WiMax is still an unproven technology, but the emerging wireless networking standard is being put to a real world test this week to help re-establish communications in areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.WiMax, also called 802.16a, is a wireless networking standard that promises wider coverage range and bandwidth than other Wi-Fi standards such as 802.11b. The WiMax standard is still undergoing testing, and products have not yet been certified to work with the technology. The first products may be certified by year’s end.Despite its lack of experience, WiMax is being deployed in an evacuation shelter and other places in the Gulf Coast that were hit by the hurricane, according to an Associated Press story. Intel, which makes WiMax equipment, shipped WiMax gear to the Gulf Coast this week. WiMax will be useful to connect existing Wi-Fi hotspots set up in shelters to the wider Internet, according to the AP story. Technology Industry