Dec 06/Jan 07

Unitech, the company that claims to be the world's third-largest manufacturer of rugged PDAs, now says it is also one of the first to offer a 3G/UMTS wireless connectivity option. This is available now with its PA962 handheld unit, and will be introduced in other models later.

Unitech has developed the new capability through a collaboration with Sierra Wireless, using Sierra's AirCard 850 wireless wide area network card, which slots readily into the 962's PCMCIA port.

The company says the AirCard will enable the PA962 to transfer data wirelessly at high speed via 3G UMTS networks that have introduced HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access). Several such implementations are now rolling out in the UK, including service from T-Mobile. The card supports the 2100 MHz UMTS frequency that is commonly used across Europe and Asia.

AirCard 850 also connects to via conventional GPRS/GSM and EDGE technology across all four frequency bands used worldwide, so it offers coverage in nearly all typical mobile environments.

 

Many of the mobile data applications for HSDPA are similar to those already being achieved with GPRS, but speeds are higher, so in theory the potential is greater. As Raymond Wolfert, Unitech's sales and marketing manager, points out: "Peak 3G data transmission rates can reach up to 1.8Mbps on an HSDPA capable network. Reliability and coverage have improved greatly, and the speed offered and the amount of data that can be handled by 3G are nearly comparable to Broadband connections."

The bottom line, he adds, "is the development of new data-rich remote worker applications."