With the advent of 3G and HSDPA connections, it is more and more common to see USB modems being plugged into notebooks and netbooks alike, as not everywhere you go will have a Wi-Fi hotspot, but at least you have a higher chance of securing a decent Internet connection with the USB modem. Novatel Wireless plays to this crowd with its new Ovation MC995D high performance USB modem that targets both consumers and enterprise users who want a reliable and secure Internet access no matter where they are, relying on leading HSPA cellular data networks. It is currently optimized for Europe, however, despite being a global modem that is capable of providing theoretical download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps and upload speeds up to 5.76 Mbps (real world performance differs greatly though, so beware of marketing claims). It comes in an extremely streamlined form factor and has a proprietary locking swivel design which complies with FCC SAR requirements. The MC995D comes with an auto-install connection manager for easy set up and plays nice with Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. You can even turn this into an impromptu USB flash drive thanks to a microSDHC memory card slot that turns can hold up to 32GB of storage space. There is no word on pricing, but we do know that the MC995D will be out sometime in Q2 2009.

Press Release