Qualcomm adding the kitchen sink to Gobi, including EV-DO Rev. A, dual-carrier HSPA+, and LTE

The whole point of Gobi is that you can buy one device and use it with multiple network technologies or carriers, but apparently Qualcomm isn't kidding around about the idea. It just announced a slew of data chipsets (voice still isn't part of the picture) with all sorts of new goodies. New technologies supported include EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (the five people on earth using Rev. B will be thrilled), HSPA+, dual-carrier HSPA+ (which looks to be the evolutionary end of HSPA), and LTE. The mother of all these chipsets is the MDM9600, which can do LTE up to 100 Mbps, dual-carrier HSPA+ up to 42Mbps, HSPA+ up to 28Mbps, and EV-DO Rev. A / Rev. B. Qualcomm also says it's moving Gobi beyond just laptops, with USB modems, e-readers, and "gaming devices" now in the cards. No word on when they'll start showing up, but much of it will have to do with carrier rollout as much as Qualcomm's ability to ship these out the door.

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Panasonic slips Core i5 into 'world's lightest' 12.1-inch Toughbook C1 convertible tablet

We tell ya -- all this tablet talk sure has us feeling like it's 2003. You know, minus all that Y2K hangover stuff. Anywho, Panasonic has today outed what it's calling the planet's lightest 12.1-inch convertible tablet PC, with the Toughbook C1 offering the line's iconic rigidity while boasting 10 hours of battery life, an optional Gobi 2000 mobile broadband module and Intel's decidedly potent 2.4GHz Core i5-520 processor. All told, the device weighs just 3.2 pounds with a single battery (3.7 pounds with twins), and there's full support for digitizers and multitouch. Other specs include a shock-mounted, flex-connect 250GB hard drive, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, a WXGA (1,280 x 800) LED-backlit panel, a triple hinge design and the ability to survive a 30-inch plummet. It's available to (quite literally) smash iPads starting this June, though that $2,499 starting price may be somewhat off-putting to those without copious amounts of disposable income.

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