Acer Working on WiMax-Ready Aspire 5920 for Sprint

Acer has just introduced its upcoming Aspire 5920 series of notebooks equipped with a built-in WiMax module. The Taiwanese computer manufacturer plans to sell the new notebook offering through Sprint Nextel and other retail partners.

According to the company, the new Acer Aspire 5920 notebook will be sold in a manner that is strikingly similar to the way mobile phones are. The units will be sold as mere terminal upon subscribing for a WiMax service package.

Pricing for the upcoming Aspire 5920 will vary depending on the individual plan chosen by the customer. However, other pricing details are still light and likely to show up as soon as Sprint's long-delayed Xohm network ends its extended trial period.

Acer is one of the notebook manufacturers that adopted Intel's embedded WiMax module with WiFi capability. The Echo Peak module is an important part in Intel's upcoming Centrino Pro platform. Other adopters are Lenovo, Panasonic and Toshiba, that will also deliver WiMax-equipped notebooks later this year, but none of the companies released official details about such systems.

The Aspire 5920 model has already entered mass-production at Quanta Computer's facilities. It is allegedly hitting the market later this year, just in time for the official unveiling of Sprint's Xohm network.

Acer's product marketing manager Trisha Pan said that Intel was also buying Acer notebooks to perform a couple of internal tests. Other WiMax network operators will be provided sampling units for compatibility and stress tests. However, these notebooks will not be available until Sprint and other retail partners start selling the devices.

There are no other details regarding Aspire's 5920 technical specifications, but it is expected to come with all the features in the initial version of the model (the genuine 5920 was available without a WiMax module).

The currently existing Aspire 5920 model comes without WiMAX capabilities and sports a 15.4-inch display, Core 2 Duo CPU, NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT and a/g/n WiFi connectivity.