Dallas
– AT&T will join other major cellular carriers in the mobile hot spot
market with the Nov. 21 launch of the Novatel-made
, which runs on the
carrier’s 7.2Mbps HSPA 3G data network.
The
device will be available at AT&T-owned stores nationwide or on the
carrier’s web site at $49.99 with two-year commitment to any of AT&T’s
Laptop Connect data plans and after $100 mail-in rebate, which takes the form
of a promotion card.
The
MiFi will simultaneously connect up to five Wi-Fi-equipped mobile devices to
the Internet, including laptops, tablets, the iPod Touch, and portable game
players .
The
device’s OS also delivers browser-based downloading of widgets to add such apps
as data-usage tracking, SMS, as well as GPS-enabled location-based widgets,
including GeoSearch and GeoWeather. It features embedded GPS and built-in
microSDHC slot for storage capacity up to 32GB.
Verizon
Wireless offers mobile 3G hot spots, and Sprint and Clear offer 3G/4G mobile
hot spots. T-Mobile doesn’t offer a dedicated mobile hot spot, but T-Mobile and
its three major rivals offer smartphones with embedded hot spots.
