Ericsson today announced a new high-speed wireless module intended for mobile Internet devices and other consumer electronics devices connected to the Internet, such as e-book readers, GPS navigators and media-centric devices.
Called the C 3607w module, it would be used with the next version of Intel’s Atom processor for MIDs, known as Moorestown , said Jan Backman, director of marketing for Ericsson’s mobile broadband division, in an interview.
The new module is about one-third the size of previous Ericsson modules for wireless connections for computers and uses 40% less power, he said. It supports High Speed Uplink Packet Access network speeds of up to 5.7 Mbit/sec. One feature would enable devices to wake up from sleep mode after receiving an alert over the air.
The module, slightly larger than a U.S. quarter, will work separately from a device’s processor, and can also work with ARM chips, a competitor to the Atom chips, Backman said.
It ships in the first quarter of 2010 and will be purchased by device manufacturers and carriers working on Internet-capable devices. Pricing wasn’t disclosed.
Backman said the module’s development was in response to a growing industry interest in connecting all types of devices to the Internet, partly to expand their value to users. E-book readers, for example, will be enriched with such a module, giving a user the ability to quickly order a book from anywhere around the world, he said.