Macworld's Peter Cohen reports that Sierra Wireless plans to Release its new AirCard 597E, the company's first to use the ExpressCard/34 form factor which fits the MacBook Pro, early next year.

"The AirCard 597E is designed to take advantage of EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized), the fast wireless networking standard promoted by cell phone service providers whose networks utilize Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)," Cohen writes. "Verizon Wireless and Sprint in the United States are two such carriers. Designed to work with EV-DO Revision A networks, the AirCard 597E can achieve downlink speeds of 3.1 megabits per second and uplink speeds of 1.8 megabits per second; it can also fall back to EV-DO Release 0 and CDMA 1x speeds."

"Notebook installations of ExpressCard slots are expected to move toward critical mass in 2007 -- we are timing our ExpressCard products to match market adoption," says Trent Punnett, senior vice president of marketing and corporate development for Sierra Wireless.

Sierra Wireless' press release is here.