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What are you going to listen to? Norway's 24-hour folk music channel Allttid Folkemusikk? The public hearings of the California Integrated Waste Management Board? Radio Banadir _ the Most Trusted News in Somalia?
It's a big world out there, and radios that grab their sound from the Internet rather than the airwaves can bring it home.
Wi-Fi Internet radio sets have been around for a while without getting much attention, but they're worth a look: Prices have come down, and features are up.
It was a busy day for WiMAX press releases. Here are a few:
Alvarion announced today that its 802.16e BreezeMAX® 2300 and 2500 base stations have received USDA Rural Development acceptance and “Buy American” status from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service. RUS acceptance is required for operators requesting federal funds from the Rural Broadband Access Loan program. From 2001 through 2007, RUS has provided almost $6.5 billion in telecom grants, loans and loan guarantees for rural development.
According to WiMAXCounts.com, by the end of Q1 2008:
Latin and Central America recorded 35 WiMax deployments across 14 countries and 261,000 subscribers at the end of 1Q08, reports market analyst Maravedis. Globally, the WiMax subscriber base increased by 260,246 in the first quarter of 2008, reaching a total of 1.99mn subscribers, the consultancy said.
Clearwire USA remains the top operator in terms of number of subscribers, with an estimated 443,000 subscribers, an increase of 12.5% compared to the 394,000 subscribers reported in 4Q07, although their systems are using fixed technology.
Clearwire will offer Mobile WiMAX services in the Portland, Oregon, later this year using as many as 300 radios mounted on cell towers.
DigitalBridge Communications became the first Mobile WiMAX provider in the United States, last month, with their service in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Their BridgeMAXX mobility service plan offers 3Mbps download for less than $40 per month.
The Zi Corporation today announced it will be showcasing its multi-language text entry portfolio at the Symbian Summit Tokyo 2008 on July 17, as it continues to expand its Asian market presence.
Into thin air — Why Silicon Valley Wi-Fi fizzled is a good summary of recent municipal wireless failures by Palo Alto Weekly.
This spring, Silicon Valley became the latest casualty of the Wi-Fi flop.
In April, Internet-service provider Earthlink pulled out of Milpitas, part of a strategy to abandon the municipal-wireless business altogether.
In May, Metrofi announced plans to pull the plug on Wi-Fi service to Cupertino, Sunnyvale, downtown San Jose, Santa Clara, Foster City and Concord. Those services went dark in June.
Google representative Andrew Pederson cited a Google corporate-blog entry that said 15,000 different computers log on to the network monthly. The city has about 70,000 residents, according to a 2003 census.Unlike MetroFi and Earthlink, however, Google doesn’t need to profit from the arrangement. Pederson said the firm is driven by a desire to give back to the city — and the belief that more people online is better for Google, anyway.
In the wake of MetroFi and Earthlink’s departures, city officials are wistful for what could have been.
“Any time a company like that fails to succeed, especially a local company, you know the people personally. It’s very sad,” Kitson said of MetroFi’s departure.
For the San Carlos trial, which is currently being set up, the companies are not solely relying on much-maligned Wi-Fi technology, according to Assistant City Manager Brian Moura. They will use WiMax, a longer-range technology, to connect Wi-Fi hotspots, he said.
Comments on the FCC’s proposal (pdf) to auction off the 2155-2180 MHz band (AWS-3) for “free” wireless broadband services across the United States are due today (July 9th).
The FCC’s Proposed Rulemaking (pdf) would combine the 2155-2175 MHz band with the 2175-2180 MHz band to create a 25 megahertz block of spectrum that would support a single nationwide license. That spectrum is now called Advanced Wireless Services-3 (AWS-3).
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is coming under mounting pressure to back off on the auction plan that would require the winning bidder to provide free broadband service, open access and filtering to block obscene content, says RCR Wireless News.
But there is no sign the FCC chief will retreat, seeing that Democrats — who control Congress and are investigating management of the GOP-led agency — support efforts to increase sagging U.S. broadband penetration and foster consumer choice in a high-speed Internet market dominated by cable TV and Bell telephone giants.As such, with the FCC poised to adopt final rules for advanced wireless services-3 spectrum as soon as next month, leading wireless providers and influential GOP lawmakers are stepping up criticism of the agency’s proposal in hopes of persuading federal regulators to rethink what they predict will be a repeat of 700 MHz auction mistakes.
Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) don’t like the “free” stuff.
They said in a letter to Martin, “Placing these conditions would result in the commission choosing winners and losers, as well as denying taxpayers the added revenue the spectrum would likely fetch if auctioned without the conditions.”
The cellphone industry strongly opposes the AWS-3 auction, arguing that potential interference from operations in the 2155-2175 MHz and 2175-2180 MHz bands would sabotage investments from wireless carriers.
It’s unclear when the FCC will hold AWS-3 bidding and the D-Block re-auction, but the timing of both events is bound to influence business decisions in the wireless industry, says RCR News.
The FCC could try harder — with different rules:
Municipal wireless networks wouldn’t be in the mess they are today if we had 25 MHz dedicated to (free) municipal wireless.
Comments on the proposed 2.155 GHz rule making (pdf), should be filed in WT Docket No. 07-195, and WT Docket No. 04-356, and may be filed using the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) or by filing paper copies.
DailyWireless stories on 2155 GHz include; FCC Seeks Feedback on 2155MHz, Free Internet Auction: On Again, CellCos to Martin: Sit Down and Shut Up, $99 Settop = Free Triple Play?, FCC: Free Broadband at 2155-2180 MHz, Bill to Free 2155-2180 Mhz, Free 2155-2175 MHz! and European 2.5 GHz Auctions & the Global Market.
It's cheaper, faster and a lot friendlier for business. Apple's blockbuster smartphone already had nifty features such as visual voice mail, a splendid built-in video iPod and the best mobile Web browser I've ever used. With GPS newly added to the mix, this handheld marvel has no equal among consumer-oriented smartphones.
I reach that verdict after having tested the new iPhone for more than two weeks.
And that's without trying out the eagerly anticipated online Apps store. There, you'll be able to purchase programs from outside developers covering everything from social-networking tools to games. The Apps (for "applications") feature doesn't go live until Friday, when the new phone starts selling at Apple and AT&T stores.
The iPhone's successor arrives a full year after the mind-boggling hype and hysteria surrounding the first iteration's debut. Whatever your opinion of that first iPhone -- and I've been a lot more positive than negative -- its impact far outweighs the 6 million units that have been sold to date.
Apple's presence has re-energized the handheld computing category, practically begging smartphone rivals for a response: Witness the Samsung Instinct from Sprint, and LG's Voyager from Verizon.
In my first review, I wrote, "iPhone isn't perfect, or even the most ideal smartphone for every user."
The statement holds true with iPhone 3G, though frankly, the list of reasons the device doesn't make sense for a certain class of users is shrinking fast.
Start with buyers on a budget who might have loved an iPhone but couldn't afford one.
Apple has announced that an 8-gigabyte iPhone 3G costs $199 with a two-year AT&T contract, but the contract costs more. A 16-GB model fetches $299.
Next are business customers. Many companies were hesitant to cozy up to iPhone for corporate e-mail and other services. They fretted about security.
But...
NebuAd (Senate testimony), has drawn fierce criticism from privacy advocates in recent weeks for working with Internet service providers to track the online behavior of their customers and then serve up targeted banner ads based on that behavior.
According to Ari Schwartz, vice president of the Center for Democracy & Technology, a civil liberties group, says NebuAd software tracks where a user goes on the Internet and mines that information to deliver customized online ads.
Privacy activists say adware companies duped many Web surfers into downloading their software programs by bundling them with free screen savers, online games and other Internet applications.
NebuAd is somewhat different in that it works directly with Internet service providers to scan their customers’ Web surfing habits and deliver ads presumed to be of interest to them.
NebuAd has been accused of forging Google data packets for Charter Cable. The packets had extra Javascript code in them which loaded data from another page. A study by Public Knowledge accused NebuAd of hijacking browsers, employing man-in-the-middle attacks, modifying the content of TCP/IP packets and loading subscribers’ computers with unwanted cookies.
NebuAd denied those claims, saying it allows users to opt out of its advertising at any time and it uses industry-standard cookies, not exploits, to deliver the targeted ads.
According to the Washington Post, NebuAd may be violating a 1986 federal wiretapping law that “requires at least one party to a communication to consent to a wiretap.” British technologists have leveled similar criticisms against a NebuAd-like system being prepared in that country by Phorm.
Although no major Internet service providers are known to have partnered with NebuAd so far, a number of smaller ones have worked with the company, including Wide Open West, a privately held broadband company based in Denver, although the company has since stopped using the company’s advertising software.
On Tuesday, the Redwood City, Calif., company unveiled a new set of privacy protections, including an online notification system and an opt-out mechanism for consumers.
Besides NebuAd, Wednesday’s hearing in the Senate Commerce Committee may also examine Facebook’s “Beacon” monitoring tool, which tracked online purchases made by Facebook members and sent alerts to their friends on the site.
Among the issues on the table, according to the AP, is whether Internet companies should be expected to make their programs “opt-in” (you’re automatically excluded from a service unless you sign up) or whether “opt-out” (you’re automatically in unless you speak up to say no) is acceptable.
The hearing could lead to new bills.
Currently, the NSA’s “secret room“, at major switching points, allegedly uses Narus gear to intercept and analyze IP traffic from a variety of networks.
So far the voting doesn’t look good if you’re opposed to telecom immunity, says Broadband Reports, with all three anti-telco immunity amendments being defeated. The Baltimore Sun thinks expanded wiretap powers should be rejected.
“You don’t have to look far into history to know that when the government, any government, is given secret authorities, that those authorities are ultimately abused,” said Mike German, a former FBI agent who is now policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. “You don’t even have to attribute bad motives to anyone. In an intelligence officer’s zeal to protect the country, they often will overstep their bounds.”
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