Wireless GSM/GPRS for Laptops

They just keep figuring out more ways to keep us working regardless of our location. That can be a good thing, like being able to hold onto your job while you see the world in your Volkswagen bus, or a bad thing, like your boss not only expecting you to work on the plane but being able to harangue you for running late via email at 30,000 feet. Here, we'll try to imagine that wireless connectivity will improve your quality of life and add to your freedom, rather than making you feel like you're always at work. To make European and Asian folks more mobile, Novatel Wireless just pulled back the curtain to reveal the Merlin G201 GPRS (General Packet Radio Services) 900/1800 wireless PC card modem for GSM/GPRS wireless networks. The Merlin G201 will enable voice and wireless data access to the Internet, email, and corporate databases at speeds up to 53.6 kbps in GPRS coverage areas, and to 14.4 kbps via circuit-switched data in GSM coverage areas. The card will be available in Q4 2001. The Merlin G201 will work with all computing devices that feature a Type II PC Card slot and Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/Pocket PC operating system. The card's Short Message Service (SMS) capabilities allow the you to send and receive quick text messages and will also offer standard GSM voice capabilities. Calls can be made from your laptop or Pocket PC via a wearable headset, just in case you live in New York or some other civilized place that has the sense to outlaw jabbering on a handset while driving. Plus you'd look pretty silly holding your laptop up to your ear. Go, be free, be wireless.