Vodafone and Dell have announced the availability of
Dell Latitude D620 and D820 notebooks with built in Vodafone 3G and
3G broadband technology.
While 3G offers users data download speeds of up to 384kbps, the
3G Broadband solution, based on HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet
Access) technology, is four times faster.
Vodafone’s faster 3G broadband network will not be widely
available until later this year however. In the meantime, users can
access data via established 3G networks.
With their integrated solution, Vodafone and Dell want to allow
users to more easily access mobile data networks, in the same way
laptop users can access Wi-Fi networks using integrated Centrino
chips from Intel.
Currently, Vodafone 3G users have to insert a separate data card
into their laptops to get mobile network access.
The new Dell notebooks will ship with the Vodafone SIM installed
and pre-loaded with Dell Connection Manager software.
Lenovo of China is also expected to soon incorporate Vodafone 3G
and HSDPA technology in a range of ThinkPad laptops. Lenovo bought
IBM’s PC manufacturing business last year.