It's not every day that you see a USB data card launch that can accept Memory Stick Micro M2 cards, so we wanted to call out this little puppy on Rogers. As you might imagine from the unusual memory card support, it comes to us from our good friends at Sony Ericsson -- and not to fret, because the MD400g takes plain ol' microSD cards, too, all the way up to 8GB. It's got integrated GPS, supports up to 7.2Mbps down, and can roam globally on 2G and 3G networks; add in that wild red and white paintjob, and you've got a winner on your hands -- especially when you consider that it's free on a three-year contract.

[Via MobileSyrup]

Leaked carrier roadmap documents of unknown age and origin aren't necessarily the most accurate things in the world, but they are one very awesome, important thing: leaked. Pictured above is a fragment of one such spreadsheet that we've had the good fortune of receiving for T-Mobile USA -- obviously it's a little bit on the small slide, but no sweat, we'll walk you through what it's saying. Again, we wouldn't take these dates as the gospel truth, but we'd venture to say they're a good rough guide for what to expect out of these guys for the next few months. Move along for the full list!

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

It's great that T-Mobile's actively selling its 3G data network -- which still has that new-network smell, may we add -- to laptop users, but it won't be maximally useful until they've got both USB and ExpressCard options on the shelf. They've got the USB bit out of the way -- so turning our attention to the ExpressCard side, it seem that Option's GlobeTrotter Express 442 might be in the works (the 441 is pictured here, but the 442 is identical in appearance). This versatile piece covers fully four different WCDMA bands with up to 7.2Mbps HSDPA on the downlink and 5.76Mbps on the up, making it very, very useful no matter what country you might take the card to (of course, roaming charges are another matter altogether). No word on whether T-Mobile is actually planning on stocking the 442, but we're encouraged to see it pass the FCC's testing with AWS on board, so we'd venture to say it's a strong possibility.

[Via Cell Phone Signal]

Were it not for Helio, Virgin wouldn't be a carrier that we'd associate with anything other than the most basic handsets -- and data cards certainly don't seem like they'd be on any company exec's mind. Thing is, direct competitor Cricket recently got into this game with a $40 unlimited contract-free data plan, so it's a segment that's getting more difficult to ignore -- even in the most heavily value-weighted side of the business. We've nabbed a screen shot out of Best Buy's inventory system that shows a "Broadband 2GO" device (at least, we think that's what it says) scheduled to hit shelves on June 14 for $149.99 -- not the cheapest modem in the world, but again, there's no contract involved here. Data is data, so if the reception's good and the speeds are decent, why not?

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

We can't say there are an awful lot of folks out there looking for a single mobile broadband card that'll play nice in both PC Card and ExpressCard slots, but for that niche that's intently paying attention, have a look at this. The Sierra Wireless AirCard 402 is the company's first to offer such 2-in-1 functionality, and it's designed to operate on EV-DO Rev. A networks handling speeds of up to 3.1Mbps (downlink) / 1.8Mbps (uplink). Users can also bank on the company's TRU-Locate GPS service to "quickly and accurately establish location for local searches and navigation." There's no mention of a price or release date, but it should be on hand for us to peer at during CTIA this week.

[Via ExpressCard-Info]

We've known for some time that Verizon is fixated on dominating the global roaming market in the US -- or, at the very least, catching up to AT&T -- and to do that, they're going to need hardware capable of taking advantage of the very best speeds that those wild and majestic foreign lands have to offer. In other words, no EV-DO-only modem is going to cut it, and an EV-DO modem with a sprinkling of EDGE on the side is a consolation prize that's going to get frequent world travelers irked after a little while. To that end, we just witnessed this brick of a USB modem pass through the FCC bearing Verizon branding, the A3700 from ZTE. Name a frequency or wireless technology, the A3700 probably has it; in addition to EV-DO, it's got GSM / EDGE and HSPA, so your bases are pretty well covered wherever you happen to be (hell, it even has North America-friendly HSPA 850 / 1900 in there, though Verizon wouldn't dream of letting you stray from its own airwaves when you're stateside). Enticing, yes -- but considering that this is one of the ugliest modems we've seen in recent memory, you'd better really need that roaming capability when it gets around to launching.

By all accounts, it looks like T-Mobile USA will be offering the Huawei-sourced webConnect USB Laptop Stick, starting March 25 -- but there's a catch: according to some internal documentation, it'll only be available to existing customers. In other words, go ahead and get ready to sign up for a T-Mobile phone if you want T-Mobile data, because it looks like they're trying to scam two lines of service out of anyone wanting in on the action. Perhaps more notable is the fact that service will run $59.99 monthly, which will give you the same 5GB AT&T and Verizon give you for the same price. You get HotSpot access for that rate, but still, T-Mobile's historically been known for undercutting the big guys -- wouldn't it have been great to see this go for $49.99 instead?

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

LTE trials are starting to sprout up around the world -- and there'll be plenty more before the year's out -- so it's a relief to see that we're going to have some hardware to help us burn rubber once we get some live airwaves in our midst. LG will be demonstrating what it claims to be the "world's first LTE-enabled mobile device" this coming Wednesday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, a data card using LG's homegrown modem chipset -- and they'll be using it in three different devices: a laptop, a netbook, and a prototype MID. There'll also be a prototype LTE-enabled smartphone on display, and needless to say, the thought of tethering a 20Mbps handset to our PC is leaving us just a little breathless at the moment; hopefully we'll be able to recover in time to check out the demo in a couple days.

Apparently feeling a little celebratory after negotiating lower wholesale rates for voice and data, British MVNO Virgin Mobile has said that it intends to start offering broadband data cards some time in the fourth quarter of the year. In the UK, Virgin operates on top of T-Mobile's wireless backbone, so customers of the new data service should have a pretty nice HSDPA footprint with which to work -- a totally upside-down version of the US picture, where Virgin uses Sprint, offers no data cards (hell, they barely admit the existence of data on their handsets), and rocks CDMA to the core. Weird how the world works sometimes.

Bring on the Chinese hardware! Hot on the heels of ZTE's victory making North American inroads on Telus with its D90 flip phone, Huawei's next, launching its EC360 data card on Alltel. To be fair, the EC360 is a little more boring than the Fastap-equipped D90 -- it's just an EV-DO PC Card -- though the 2.4Mbps of downstream speed Alltel's promising is music to our ears. Grab it now for a penny shy of $190, free after rebates and activation.

Helio has officially cut down its Hybrid EV-DO / WiFi data card down in its prime. Actually, we're not sure if the Hybrid was cut down before its prime, in its prime, or past its prime -- but any way you slice it, it's toast. The move is going down pretty quickly, too; no new Hybrids are being sold, and existing customers will be switched off as of May 8 (though they're "welcome" to keep the deactivated card, according to the announcement). Folks who also have a voice line activated with Helio will be given a month of free service for their troubles, but we imagine that's little consolation to the poor laptops mercilessly stripped of hotspot and EV-DO access in the discontinuation's aftermath. Was it Helio's stingy 160MB limit that ultimately lead to the Hybrid's demise? We may never know -- but given Helio's cozy relationship with Earthlink and Boingo, we'd be pretty surprised if the MVNO were out of the dedicated data business for good.

[Thanks, Brent S.]

Not content with simply making some of the best smartphones on the planet, Taiwanese powerhouse HTC is now looking to get into the data card game, with the company prepping a new HSDPA card through its BandRich subsidiary. The C100, as it's known, will offer download speeds up to 7.2Mbps where available, and is said to be just the first of many mobile modems BandRich is planning. DigiTimes is reporting that the C100 will be priced north of €200 ($269), so although we don't yet know when/where these are gonna drop, it looks like you'll have to part with at least a few C notes if this model lands in your neck of the woods.

[Via jkOTR]

Rogers Wireless seems to be on a bit of a binge of late with HSDPA devices, and with a fledgling 3G network in the cards, that's just fine with us. Announced today is the Option GT MAX "7.2 Ready" data card; as you may have guessed, the "7.2 Ready" refers to the card's ability to be upgraded from 3.6Mbps to 7.2Mbps when the network supports it. The GT MAX card features quad band GSM / GPRS / EDGE, triple band HSDPA / UMTS, and an interesting butterfly-style fold away antenna that saves you having to pop the card out when not in use. Thanks to Option's "Advanced Radio Technology" (ART) with receive diversity and equalization to help improve both signal reception and reduce interference, the card is apparently garnering 50 percent greater throughput speeds in field trials. Pick it up for $149 CDN on a three-year contract.

[Via PR Newswire]