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Instinct onlygets you so farBy Alan CohenCirque duCell PhoneBigger, faster, brighter: Lawyerscraving better mobile deviceshit the jackpot at an electronicstrade show in Las Vegas.Verizon Jetpacks fromZTE (above) andNovatel (left):Your new travelingcompanions.When you’re in the moment, making tough decisionsfor your business, you need more than a gut reaction.ALM Legal Intelligence backs you up with thefacts—our sound research and comprehensive marketdata are second to none, giving you the confidence youneed to make the most well-informed choices, always.Visit ALMLegalIntel.com today.Call: 888-770-5647 or Email: almlegalintel@alm.comWhen it comes to technology, what happens in Vegas seldom stays in Vegas—and thisyear, that’s a particularly good thing. As it does each January, the International ConsumerElectronics Show rolled into town, showcasing new technologies that will hit the marketover the coming months. Historically, the productsunveiled at CES haven’t always lived up totheir hype—remember netbooks, anyone?—but2012 is shaping up to be a year where vendors actuallyput some brawn behind the buzz. Lawyers,especially, will reap the rewards, since some of themost highly touted CES technologies could alsohave the biggest impact on the way they do theirjob. Here’s what to watch for.4G NETWORKS. Even though mobile deviceshave become increasingly powerful, their performancehas been held back by the speed of cellularnetworks. Current 3G networks were designed tohandle data (downloading attachments and viewingWeb sites, for example), and they do, but relativelyslowly. Most 3G systems offer speeds far below theaverage household WiFi network. That’s a seriousdrawback for business users. The new 4G networksbeing rolled out by all of the major U.S. providerspromise to significantly change the equation.We tried a 4G mobile hotspot—a card-sizegadget that lets any WiFi–enabled device use acellular signal to access the Internet—late lastyear [“Holiday Makeovers,” December 2011] andfound it to be a potent tool for lawyers. That device,from Verizon Wireless, allowed multiple laptops,tablets, and smartphones to share a signalthat turned out to be significantly faster than thatof most WiFi networks. Verizon claimed downloadspeeds of 5 to 12 megabits per second, but intesting we saw speeds that surpassed 20 megabitsper second—blazingly fast.At CES, all of the cellular providers emphasizedtheir expanding 4G networks (look for many regionsof the country to come online in 2012) andnew lines of 4G–enabled products (that old 3Ghandset on your hip won’t work on the new system).They’re leveraging different technologies toget 4G on their networks—Verizon and Sprint usea technology called Long Term Evolution (LTE),T-Mobile is using an enhanced version of theHigh Speed Packet Access standard (HSPA+), andAT&T is using both—but for road-warrior attorneys,the payoff will be the same: far greater mobileInternet speeds.While 4G smartphones were getting plentyof CES love, it was, again, the mobile hotspotsthat got our attention. Verizon introduced a pairof new models at the show (no prices were announced,but the devices should be in stores bythe time this article appears). Both the VerizonJetpack EuFi890 (from ZTE) and the VerizonJetpack MiFi 4620L (from Novatel Wireless)enable up to ten WiFi–enabled devices to sharea 4G LTE signal (or a slower 3G signal in areasMORE ONLINEFOR THE LATESTnews on law firmtechnology, go toamericanlawyer.com.The American Lawyer | March 2012 57