Italians who want an unlicensed mobile access (UMA) handset can now get one from Samsung. The company has launched SGH-P200 — a phone unit that supports Wi-Fi, GSM and GPRS, thus enabling it to make calls through a public hotspot or a home or office wireless network. “Handsets with UMA technology allow free voice and data communication both in mobile and fixed modes,” Samsung’s statement reads.
Via [news.zdnet.co.uk]
Monthly Archive for July, 2006
Philadephia tech czar Dianah Neff is being criticized for her frequent travelling and the expenses incurred for attending events. Neff, who earns $193,800 a year as the city’s chief information officer, has participated in 56 technology conferences in the U.S. and abroad since joining Mayor Street’s team in 2001. Neff said her appearances generated revenues for and brought fame to Philadelphia, a view echoed by Street spokesman Joe Grace and City Solicitor Romulo Diaz. The city is not the only one footing the bill for Neff’s flights, meals and hotels. Some for-profit organizations like Earthlink also pay to get her to serve as a panelist or keynote speaker in meetings, particularly those that took place in Shanghai, Spain, Taiwan and San Francisco. Grace saw nothing wrong with Neff accepting all-expense-paid trips because such travel, “where it serves a legitimate government purpose,” is considered “a gift to the city” and “not a gift to an individual.” Some raised questions against this argument. “I question the propriety of gifts from any association or potential vendor that would benefit a city employee who is capable of making very expensive decisions,” Zack Stalberg of the watchdog group Committee of Seventy stated. Despite the criticisms, Neff is showing no signs of slowing down — she is scheduled to chair technology-related conferences in London and South Africa this fall.
Via [philly.com]
Too much excitement over wireless technologies is risking the possibility of overbuilding of networks. At present, there are several projects aimed at providing citywide or nationwide WiFi coverage and the question is whether these networks will attract enough customers to remain viable in the long term. Analysts like Andy Seybold, editor of the wireless industry newsletter Outlook4Mobility, and Monica Paolini, who founded the wireless research firm Senza Fili Consulting, believe wireless services will have a tough road ahead. Part of the reason is that they are more expensive than wired services. Verizon Wireless, Sprint and Cingular offer unlimited wireless data service with half-a-megabit-per-second speed for $50 to $60, which is double the fee for and just a third of the speed of DSL. The demand is also low due to lack of computers that are ready to adopt the technology.
Via [mercurynews.com]
Sparkplug, a Chicago-based provider of fixed wireless connectivity to businesses, has formed a merger with two other wireless operators, Des Moines-based Prairie iNet and Phoenix-based Telespectra. “Each of our companies brings different strengths to the merger,” according to Sparkplug chief executive Bill Malloy. The move, Malloy said, would enable Sparkplug to widen its coverage as well as enhance its back-office functions and customer service.
Via [chicagotribune.com]
The Hizbollah-instigated bombings did not affect the work of the staff at Intel Corp’s Haifa research center in Israel as the company’s bomb shelters were fully equipped with a wireless network. Intel Israel spokesman Kobi Bachar said he does not “see any impact on output” of the weekend incident in Israel’s largest city, adding that “those working from home have connections and laptops with wireless so there is no problem with connectivity.” The company has been operating in Israel for over three decades now and plans to construct a second $4 billion chip plant in the town of Kiryat Gat near an existing facility that is due to open by the second half of 2008.
Via [today.reuters.com]
Customers that avail of free WiFi connection in Paris coffee shops do not hog tables, according to a new study by Wi-Fi provider Free-HotSpot. The report indicates that cafes with free WiFi connection have three to five times more customers than their fee-based counterparts and these people use the service for a shorter duration, with an average length of 89 minutes. Most of those users also frequent these restaurants in the afternoon, a usual downtime period. Free-HotSpot Vice President Joe Brunoli believes connection-hogging is more of a problem for paid schemes since people would tend to think that they must get their money’s worth.
Via [cio.com]
BT believes WiFi can be beneficial to the work of local authorities. The technology, according to BT, can be used to locate noisy parties and, with the installation of Webcams and sensors, may help fight crimes. The company hopes to expand the coverage of its ‘wide radius’ wireless broadband networks to six new cities in the U.K. over the next 18 months. This would bring the total number of British cities under BT’s coverage to 20.
Via [theinquirer.net]
A Federal appeals court upheld the 9 year sentence for Brian Salcedo for his role in the wireless intrusion and attempted credit card theft at a Michigan Lowes hardware. The sentence is the longest ever handed down for a computer crime. Some question the harshness of the sentence given that other credit card fraud schemes only got 24-32 month sentences.
Via [wired.com]
The coming of WiMax seems to be creating a bit of debate in countries like New Zealand where regulators want to revoke licenses for valuable WiMax spectrum and re-auction it off, presumably for a great amount of profit. Companies who currently own the spectrum are crying foul as big companies will be the only ones able to afford the spectrum.
Via [theregister.co.uk]
Symbian has launched version 9.3 of its operating system for smartphones. The new version includes native support for USB 2.0 connections as well as for Wi-Fi radio. It also provides Unlicensed Mobile Access, which enables phones to go from cellular to Wi-Fi networks through VoIP technology. Symbian is the operating system that powers mobile phones by Nokia, Samsung, Ericsson and Panasonic.
Via [vnunet.com]
A new study by the Wi-Fi Alliance and Kelton Research indicates that wireless networking has more following that iPod. When asked which of the two they would prefer to keep, nearly 80 percent of the respondents chose their home wireless local area networks over the Apple bestseller. The study ascribed the popularity of the technology to the ease of setting up the network, with users reporting to only use up over an hour of their time to do so.
Via [eetimes.com]
WiMAX Forum has named Skyriver Communications as the provider of wireless wide area network services for this week’s conference in San Diego, California. Brad Slavin, Vice President of Engineering for Skyriver Communications, said the company is pleased “to work with the WiMAX Forum to address their connectivity requirements in San Diego.” Slavin expressed confidence that “the quality and caliber of service will exceed the WiMAX Forum’s expectations” as “Skyriver has engineered its network to cater to the high bandwidth demands of Enterprise customers in Southern California.” Matt Wangler, operations director at WiMAX Forum, cited Skyriver’s regional experience as well as the company’s capability to deliver the required broadband speeds — at least 10 Mmps access around the clock — for the association’s decision.
Via [biz.yahoo.com]
The dark side of offering free wireless internet access is showing. Freeloaders, those who might buy one cup of coffee at a coffee shop, or maybe even nothing at all are becomeing a problem for many shop owners. Some are reconsidering offering free WiFi or just unplugging it when it’s a problem. Owners and consumers seem to be at opposite ends, with each group thinking the other unreasonable.
Via [boston.com]
Anaheim’s municipal wireless network was finally fired up. The network, installed and run by Earthlink is a taste of what’s to come. The network has not had it’s share of problems. Interference and poor infoor penetration are problems still being worked out. The network has no plans for free service, but does have reasonable cost plans for residents and visitors.
Via [news.zdnet.com]
Wi-Fi Phones Ring Changes In Telephony Sector
Analysts expect the global Wi-Fi phone market to enjoy a robust growth in 2006. Figures from Infonetics Research indicate that the Wi-Fi telephony industry earned $125.5 million in 2005, twice the volume in 2004. The analyst firm’s forecast shows that the numbers will more than double this year and may nearly triple by 2009, when the market will gain revenues worth $3.7 billion. Infonetics ascribed the potential growth to the popularity of dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular handsets, whose price is expected to drop below $100 in the future. Although the data reveal that sales from Europe, the Middle East and Africa constitute only 22 percent of the dual-mode Wi-Fi/mobile handset revenues last year — Asia Pacific accounts for nearly half of the total sales — Infonetics believes the bloc will represent a bigger share by 2009.
Via [vnunet.com]