Sidecut Reports

Samsung’s mobile hotspot for Verizon’s LTE network. Credit: Verizon.

Samsung’s portable Wi-Fi hotspot for the Verizon LTE network is now available from the Verizon Wireless website, for $100 after rebates and a 2-year contract; however those wishing for an unlimited plan are out of luck, since the mobile hotspot will use the same data plans as the already launched LTE USB modems — $50 for 5 GB per month, or $80 for 10 GB per month.

The device (which we saw working live in the wild last week at CTIA) will be in stores Thursday, according to Verizon. In addition to LTE access it also provides backward-compatible access to Verizon’s 3G network so it can be a reliable broadband supplier to as many as five Wi-Fi devices you may have in your arsenal. For road warriors who spend a lot of time in major airports this device may be just the ticket since Verizon’s early LTE rollouts have made airport access a priority. It will be interesting to see how sales of this device stack up against the first offering in this arena, the Sprint Overdrive, which is now in its second iteration. Let the 4G pocketspots battle begin!

From several reports leaking out Wednesday night it is becoming apparent that Clearwire’s days of having its own retail brand are at the very least numbered, if not quite yet at zero. While we are guessing there will be more real details (and perhaps some more executive departures) discussed at both the upcoming Sprint earnings call on Feb. 10 and the Clearwire call on Feb. 17, the switch to a wholesale-first strategy makes a lot of sense for Clearwire since it technically has already happened, when wholesale numbers surpassed Clear-brand retail customers during the third quarter of 2010.

While we’re going to wait to dissect the shift until after real confirmed details arise, we can take a quick look back at two developments that are most likely the chief reasons why the Clear brand strategy got submarined: The success of the Sprint 4G smartphone introductions and the introduction of mobile hotspots, especially Sprint’s hybrid 3G/4G Overdrive hotspot as well as the hotspot feature in the 4G phones.

Though Sprint and Clearwire had previously been fairly frank about not seeing any competition between brands, most of that talk occurred before this past summer’s introduction of the first real 4G smartphone, Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G. The buzz winner at CTIA translated into a sellout success at the retail level, clearly surprising Sprint and its supplier since the company ran out of EVOs to sell not long after the introduction.
Read the rest of this entry »

With Verizon and Apple’s announcement this week of portable hotspot capability in the upcoming iPhone 4 from Verizon and today’s apparent confirmation of that being a new standard for Apple’s devices, it appears the rise of the in-phone pocketspot is complete. Once considered a carrier’s worst nightmare, the ability to use your phone as an all-devices connectivity tool is now table stakes for the entire smartphone industry.

Since the arrival of the first true 4G pocketspot — the Clear Spot from Clearwire — we’ve been big fans of the category that our pal Andy Abramson nicknamed pocketspots, for their ability to pack an entire Wi-Fi hotspot into a pocket, purse or backpack. The simple concept is a powerful one and speaks to a trend that should grow over the next year, simply that of folks being able to use one data plan for multiple devices. While integrated family plans that share a bucket of bits are probably a bit in the future, a pocketspot like the Sprint Overdrive does just that today — allowing users to share a single cellular broadband connection with whatever Wi-Fi enabled smartphones, pads or laptops they have nearby.

With Verizon’s device suppliers adding portable hotspot capability to almost all the new phones coming for its 4G LTE network (plus introducing a couple new standalone devices) it’s clear that portable shareable broadband is something consumers want, or at least want to have. As we all increase our stack of mobile devices, having a single way to connect them all makes a lot of sense. So welcome, in-phone pocketspot. We’ve been waiting for you.