DataWind Pocket Surfer Promises free wireless internet across Europe

[zekrahminator]

The lucky Europeans are going to get to see a very interesting gadget next week: the next generation of the DataWind Pocket Surfer. What makes this 97 gram clamshell gadget so special? For the equivalent of $300 USD, the customer can access the world wide web for absolutely no further fee. If you prefer to be shackled to a plan, you can pay the equivalent of $200 USD and $10 USD a month. The device is 13.8 x 6.9 x 1.5cm, has a 640 x 240 color display, and a full keyboard/cursor (as well as internet hot-keys, such as stop, refresh, and previous page) integrated into the device.

DataWind's PocketSurfer2 goes on sale next week in the United Kingdom, Reg Hardware is looking forward to seeing how DataWind can back up the ambitious claim of free internet across Europe.



Source: Reg Hardware

[WarEagleAU]

wow, lifetime internet for 300 dollars. Sweetness.

[OnBoard]

?
??

That makes no sense, like there is wireles internet across europe xD "Hmm, what would I do while waiting the buss, I know, I'll surf the web with my DataWind Pocket Surfer for free!" "Searching for wireless connection.. No wireless connection found!". Well doh!

Nice "scam", that's what I'll say. I bet there is a fine print somewhere on the box that says. Free internet only available on areas with free WLAN network installed. And then some very small list where you could find such a thing in United Kingdom.

I'll be reading the follow up news here on TPU though

[kakazza]

Wonder if they mean 802.11x or just HSDPA.
3G is already widely available in Europe and working.

"Up to 7.2 Mbit/s!" they say, but usually you only get around 500-1.100kbit/s

Buying one.

[DanTheBanjoman]

What network does it use? Can't be GPRS, UMTS or the regular phone network I assume since the providers will charge a lot for that. Coverage of other networks (wifi, wimax, etc) can't be very high I'd imagine. Also, it seems it's just launching in the UK, what about the rest of Europe?

[Grings]

http://www.inkino.co.uk/zen/index.ph...oducts_id=1633

This is the only place ive seen them for pre order, £179.95, and no mention of free access (not much details at all in fact).
Also it appears to be a gprs device http://www.pocketsurfer.co.uk/techni...cification.htm, though another article i saw said theyre bluetooth devices that connect through you're mobile(also through gprs)

[kakazza]

Please not GPRS... so slow and so "a few years ago".

Is there no 3G in the US?
I don't think there are any cell providers without 3G here nowadays.

[Seany1212]

it uses some quad band GPRS, i would buy one if it wasnt only a web surfer, i would love to see a memory card slot and an mp3 player built in before i brought one, it'd mean i could listen to music while i surf

[exelby]

The device uses GPRS over the GSM phone network and not wifi. This meand you can use it anywhere you have a mobile signal. The pages load fast as they have been compressed.
I had the chance to try an early prototype and it works really well. I can hardly wait for the final production product!
GSM phone operators with your sky high data charges and clunky interfaces eat your hearts out.....

Originally Posted by OnBoard

?
??

That makes no sense, like there is wireles internet across europe xD "Hmm, what would I do while waiting the buss, I know, I'll surf the web with my DataWind Pocket Surfer for free!" "Searching for wireless connection.. No wireless connection found!". Well doh!

Nice "scam", that's what I'll say. I bet there is a fine print somewhere on the box that says. Free internet only available on areas with free WLAN network installed. And then some very small list where you could find such a thing in United Kingdom.

I'll be reading the follow up news here on TPU though