After only nine months on the market, wireless broadband operator Clearwire has shelved its Rover prepaid mobile Internet service. Rover was intended to capture the digitally-aware 18 to 24 year-old audience and was rare in focusing on prepaid data first. Charges could go up to $50 per month but also allowed for $20 per week and $5 per day.
Clearwire today kickstarted prepaid data today by launching a new service, Rover, and launching a new hotspot to match. The approach is based solely on time rather than data and gives unlimited WiMAX within a given period: users can pay as little as $5 for a single day, $20 for a week or $50 for a whole month. Rover is built with a younger audience in mind and can be activated or extended with Re-Up prepaid cards rather than having to use a credit card.
Clearwire is nearing the addition of an extra compact 4G router on top of its slightly larger Spot 4G models. The Rover Puck has turned up at the FCC for approval and would be very small with a namesake thin, circular design measuring just a few inches in diameter. It would nonetheless tap into Clear's WiMAX network and share it with multiple devices over Wi-Fi.
Russian Rover Computers has revealed five new tablets, ranging from 5- to 7-inch models. The processors are also varied and include Samsung ARM chips, while the range-topping RoverPad TegA W70 gets NVIDIA's Tegra CPU. All five are likely rebadged OEM offerings, with the TegA W70 based on the Compal Tegra tablet.
