Wednesday, April 23,2008 @ 3:30pm
nova media ships Air-compatible HSUPA modem
nova media has launched the GlobeSurfer ICON HSUPA, a USB cellular modem for notebooks. As its name implies, the modem is compatible with both HSUPA and HSDPA networks; it has a maximum download speed of 7.2Mbps, and can upload at 1.4Mbps. It also supports generic 3G UMTS networks, and can fall back to EDGE or GPRS as necessary, which caps speeds at 200Kbps down and 80Kbps up.
Notable is that unlike some modems, the ICON includes a USB extension cord; this makes it better suited to computers like the MacBook Air, which has extremely limited space around its single USB 2.0 port. The modem also incorporates nova media's launch2net software, a Mac client that simplifies the connection process and provides performance statistics. The ICON costs €299 ($480), and requires Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later.
