Tech.Wapline

Mobile broadband was predicted to take over the airways in 2008. Making a splash in the U.S. and the UK, mobile broadband is allowing users to connect anywhere at anytime for reasonable prices and at much more ease than trying to find hot spots, Wi-Fi or an un-secure wireless network.

Mobile broadband (if you don’t know already) is exactly what the name suggests. It allows you to take your broadband internet connection mobile allowing you to surf the internet virtually anywhere you can get a cell phone signal.

Connecting using mobile broadband is easy – just sign up, grab the USB stick or ‘dongle’ from your broadband provider, stick it in your computer and your ready to start surfing, emailing and chatting!

Some of the best broadband providers include BT, T-Mobile, Three and Vodafone each offering different packages and pricing options. One thing to be careful is your download limit which can, if exceed, empty your wallet quickly.

Approximately 90% of the UK is already covered by the 3G network and at costs starting at about £10 a month mobile broadband can also be affordable. By 2009 it is expected to cover 98% of the population with speeds of up to 7.2Mb.

If you’ve had your eye on Samsung’s forthcoming Omnia, you’ve known good and well it was coming to Europe sometime this month. Thankfully, Sammy has removed the mystery by announcing that Italy will get first dibs when it launches in said country on July 22nd. We aren’t told who will be second, third or last, but most major European locales should have it before September dawns. Obviously, prices will vary depending on operator and contract terms, but the 8GB edition (along with an Xbox 360 Arcade, as part of some random promotion) will reportedly be €499 ($789) without subsidy. Glean from that what you will.

We’re beginning to wonder if Panny’s long-standing CF-52 and CF-74 will ever be replaced, but so long as folks keep biting, we suppose there’s nothing wrong with perpetual makeovers. As with nearly every other laptop manufacturer, Panasonic has also decided it prudent to freshen up the aforesaid pair of Toughbooks with larger hard drives, 802.11n WiFi, expanded graphics capabilities and Intel’s Centrino 2 platform. Aside from that, you can still expect the same rugged exterior, shock-mounted HDD and spill-resistant keyboard, but you’ll pay dearly for those safeguards. Both the 15.4-inch CF-52 and 13.3-inch CF-74 will be available next month starting at $1,949 and $3,199, respectively.

The rumormongers at AutoZeitung are reporting that BMW plans to unveil a stripped-out, track-ready M3 at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. The E90-based M3 CSL will use many of the same tricks BMW employed on the E46 model in an effort to shave the coupe’s curb weight. Luxuries like air conditioning, stereo and navigation won’t be included, while the hood, bumper, trunk and fenders will all be swapped out in favor of carbon fiber pieces.

In addition to keeping the pounds down, BMW will reportedly boost the output of the M3 CSL by an additional 50 horsepower, for a total of 470 bhp. That should allow the E90 CSL run to 60 in around four seconds, on its way to a top speed of around 185 mph.

Production of the 2010 BMW M3 CSL will be limited to 100 units and pricing is estimated at 90,000 euro, or just over $140k.

Hey, what do you know? More Centrino 2 news hot on the heels of Intel’s official announcement. Today we’ve got HP shipping the Centrino 2-based EliteBook, Pavilion and a number of HP Compaq business laptops, with specs and pricing varying pretty wildly based on what you’re looking to squeeze out of your rig. If you’re looking to wrap your noodle around ‘em, tap the read link and bust out the reading glasses.