Source: Cecelia Kang & Kim Hart, Washington Post ( Free Registration )

If the $12 billion venture formed by Sprint Nextel and Clearwire yesterday works out, your cellphone may turn into a far more powerful, versatile and perhaps costlier mobile device.

The new company, called Clearwire, wants its customers to be able to use mobile phones and laptops nearly anywhere in the country to watch movies while waiting for the bus, turn on “Dancing with the Stars” while waiting for the soccer game, surf the Web and hold video conferences on laptops while riding along Interstate 66.

But don’t cancel that home Internet service over cable or DSL just yet. Although the new wireless connection, called WiMax, should be much faster than what’s available on today’s cellphones, it won’t be as fast or as reliable as the pipes that bring cable television, Internet and phone service into houses from the street. And though it is being tested now, expanded service is about two years away. 

Read Full Article: WiMax for mobile communications