Sierra Wireless intros Compass 597 EV-DO USB modem

Truth be told, there's nothing extraordinary about Sierra Wireless' latest EV-DO USB modem. It plays nice with Rev. A networks, includes a microSD slot, and comes with TRU-Install to simplify the setup procedure. Granted, it is "the only product in its class to include a connector for an external antenna (saywha?)," and it is remarkably small, so it's still worth a look if you're currently doing without. As expected, you'll reach downlink speeds of up to 3.1Mbps and upload speeds of up to 1.8Mbps, and the built-in GPS antenna is a nice bonus, too. Unfortunately, we've no idea how costly this one will be, but be on the lookout for a Q2 launch.

[Via MobileBurn]

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 5th 2008 11:30PM]

What a crock.

Look at the Franklin CDU-680. It fully supports win, mac, and linux. It has a built in Flash Drive with all the necessary software for all the different OSes. It has an external antenna jack. It has true GPS (which also has its own separate external antenna jack). Oh, and not only has it been out for months, and works really really well, but it's also smaller than the 597.