It's just a rumor, in fact, it feels more like speculation than anything backed by a reputable source; still, there's a Google / Sprint buzz getting a lot of play this morning. Rich Tehrani is reporting that Google is considering an acquisition of Sprint Nextel in order to grow its mobile business. Of course, Google has long touted the importance it places on mobile ad revenues, made all the more evident by their recent preparation for the 700MHz auction and the figurehead role Google now plays in the Open Handset Alliance's Android platform. Sprint, for its part, is already on good terms with Google as a member of the OHA and that WiMAX mobile services deal which Clearwire just bailed on. In fact, it's access to that beleaguered WiMAX network which has the pundits in such a tizzy. While we'd love to see Google in a deal with Apple, Intel, Motorola and others to bring mobile broadband to the masses, we're filing this one under musings from Neverland until this one can firm up a bit.

[Via GigaOm]

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've known this gem was looming, but word on the street has the LG-KC1 finally hitting the hands of eager South Koreans. Amongst the niceties are a potent 806MHz Marvell Monahans CPU, 512MB of NAND Flash ROM, 128MB of SDRAM, WiBro connectivity, T-DMB mobile TV, integrated Bluetooth, a two-megapixel camera, and a 2.8-inch QVGA screen to boot. Unfortunately, it looks like this otherwise fantastically spec'd device is still running Windows Mobile 5 from yesteryear, and of course, the chances of it ever making it to US soil in the near future are essentially nil. Regardless, feel free to click on through for another picture if you enjoy the tease.

Sprint's open mindedness to hooking up with Clearwire for a national WiMAX network has blossomed into something just a little more serious, it seems. The two companies have announced that they'll be collaborating on making mobile WiMAX a reality in a comprehensive agreement that covers roaming and combined marketing efforts under a single to-be-announced brand name. Specifically, Sprint will be responsible for covering about 185 million potential customers with Clearwire swooping in for another 115 million over the next few years; 100 million total are expected to be covered by the end of 2008, which is curiously the exact same number Sprint had been throwing around on its own accord before the agreement was announced. This is a pretty serious deal, too -- the two are bound in holy matrimony for at least 20 years with options for up to three 10-year renewals. Looks like that hot WiMAX smartphone from Palm might still be in the cards, eh?

Although WiMAX handsets have not made it out into the wild yet, Fujitsu wants to make sure those mobile WiMAX batteries don't die so quickly. To that end, the Japanese company has developed some tech to enhance the power transmission efficiency of upcoming WiMAX handset amplifiers. With WiMAX transmitters needing large amounts of power to transmit data, any gain in the power efficiency of amp design is going to be welcome, we suppose. Fujitsu claims a power output gain of one and a half times what normal transmission amps get now in mobile WiMAX-equipped handsets. WiMAX networks are probably hitting en masse in 2008 -- if not before -- and conveniently, that's the date Fujitsu has set to commercialize this new tech. Perfect timing, eh?

As if you weren't already feeling cheated by your data plan, Samsung comes along and launches a few Mobile WiMax MITs (Mobile Intelligent Terminal) devices in S.Korea: their SPH-M8100 WinMo 6.0 cellphone and SPH-P9000 (pictured) all-out convergence thingamajig. That's right, 12Mbps or about 2-3Mbps when traveling up 120-KPH (75-MPH). While the Mobile WiMax (or WiBro as it's hailed in its Korean home) service isn't country-wide yet, Korea Telecom's offering does cover the 10M+ people scooting about Seoul and its southern suburbs including 17 universities and 4 subway lines. How S.Korea pulled a 19 ranking on the technology superpower list still has us scratching our heads.

Sprint has apparently gotten a few of its disparate Mobile WiMax partners to play nice with each other at least for a little while, with Samsung, Intel, Motorola, and Nokia all sharing a booth at this week's 3GSM conference to help spread the WiMax word. For its part, Samsung has trotted out three WiMax-ready devices, including two handsets we've seen before and a new USB dongle to bring some of that wireless broadband goodness to your laptop (or desktop, if you choose). Likely to attract the most attention is the company's SPH-P9000 "UMPC-like" device, running on Windows XP and packing a 5-inch display, 1GHz Transmeta CPU, 30GB hard drive, a foldable QWERTY keyboard and, of course, those integrated Mobile WiMax capabilities, with some good 'ol EV-DO to back it up. The also-on-display SPH-M8100 wraps that Mobile WiMax into a more traditional form factor, running on Windows Mobile 5.0 and packing a 2.8-inch display, 2 megapixel camera, and T-DMB mobile TV capabilities. Rounding out the WiMax lineup, Samsung's USB dongle is about as straightforward as you'd expect it to be, with a UICC slot to accommodate your phone's SIM card and a handy LED to let you know that it's working. Mac users are apparently out of luck with this one, however, as it's strictly Windows-only for the time being. In addition to showing off its wares, Samsung also confirmed that it's currently conducting seven Mobile WiMax trials with various partners, with more planned for later this year, though there's no indication exactly when or where.

LG and Samsung are using Hong Kong's ITU Telecom World 2006 as a platform for highlighting a couple technologies that, frankly, can't get here soon enough. It seems somehow appropriate that the Korean crosstown rivals are fighting for their share of the spotlight, parading HSUPA and Mobile WiMAX equipment -- both of which have the potential to shatter upstream speeds offered by the latest live technologies (HSDPA and EV-DO rev. A), while Mobile WiMAX also offers the tantalizing opportunity to pull upwards of 10Mbps down to you. While this isn't the first time we've seen either of these technologies in the wild, they're obviously becoming more ubiquitous at each and every trade show around the globe -- which means our dream of some day hosting Engadget Mobile on a cellphone grows ever closer.

Read - LG
Read - Samsung

It's not the dual-mode WiMax / GSM handset we're waiting for, but Samsung's SPH-M8100 Mobile WiMAX slider should force an optical interrupt nevertheless. Like the SPH-P9000 introduced yesterday, this device is part of Sammy's Mobile WiMAX MITs lineup only this time in a dedicated IMS lovin' handset. Come on, you remember IMS right? It's the IP Multimedia Subsystem we saw under global trial back in February which even Cingular has been known to dabble around with. IMS support means this not-a-cellphone handset will not only provide access to content over high-speed Mobile WiMAX (WiBro as it's known in Korea), but it'll also feature such SIP-based services as VoIP calls, video conferencing, and "Push-to-All" which we assume is just the push-to-talk, walkie-talkie service as it's known 'round here. The handset runs Windows Mobile 5.0 PocketPC and features a 2.8-inch 65k color, 240x320 touch-screen TFT display, MMCmicro expansion, and 2 megapixel camera with another 0.3 megapixel shooter up front for video conferences. It also features T-DMB mobile TV with both the antenna and stylus tucked neatly away in the case. Oh, and this handset will pull double-duty as a Mobile WiMAX modem for your laptop too. Now pardon us, we have to get back to banging our rocks together, there's mammoth for dinner tonight! Lots more pics after the break.