PowerupMobile in the UK is offering an Asus eee PC with their T-Mobile broadband package, an extremely interesting move from an industry that usually focused on subsidizing cellphones. Sadly, the models they’re offering don’t have WWAN — you use the T-Mobile USB dongle, though, so it’s basically the same thing — but it’s definitely something to consider: could 3G cell providers start offering discounted or free laptops with built-in WWAN just like they offer phones?

With much of the buzz these days about WiMax wireless broadband, Cable TV provider Cablevision Systems announced plans today to offer high-speed wireless Internet service to its customers. The network will use existing infrastructure but instead of building WiMax it will use Wi-Fi technology. It will cost the company about $100 per customer in its largest coverage area, on Long Island and other areas around New York City.

In a conference call, Chief Operating Officer Tom Rutledge said that over half of the homes in the Cablevision coverage area also subscribe to high-speed Internet service. Rutledge said Cablevision will build the new service over the next two years. Customers will be offered Internet through mobile devices like the iPhone, BlackBerry or laptop computers.

Rutledge said the Wi-Fi high-speed Internet will be free to existing customers and available to non-subscribers for a fee. The network will eventually be able to offer wireless phone service.

Intel won a piece of the Swedish airwaves and announced today that it plans to develop a nationwide WiMax network. Intel paid $26 million for a 15-year license and hopes to make money by selling microchips that a WiMax network will need. Intel business developer Carl-Daniel Norenberg said the company is looking for partners to build and operate the network, but that Intel will rent out the license rather than selling it.

It was announced yesterday that Intel is an investor in a WiMax partnership that Sprint Nextel and Clearwire are building in the United States. Intel invested $1 billion in the U.S. venture. Intel has also invested money with a group that is planning to build a WiMax network in Japan.

It appears as though Intel is spreading around a little seed money to help grow WiMax technology in already developed markets. It is banking that the wireless nature and fast download speeds of WiMax will be able to crack national markets that are already near the saturation point, when it comes to mobile phones and number of national Internet connections.

Pope Benedict XVI will text message thousands of young Catholics this July during World Youth Day (WYD) in Sydney, Australia. It is hoped this will help the pontiff communicate better with a younger audience. It is estimated that 225,000 young Catholics will attend the World Youth Day that starts on July 15 and continues for six days.

The Pope will send daily inspirational messages during the six day event. Digital prayer walls will be constructed at event sites and a Catholic social networking Web site will be made available to parishioners, so those with similar interests can meet each other.

“We wanted to make WYD08 a unique experience by using new ways to connect with today’s tech-savvy youth,” Bishop Anthony Fisher said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Australian telecommunications company Telstra will provide the electronic infrastructure necessary for the event, along with erecting the digital prayer walls at event sites. Telstra will connect 8,000 volunteers, 2,000 clergy, 3,000 media and 225,000 young Catholics to over 700 locations around Sydney.

Sydney World Youth Day 08

Clearwire and Sprint Nextel announced today that the two companies will collaborate to create a new telecommunications company with assets starting at $14.55 billion. The venture is to be called Clearwire and will receive a $3.2 billion investment from Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House Networks.

Sprint Nextel will control 51% of shares in the new company. Existing Clearwire shareholders will control 27% of shares. Contributors to the $3.2 billion investment will receive the remaining shares.

“The agreement enables us to get to market faster and reach a broader audience than we could have if we went alone,” Dan Hesse, Sprint Nextel’s chief executive officer, told analysts during a conference call Wednesday.

Clearwire will focus on building a mobile network based on WiMax technology. WiMax has faster download speeds and better indoors coverage than most current service provider’s technology. Some also see WiMax as a competitor to fixed-line broadband.

Clearwire currently uses WiMax to provide wireless Internet service in some parts of the United States. In 2007, Clearwire had a subscriber base of nearly 400,000 broadband customers. The restructured company has the goal to develop a network that has the potential to reach 120 million to 140 million people by the end of 2010.

Service providers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless aren’t planning to use WiMax technology, Instead, there are upgrading current networks and working on future technology called Long Term Evolution.

High Tech Computer (HTC) announced the HTC Touch Diamond today. The Touch Diamond utilizes 3G (third generation) mobile technology. The device runs Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and has a touch screen that can be used one-handed. Apple hasn’t said when it will launch a 3G phone, but the company is expected to do so later this year.

Starting this June, the Touch Diamond will be available in Europe. The Asian and Middle Eastern markets will follow, with sales hitting North and South America in the second half of 2008.

“Today we mark a new era in mobile-phone evolution, an era where beauty and size integrate with uncompromising innovation at broadband speeds,” said Peter Chou, HTC president and CEO. “The HTC Touch Diamond will make browsing the Web and using Web-enabled applications just as practical and easy to use as making calls.”

Qualcomm chips allow the Touch Diamond to use High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) on Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) networks that allow data speeds up to 7.2 Mbits per second.

The Touch Diamond has a 2.8 inch touch-screen that has a resolution of 640 pixels by 480 pixels. TouchFlo software can make images look 3D and turning the handset sidewise rotates the view accordingly.

The Touch Diamond has a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus that allows video calling. The battery life lasts up to four hours of talk time and the handset has 4G bytes of flash memory for storing music and video.

This isn’t the first time HTC beat Apple to the punch. Last year HTC launched its first Touch handset nearly a month ahead of Apple’s iPhone launch.

Touch Diamond

Telecommunications companies Vodafone and Telecom Italia will sell the Apple iPhone in Italy. Previously, Apple only allowed one company to sell its popular device in any national market. Exclusive franchise deals that lets Apple share service provider profits were struck with AT&T in the United States, O2 in Britain, Orange in France and Deutsche Telekom in Germany. Vodafone and Telecom Italia haven’t said much about the agreement they struck with Apple.

“Telecom Italia announced today it has signed a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Italy later this year,” was all that the Italian group had to say on Tuesday.

Vodafone plans to sell the iPhone in ten countries by the end of this year.

“Later this year, Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network,” the British-based firm said in a statement without giving any more details.

No one seems to be saying much about this break with the exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in a national market. It could simply have to do with Italian anti-trust laws, or may be a change in Apple’s sales strategy as regards the iPhone. As the iPhone enters new markets, we will learn if the Italian deal is an anomaly or a change in corporate strategy by Apple.

T-Mobile USA has launched its 3G wireless network in New York City today. Other major markets will get 3G coverage later in the year. The service is currently restricted to four models, Nokia’s 3555 and 6263, and Samsung’s t819 and t639. These phones allow Web browsing and downloading at speeds twice that of non-3G T-Mobile phones. Later this year T-Mobile will launch handsets that are four times as fast as non-3G models. The future releases will utilize High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), which allows speeds of around 600 kilobits per second.

BlackBerry smart phones with HSDPA won’t be available until next year, said Neville Ray, senior vice president of engineering and operations at T-Mobile USA.

T-Mobile’s network isn’t compatible with other HSDPA phones because T-Mobile’s spectrum in the United States differs from phones sold by AT&T and overseas manufactures. T-Mobile bought its licenses in a 2006 government auction but has had to wait before getting the 3G network up and running. Much of the spectrum it bought was being used by defense and law enforcement and it has taken time for these entities to give-up the airwaves.

“It’s been a tough road, but they’ve been very cooperative in recent months,” said Ray. The speed of the rollout of 3G to other cities is now more dependent on how fast the company can get new equipment up and running, he added.

T-Mobile and Nokia are forming a partnership in Europe to provide new Internet services and social communities to handsets throughout Europe. All of their European customers will have access to T-Mobile’s web’n’walk and Nokia’s Ovi Internet services.

Mobile social networks will be upgraded by offering T-Mobile’s MyFaves application. The partnership will also create “widget cooperation” between the mini-programs offered by both companies.

Nokia, which is the world’s largest handset manufacturer, will customize its devices for T-Mobile services. T-Mobile, a mobile phone telecommunications provider, will give its customers enhanced access to Nokia services.

There are no plans as of now to move the partnership out of Europe. Deutsche Telekom, which owns T-Mobile, said that it considers the U.S. market as separate from the European market.

Avi Greengart, an industry researcher with the firm Current Analysis, sees Nokia as the biggest winner in its partnership with T-Mobile. T-Mobile is another European carrier that has signed up to offer Nokia’s Ovi services.

Ovi isn’t offered in the United States. IDC’s Chris Hazelton thinks that Nokia is currently trying to win more market share in the United States. To breakout in the U.S. market, Nokia will need to support services offered by carriers inside the United States. But services like Ovi are seen by Hazelton as part of Nokia’s long-term strategy for services outside the United States.

The Associated Press, along with more than 100 member newspapers, launched the Mobile News Network today. The service was geared to run on the iPhone but will also work on other mobile phones. Mobile News Network will deliver local news based on the user’s ZIP code from local participating news organizations. National and international news will come from the Associated Press.

The application will be paid for with advertising dollars. 107 newspapers are currently participating. Revenue raised from advertising will be shared among the news organizations.

Google and Yahoo have news services for mobile devices, but AP’s Mobile News Network offers easier access to local news stories.

Apple has no formal role with the service but the company did offer advice on how best to build the service for the iPhone.

The two largest newspaper companies in the United States, Gannett and Tribune, haven’t joined the Mobile News Network yet but are evaluating whether or not to join in the future.

If the service is to become truly national, it is my opinion that Gannett and Tribune will have to join. The service differentiates itself from other mobile news services by providing local news. Gannett and Tribune own quite a few local papers and if Mobile News Network is to become something different it will need these two publishing giants to join the network. Otherwise, the selling point of the service will remain local to the 107 papers that have joined.