Novatel MiFi 2 interface and housing refresh hands-on

Posted on 25/02/2013 by Sean Cooper

With Bell Canada's announcement yesterday of MiFi 2's imminent launch in the great white north comes an update from Novatel for both the device's skin and radio. While we couldn't get any pictures of the updates to support LTE in Canada, we did capture a good pile of the tweaked housing and the skin updates in the touch UI. Physically the device remains exactly the same as far as its dimensions are concerned, though the metal trim has lightened up a wee bit and battery life is still a monstrous 11 hours or so on LTE. Launch price and an exact date aren't available yet form Bell but we expect those any time soon.

Gallery: Novatel MiFi2 hands-on

Terrence O'Brien contributed to this report

Filed under: Wireless, Internet

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MiFi Liberate review: does the world need a mobile hotspot with a touchscreen?

Posted on 19/11/2012 by Nicole Lee

There are two factors that are of the utmost importance when it comes to choosing mobile hotspots: speed and battery life. Further down the list is portability, with hardware design ranking even lower. So the idea of a touchscreen MiFi struck us as a ridiculous luxury, the sort of thing we'd find in a SkyMall catalog. This is why we were intrigued by the MiFi Liberate, Novatel Wireless's first-ever 4G LTE MiFi with a built-in touchscreen. While it might seem like a gimmick, the interface does, in fact, provide quick access to vital stats like data usage. Novatel wasn't content to leave it at that, though: the Liberate has features we would never dream of adding to a MiFi, including media streaming, GPS and even a basic messaging app. Fortunately, the addition of such features don't inflate the price: it's available for $50 with a new two-year agreement with AT&T. How well does it all work? Join us after the break for our review.

Gallery: MiFi Liberate review

Continue reading MiFi Liberate review: does the world need a mobile hotspot with a touchscreen?

Filed under: Wireless, Mobile

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Novatel Liberate MiFi for AT&T hands-on

Posted on 09/10/2012 by Brad Molen

It's not too often that a mobile hotspot graces our home page, but this one is worth a mention. Novatel is launching the Liberate, a MiFi with a built-in touchscreen, on AT&T in the coming months, and we had the opportunity to play with the new device at MobileCon 2012. The hotspot, also known as the MiFi 5792, sports a 2.8-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 400 x 240 pixels, LTE, a microSD slot, DLNA streaming capabilities and a 2,900mAh battery that promises 11 hours of life between charges.

While it seems pretty fancy for a MiFi, the touchscreen may be appealing to some. The hotspot runs on a proprietary build of Linux and offers a wide variety of options to choose from: connection details, data usage, a list of connected devices, settings, file sharing, media streaming, WiFi protected setup, messages, GPS and so on. Many of the activities (checking your use, which devices are connected and other settings) previously relegated to a proprietary URL can now be easily viewed directly on your MiFi without any hassle. Don't expect the quick and buttery-smooth response of a modern smartphone here, but since this is Novatel's inaugural attempt at a touchscreen device -- in addition to the fact that the display is of secondary importance on a MiFi -- we're willing to cut the company some slack. It handles the limited needs of most hotspot consumers without much concern.

Gallery: Novatel Liberate for AT&T hands-on