A little URL hacking by Engadget fan Leo, has revealed Sprint's new My Xohm site and loads of service information. The site is clearly in a preparatory state with plenty of dead links and Latin dummy-text holding the pre-launch site format together. Nevertheless, there is quite a bit of detail here, some of which is certainly more than just idle filler. For example, based on the current text, we can expect the following at service launch in September:

• Nokia's N810 WiMAX Edition -- looks like a lock based on the liberal use of its image (above) across the pages.
  
• XOHM USB (ZTE's TU25) modem.
  
• XOHM Express Card (Samsung's SWC-E100) modem with optional PCMCIA adapter.
  
• XOHM Modem (ZyXel's MAX-206M2) Ethernet hub / router with optional 4-hour battery -- unfortunately, XOHM will not offer static IP addresses at this time.
  
• The XOHM portal (whatever that is) supports both Windows and OS X. However, the modems listed above and Sprint's XOHM Connection Manager software are PC-only, sorry Mac owners.
  

Unfortunately, we can't find any specific pricing information but the site does tell us that access will be sold by the day or by the month without binding contracts or cancellation fees. It also promises speeds between 2-4Mbps for downloads and 1-3Mbps for uploads. Not sure that's worth the move to Baltimore but it's certainly given us cause to pause at the thought. See the modems pictured after the break.

[Thanks, Leo S.]

Read -- General Support FAQ
Read -- Pricing and Speed
Read -- My Xohm
Read -- Devices

It's April, do you know where your WiMax service is? Unfortunately, S.Korea as Sprint backtracks on the planned April launch of its commercial Xohm service. This according to an official company spokesman. Sprint says that the launch has been delayed to "later in the year" which many expect to be as early as summer. Even then we're likely only talking about Chicago, Baltimore, and D.C. areas. Time to start making room for LTE in our sad, jaded hearts.

Not too long ago, we gave you loyal Cloudbook owners a chance to voice your opinion on how you'd change things. Fast forward a few weeks, and take a gander at what Everex has put together. Debuting today at CTIA 2008, the Cloudbook MAX not only boasts an 8.9-inch WVGA (1,024 x 600) display, Windows Vista, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, integrated GPS receiver, 2-megapixel webcam and a battery good for four hours, but it also features an 80GB HDD, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, audio in / out and an S-Video output. Beyond all that, this thing gets energized by a 1.6GHz VIA C7-M ULV processor coupled with the VX800 digital media IGP chipset, which touts full DirectX 9 support and video acceleration for MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV9, VC1 and DivX video formats (plus a VMR-capable HD video processor, among other things). Lastly, the unit includes built-in support for Sprint's XOHM WiMAX network. Brimming with excitement yet? Start stocking that piggy bank -- this currently unpriced rig will be available in the latter half of this year across North America. Check out the gallery over on Classic!

Read - VIA and Everex demonstrate Cloudbook MAX at CTIA
Read - VIA VX800 Series Chipset

Update: Looks like availability is now set for Q1 - Q2 2009. Thanks, Taylor!

As unlikely as this sounds, rivals Time Warner Cable and Comcast are apparently in talks with Sprint and Clearwire over establishing a nationwide WiMAX network. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the companies are scrambling to get a deal wrapped up by CTIA -- which takes place at the beginning of April -- and could see an influx of cash from both Google and Intel in excess of $1 billion. It seems the odd-couple partners are keen to cut into heavyweights Verizon and AT&T's ever-expanding range of at-home and mobile services by offering their own take on a high-speed data and voice system to consumers. Clearly this combination would deflate AT&T and Verizon's big FCC bandwidth-nabs a little (and it explains why the cable players weren't interested in the 700MHz auction), but it's questionable whether this rag-tag team of wild card players would seriously court the public's eye. They say America loves an underdog -- even if it's a gigantic, super-rich, corporate underdog.

[Via mocoNews]

Assuming Sprint can make it -- and that's starting to seem like kind of a big if these days -- CEO Dan Hesse made some comments about the coming 4G revolution, including one auspicious hint about dual-mode CDMA / WiMAX devices this later year for XOHM. It's almost an exciting enough concept for us to forget that even if these devices were forthcoming in 2008, they'd still only be for one of the soft launch markets, and would probably start as a data cards -- not phones. But hey, we're happy to be proven wrong, Sprint.

The deal seemed all but imminent back in July, but apparently, Sprint and Clearwire never actually signed a definitive agreement to cooperate on a WiMAX build-out. Now, it seems that Sprint is going down the same road it traversed this summer, as it looks for creative ways to handle its $5 billion WiMAX situation which it "remains committed to." Aside from actively seeking a new CEO, higher-ups in the outfit are considering a potential merger with Clearwire, which would enable the resulting entity to be publicly traded. According to The Wall Street Journal, other options include seeking a "strategic investor for its WiMAX unit, acquiring Clearwire outright or formalizing the deal struck in July." As it stands, however, it doesn't look like any major WiMAX restructuring will take place until a new head honcho clocks in, but it was suggested that Sprint was in talks with Google to "carry devices based on Google's new operating system," which opens up a whole new can of worms...

We've yet to find an average joe (or jane) who just adores that two-year agreement they signed to receive a single subsidized device on day one, and while Sprint hasn't been one to let folks off the hook early, it is trying a slightly different approach with Xohm. Reportedly, the carrier will be relying on "subscriptions," which will enable customers to save more when paying for larger chunks of time, while not forcing them into anything long-term. On the same token, this also means that you'll likely be paying full price for any hardware. Notably, the outfit's CTO also made clear that Xohm "would not be backed by what the industry calls service-level agreements," so don't count on any kind of minimum bandwidth guarantee. As for pricing, the numbers are apparently still being worked, but it was suggested that the service would "probably be based on tiers."

[Via TechDirt, image courtesy of BroadbandReports]

Following up on today's Xohm demonstration, Sprint has announced that its mobile WiMAX initiative is really gaining steam. Aside from stating that it was expecting a "commercial launch" in select cities by Q2 of next year, the outfit also noted that "Acer, Asus, Lenovo, Panasonic and Toshiba have expressed intent to embed WiMAX into their next generation laptops and UMPCs, so these devices can connect with the Xohm WiMAX network." Additionally, the firm stated that there have been "a number of encouraging developments with carriers around the globe," pointing out Korea Telecom in particular. Of course, there's lots more gloating (and tidbits of useful information, too) where this came from, so be sure and hit the read link for the full skinny if you're interested.

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.

The Xohm website is now hot, making yesterday's rumor pretty incontestable at this point. Although seeing a press release would really seal the deal. The teaser site simply states that Xohm is coming in the Spring of 2008 and promises to "expand the internet experience" to a new class of internet enabled devices. Right, a bit later than "by year-end 2007" which Sprint was originally touting. We'll update you with the press release which we expect to pop any minute now. With any luck, we'll also learn how to pronounce their new mobile WiMAX brand.

Update: Ah ha! As reader Deluxe points out, it's pronounced "Zome" as in Rome. Had to bust out Firefox since the audio won't play in Safari.

Update 2: The Press release is out. The "end of 2007" soft launch is still expected for Chicago and Baltimore / D.C. markets. Lucky you, John Waters.

We have information from an anonymous tipster claiming that Sprint is set to take the wraps of their new WiMAX brand dubbed XOHM. It's anybody's guess at this point how you'd pronounce that ("x-ohm" or "zohm" perhaps) but we're told to expect a formal announcement as early as Thursday. The timing is certainly legit what with plans to have the 4G service up and running in select cities "by year-end 2007." We'd expect any new branding to encompass the combined efforts of those Clearwire and Google deals though our source ain't sayin'. Perhaps XOHM was the delayed little secret behind Sprint's "wireless evolution" teaser site which was pulled without explanation before its July 4th pop date. Who knows, but anything that moves us closer to a WiMax-enabled N800 and that "ultra thin" WiMax smartphone from Palm is fine by us.