13 technologies that change your life

"If you're looking to 2009 or
2010, WiMax will be somewhat
revolutionary in terms of
wireless broadband," said Brian
Clark, a partner with M/C
Venture Partners in Boston. "It
starts to offer a DSL-level of
[wireless] service."
Sprint claims that Xohm's
typical (as opposed to peak)
speeds will be in the 2Mbit/
sec. to 4Mbit/sec. range. And
while Sprint hasn't yet
provided pricing details, it has
said its WiMax offering will be
priced similarly to DSL and
cable access, which is
significantly cheaper than 3G.
Even more radically, at least for
a company best known as a
cellular operator, Sprint won't
demand long-term contracts
but, rather, will use a
subscription model.
Verizon Wireless said it will
deploy a competing technology
called LTE (long-term
evolution), which will have
similar speeds to Sprint's Xohm
network. However, most
observers believe that LTE and
similar technologies deployed
by other carriers won't start to
be available until at least 2011.
By that time, proponents claim
second-generation mobile
WiMax will offer speeds
potentially as high as 1Gbit/
sec.
Why it's important: Most of
the other disruptive
technologies discussed here
require fast, affordable wireless
access.