Nokia also announced it would use Intel’s new WiMax chip, codenamed Baxter Peak, in its WiMax-enabled Nseries tablet computers that are slated to ship next year. The tablets will be among the first Linux-based WiMax internet devices to market, Nokia said. They will sport a Mozilla browser and support Skype and Rhapsody, among other applications.

They also will be the first Nokia mobile devices to be powered by an Intel chip; Texas Instruments supplies most mobile silicon to Nokia. Broadcom, Infineon and STMicroelectronics are among Nokia’s other suppliers.

In addition to Intel’s Baxter Peak, which is being designed for laptops and other mobile devices, and Nokia WiMax devices, the companies are also testing unspecified Nokia Siemens WiMax infrastructure equipment.

The companies claim to have already begun interoperable testing their equipment and devices with dozens of other equipment vendors in Sprint’s Virginia-based labs.

Sprint, of course, is planning a soft launch of its Xohm-branded WiMax service by the end of 2007, with full commercial availability slated for the first half of 2008. Intel and Nokia, along with Motorola and Samsung, were previously named WiMax suppliers for Sprint’s WiMax network.

Intel’s Baxter Peak is based on the same WiMax baseband silicon used in Intel’s Echo Peak MiniCard module for laptops and ultra-mobile devices. It includes multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) antenna technology, which promises to work better in challenging environments.

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The Nokia deal is a boon for Intel, which had previously failed to make a dent in the mobile-phone chip market and, last year, sold off its cellular chip business to Marvell.

Given Intel’s tremendous success in helping forge a market for WiFi, it is not surprising the chipmaker has secured such a key partner as Nokia for WiMax. After all, WiMax is front and center on Intel’s radar: at the company’s developer forum last week, company executives said 2008 would be the year for WiMax deployments.

However, it is far from clear when WiMax will become a mainstream wireless technology in the US. Sprint’s network will cost it as much as $3bn and there have been rumors that its investors are concerned about this expense and that Sprint is looking for new ways to foot the bill. Already it has enlisted the help of rival Clearwire to help it build out the infrastructure. Sprint hopes to service 70 million Americans in its footprint while Clearwire will be responsible for 30 million additional subscribers.