Nextel to Launch Wireless Broadband Trial

By Digital Trends Staff June 29, 2005

Nextel Communications Inc. will deploy a wireless broadband trial based on UMTS TD-CDMA technology from IPWireless, the companies announced today. The field trial will begin during the third quarter in Washington, D.C.; Arlington, Va.; Alexandria, Va.; Reston, Va. and Bethesda, Md.

The trial will allow Nextel to test a range of subscriber services, including broadband access for laptops, desktops or PDAs. Services will include video streaming, online gaming, document collaboration and video conferencing. The trial will allow Nextel to develop and test digital convergence concepts that target business users, consumers, public safety agencies, universities and multimedia content partners.

During the upcoming field trial, network performance and customer satisfaction will be evaluated under real-world conditions. The trial is scheduled to run for a minimum of six months. The trial will be offered only to select Nextel customers.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Emerging Tech

Digital Trends Staff

Digital Trends has a simple mission: to help readers easily understand how tech affects the way they live. We are your…

Computing

Why AI will never rule the world

image depicting AI, with neurons branching out from humanoid head

Call it the Skynet hypothesis, Artificial General Intelligence, or the advent of the Singularity -- for years, AI experts and non-experts alike have fretted (and, for a small group, celebrated) the idea that artificial intelligence may one day become smarter than humans.

According to the theory, advances in AI -- specifically of the machine learning type that's able to take on new information and rewrite its code accordingly -- will eventually catch up with the wetware of the biological brain. In this interpretation of events, every AI advance from Jeopardy-winning IBM machines to the massive AI language model GPT-3 is taking humanity one step closer to an existential threat. We're literally building our soon-to-be-sentient successors.

Mobile

The best hurricane trackers for Android and iOS in 2022

Truck caught in gale force winds.

Hurricane season strikes fear into the hearts of those who live in its direct path, as well as distanced loved ones who worry for their safety. If you've ever sat up all night in a state of panic for a family member caught home alone in the middle of a destructive storm, dependent only on intermittent live TV reports for updates, a hurricane tracker app is a must-have tool. There are plenty of hurricane trackers that can help you prepare for these perilous events, monitor their progress while underway, and assist in recovery. We've gathered the best apps for following storms, predicting storm paths, and delivering on-the-ground advice for shelter and emergency services. Most are free to download and are ad-supported. Premium versions remove ads and add additional features.

You may lose power during a storm, so consider purchasing a portable power source, just in case. We have a few handy suggestions for some of the best portable generators and power stations available.

Gaming

Don’t buy the Meta Quest Pro for gaming. It’s a metaverse headset first

Meta Quest Pro enables 3D modeling in mixed reality.

Last week’s Meta Connect started off promising on the gaming front. Viewers got release dates for Iron Man VR, an upcoming Quest game that was previously a PS VR exclusive, as well as Among Us VR. Meta, which owns Facebook, also announced that it was acquiring three major VR game studios -- Armature Studio, Camouflaj Team, and Twisted Pixel -- although we don’t know what they’re working on just yet.

Unfortunately, that’s where the Meta Connect's gaming section mostly ended. Besides tiny glimpses and a look into fitness, video games were not the show's focus. Instead, CEO Mark Zuckerberg wanted to focus on what seemed to be his company’s real vision of VR's future, which involves a lot of legs and a lot of work with the Quest Pro, a mixed reality headset that'll cost a whopping $1,500.