Nokia and Intel Drop HSDPA Module Plans

Nokia and Intel have jointly announced that they are dropping their plans to develop an HSDPA module for laptop computers.

This means that Intel's next-generation Centrino Duo platform (code named Santa Rosa) will be shipping with the upcoming 802.11N card. This card to be called the Kedron is an embedded network adapter that has full support for not only the draft 802.11N standard but all existing Wi-Fi standards namely 802.11a/b/g. The reasons being attributed for dropping the project have been listed as lack of interest from the communication industry. Nokia and Intel, both jointly felt that they would not get enough return, on the amount of money that would be spent on the R&D of the new chip.

Nokia and Intel had announced their joint plans for the HSDPA adapter last September. The move had been done with aim to enable laptop users to be able to use upcoming HSDPA networks and existing 3G cellular networks that are able to deliver broadband like speeds. This announcement comes as a surprise considering the number of vendors who have released mobile products based on the HSDPA platform.