Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse emailed an Intel executive to try and smooth over tensions following comments a Nokia executive made last week at an event in San Francisco. Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia's head of sales and manufacturing, reportedly compared WiMAX to Betamax, the video format that met its demise when VHS triumphed in the 1970s and 1980s.

"We have ramped down the N810 WiMax Edition tablet. It has reached the end of its lifecycle," said a Nokia spokesman. Nokia unveiled the model only nine months ago, while usually even the most trendy models have a shelf life of well over a year.

Qualcomm has has stopped development of its next-generation, high-speed wireless technology Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) which was originally intended as an alternative to LTE and WiMAX 4G telecomunications standards.

Alvarion's Mobile WiMAX 4Motion solution will be used by Altitude to extend its coverage and provide voice and data services at 3.5 GHz to corporate, ISP and residential users in the Jura and Deux Sevres districts. The rollout of this commercial network is already underway, with plans to be completed in early 2009.

...This is a huge accomplishment, especially because it is the first commercial network in the U.S. to use mobile WiMax technology. But given the paucity of devices available that can even access the network, Sprint is being forced to apply traditional broadband and wireless business models to the new network. And as a result, the company will initially compete with existing broadband services and 3G data services...

On Oct. 8, Sprint, Intel and other companies will host a WiMAX commercial launch party that will give live demonstrations of WiMAX devices and technology. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse will address the gathering, as will Sprint’s Xohm CTO Barry West.