizon wants you to do with that bandwidth, like blaze through torrents, make p2p Skype calls, share your connection with friends and email your mom! The modem will be available immediately on line and in B2B channels, to be followed by a retail launch on the 20th.

Sprint's been pushing its Novatel U720 Rev A USB modem for a couple months now, but we suppose it's not too terribly late for Verizon to join in with its own rebadged unit, the USB720. Not a lot of surprises here, the two units are fairly identical, straight down to the USB y-cable to boost reception. Verizon does win some points for including Mac support out of the box, whereas Sprint just got that a couple of weeks ago, but the $130 post-rebate pricetag (Sprint's U720 goes for $50 after rebate) isn't helping the USB720 out, especially considering those hefty Verizon data rates. Of course, none of this is official yet -- we're going off of what look to be leaked internal documents -- so perhaps Verizon will loosen up a bit on the pricetag before it starts selling these for reals. Purported launch dates are February 1st for B2B, and February 15th for retail.

Authenticity is tough to verify here, but what we've heard from an inside source here regarding Sprint Nextel's launch estimates for the first half of the new year -- including some devices that have already hit the streets -- seems totally plausible, if not probable. Samsung's been tapped to provide three: the m300 "Vivace," m510 "Fantasy" (apparently a minor update to the m500), and -- most interestingly -- the m620 "Flipper," which we've now heard from multiple sources will be a CDMA version of the nifty F300 Ultra Music Edition, scheduled to launch with Sprint on April 1. Sanyo brings a total of five to the party, two of which have already launched: the 3200, 7000, 7050, Katana II (hopefully sporting EV-DO this time), and M1. Sierra Wireless and Novatel will team up to bring three more data devices to market, the 595U, 597E, and Express (the XV620, we're guessing?). Moto's on the hook for three devices, the Q (wow, we haven't heard it called "Franklin" in ages) and a pair of iDEN / CDMA hybrids, the ic502 and ic902. Rounding out the offerings will be the 6800 -- an HTC Titan variant -- and the previously-unmentioned Palm Sherlock (a CDMA version of the 680 or 750, we'd wager). Not a bad lineup considering this all theoretically goes down in the first six months of the year, eh?

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

It looks like The Network has more tricks up their sleeves; too bad one of those wouldn't be launching their hi-speed data network, however beggars can't be choosers. Enter in the latest addition to Verizon's expanding lineup of Rev. A Aircards, the Novatel MCD3000. It supports speeds up to 3.1 mbps through its small flip up antenna, USB 2.0, and is backwards compatible with Rev. 0. The manufacture states that it supports Vista, XP, 2000 and Mac OS X, so the bases are covered from the operating system standpoint. One of our favorite tipsters, HTC Kid, says it's going to be available in the very near future -- so stay tuned for pricing details and launch date!

Remember that Novatel U720 Rev A USB modem for Sprint that we told you about in late October? Well Ross, an eagle-eyed reader, pointed out that the U720 is now in stock for $50 after the usual assortment of instant savings and rebates and what not. Still, as sexy as this is for the Windows folks, where's the love for the Mac users among us? Sprint, we fully expect to see some drivers comin' down the pike, hopefully sooner rather than later.

It's all good that Sprint's Rev A network is starting to light up, but what good are hundreds of glorious downstream kilobits per second without the requisite hardware to match? Don't get us wrong -- PC Cards are all good, but we all know that a certain segment of the populace requires something a little... shall we say, different. Mercifully, Sprint has also officially announced the U720 USB modem from Novatel Wireless today that we saw breeze through the FCC not long ago. The device offers the same hot Rev A speeds as its larger, flatter stablemates, but plugs into any ol' USB port if you're willing to part with $250 (or $50 on a two year contract after rebates) starting in early November.

They laughed when you bought that fancy new laptop with an ExpressCard slot, they scoffed when you "gave into the man" and signed up for Cingular, and they've been waving that PCMCIA EV-DO card of theirs in your face for what seems like an eternity now, but your vindication is finally nigh! Novatel just announced that their Merlin XU870 HSDPA ExpressCard, the first of its kind, is now shipping. The card can manage HSDPA, UMTS, EDGE and GPRS, both here and abroad, and while it currently tops off at 3.6Mbps, a forthcoming software update will bump that to 7.2Mbps once the carriers are ready. Apparently this thing has already started to ship to leading carriers in Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal and New Zealand, and while we're not exactly sure when you'll be able to grab this thing off the shelf of your neighborhood electronics shop in the States, the XU870 is official, legit, "shipping," and all that good stuff, so we're going have a party all the same. Who's bringing the chips?

[Via laptoping]

Good news for EV-DO junkies out there looking for a USB and/or Rev A fix: Novatel's lineup of Rev A products are now official, and are coming to an OEM or carrier near you this fall (we're thinking Sprint would be a fairly safe guess under the "carrier" category). The lineup includes that MCD3000 USB modem we saw hit the FCC the other day as the U720, which is apparently "about the size of a small cell phone," the Merlin M720 PC card -- which is already out for Sprint as the S720 -- and the Expedite E720 PCI Express Mini card. The latter is for laptop manufacturers to pop into their own products, so we probably won't see a retail release, and an ExpressCard version is notably absent. The good news is that all three of these pack EV-DO Rev A for 3.1Mbps speeds, along with the traditional GPS support, Rev 0 and CDMA compatibilities. According to Novatel, they're "currently ramping shipments at major carrier or OEM customers," and like we said, those S720 cards are already out, so these really should be right around the corner.

[Via Laptoping]