Chipset developer Intel and four major laptop manufacturers have teamed up to release the first WiMAX-enabled laptops on the US market. PC vendors Acer, Asus, Lenovo (including ThinkPad and IdeaPad notebooks) and Toshiba are incorporating the Intel Core 2 processor with WiMAX connectivity in Intel Centrino 2-based notebooks, available for customers to order online as of yesterday. Other manufacturers such as Dell, Panasonic, Samsung and Sony also plan to release WiMAX laptops by next year. Late last month, US wireless operator Sprint Nextel launched a commercial WiMAX broadband network in Baltimore under the Xohm brand, with expansion planned to Chicago and Washington DC by the end of the year, with networks also in deployment in Dallas/Fort Worth, Boston, Philadelphia and Providence. Sprint has formed a joint venture with another wireless ISP, Clearwire, which will see the two firms unite their respective WiMAX networks once regulatory approval has been given. Earlier this month wireless ISP Towerstream launched its first commercial mobile WiMAX network in Chicago.

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