Wireless Blog

When municipal wireless provider MetroFi announced plans to shut off the Portland WiFi network in June, it promised to take down all the antennas by the end of July. They’re still up, though, and the city is starting to worry that Portland taxpayers may have to pick up the tab to dismantle them, says Mike Rogoway in the Oregonian.

Stan Heil of Heil Electric Co., a Southeast Portland business that has worked with cell phone companies, estimates it might cost $150 per antenna to unhook MetroFi’s gear. Multiplied by 600 antennas, that works out to $90,000.

As part of its contract with the city, MetroFi posted a $30,000 bond to cover the cost of dismantling the network in case it flamed out. And Kleier said Portland transportation crews could probably remove antennas from about 160 city-owned traffic signals, saving the city about $24,000.

That would leave Portland with a $36,000 bill. (The city paid more than $250,000 to launch the Wi-Fi project, and MetroFi invested more than $2 million to build the network.)

The city doesn’t plan to wait around too much longer to get the issue resolved, said Logan Kleier, the city staffer assigned to work with MetroFi.

Related Dailywireless articles include; Lights Out for MetroFi Portland, Municipal Fiber: Fits and Starts and Be Your Own Fiber Net.

MySpace has teamed up with The Cloud to offer UK social networkers free access to Wi-fi hotspots, so they can keep up with what their pretend friends are up to while out socialising.

Want to break into the computer network in an ultra-secure building? Ship a hacked iPhone there to a nonexistent employee and hope the device sits in the mailroom, scanning for nearby wireless connections.

The Washingtop Post reports that broadband wireless juggernaut Clearwire says conversion from fixed WiMAX to Mobile WiMAX is relatively fast and easy. So Clearwire will start converting their earlier service areas first, then move to new service areas.

Today, Clearwire’s fixed broadband wireless service offers speeds between one and two megabits per second using a pre-WiMAX system — but with mobile WiMax it will jump to 4 to 6 in the home, said Ben Wolff, CEO of Clearwire.

“We can take advantage of the infrastructure we already have,” said Wolff. It can take 12-18 months or more to build a market from scratch, but a conversion only takes 6-12 months.

The first four Clearwire mobile WiMax market are now apparently close to becoming fully operational battle stations. Commercial launches in Portland Oregon, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Grand Rapids, Michigan are expected in 2009.

In Q2, the Portland, Oregon system grew to cover 1.2 million people, said Wolff. That network reaches peak speeds of 15 mbps with a mean rate of 6 mbps. The results of their tests in Portland led to the decision to speed up their planned Mobile WiMAX conversion in existing markets.

Currently, 30 million mobile WiMax POPs are under development (not including markets being built by Sprint). It will continue to sell residential services. More than 80 suppliers have more than 400 devices ready for mobile WiMax.

Dailywireless helped create a temporary free WiFi using Clearwire’s Mobile WiMAX network in July. It was an unofficial deployment for the Waterfront Blues Festival. We borrowed a Clearwire modem from a beta tester. It was not officially sanctioned by the company, but worked like a charm.

Clearwire says it wants to focus on the top 100 markets, filling coverage gaps with 3G. On paper, this would provide wireless broadband coverage for between 120 million and 140 million people and more than 200 million people beyond 2010. Clearwire CTO John Saw says the company can deploy its planned mobile WiMax network in the U.S. for far less than traditional cellular deployments thanks to its work on microwave backhaul and the use of a flat-IP architecture throughout its network.

Wolff said they are on track to close the merger in Q4, and is still waiting for regulatory approvals and a vote by Clearwire shareholders. Comments with the FCC were due by July 24. More than 100 companies were in support of the merger, and only two oppositions were filed, and one of them said it did not fundamentally oppose the transaction.

Sprint will roll out Mobile WiMAX in larger U.S. cities like Baltimore, Chicago and New York.

Moco News says, starting this fall, T-Mobile USA will ditch its traditional deck on the phone and replacing it with a platform that’s open to almost any developer, not unlike Apple’s App store.

As one developer, who was briefed on the matter, said: “The App store was a big deal, but that’s one phone. This is an entire carrier.”

In other words, we are talking about T-Mobile’s 31.5 million subscribers today vs. the 10 million iPhones Apple expects to sell by year-end. The impact of this move by T-Mobile could set off a wave of changes in the industry, as other carriers feel pressure to offer new applications on their networks. We are waiting for a statement from T-Mobile and will update when we have it.

Here’s the details: Developers will submit their applications online; the revenue-share agreement will be based on how much the application uses the network; and the applications will be presented to the user in order of popularity, not according to T-Mobile’s preferences.

It’s all pretty straightforward, but the more interesting aspect is that this will apply to all the carrier’s platforms from upcoming Android to Java to Sidekick and Windows Mobile.

C/Net speculates that the first T-Mobile AWS (3G) phones will be the Samsung SGH-T639, Samsung SGH-T819, Nokia 6263, and Nokia 3555.

The sheer volume of the credit and debit card numbers stolen was astounding as was the far-flung cast of multinational characters in one of the largest Internet hacking and fraud cases federal prosecutors say ...

Your cell phone might become your personal translator if one of the new services from Internet telephone company JaJah catches on -- a free, real-time, machine translation service.

The JaJah Babel service, offered in conjunction with IBM, is initially intended to translate between Mandarin and English, just in time for the Summer Olympics. The first Olympic team to have the service is the small contingent from Ireland, home of JaJah CEO Trevor Healey.

The companies say they expect to offer other languages later this year, and eventually to charge for the service.

Order Dinner in Chinese

The service allows a user in China to call a local number from any phone, speak in English, and hear the words returned in Chinese Mandarin. Similarly, a Chinese speaker can have a statement translated into English. Babel also works with local access numbers in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Australia.

With this service, for instance, a user could order dinner in Chinese by speaking into the phone, then handing the phone to the waiter or putting it on speakerphone.

Offering, testing, and monetizing new, free services are a key part of JaJah's business model. "We offer customer alpha and beta products to help us determine how to monetize services," Healey told news media, adding that, once proven, the technologies move into partnerships with telephony companies.

In addition to the Babel translation service, JaJah has also announced it will offer another service, called Concierge, that utilizes a voice-enabled IP telephony platform from Mobivox. JaJah pointed out that hands-free voice commands to dial numbers, send text messages, or set up conference calls will keep users legal for laws requiring hands-free operation for phone calls while driving. Like Babel, Concierge can be accessed by calling a local number.

Forefront of 'Voice 2.0'

Healey said Concierge and the partnership with MobiVox puts the...

According to a Web report, there may be some problems with integrating the Google-led open-source mobile platform Android into devices, delaying the release of an Android phone until early next year.

The Barron's Tech Trader Daily Web site published a report Thursday that said the so-called "GPhone" cell phones, which are being manufactured by a variety of makers, could be delayed beyond the current expected release in late 2008. The site raises this possibility because one analyst, Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research, is quoted as saying that handset maker High Tech Computer (HTC) is having "structural problems" incorporating Google's feature set.

The report follows recent assurances from HTC that its Android phones are on track.

Minimum Revenue Guarantee?

Chowdhry also said that not enough developers are being drawn to Android, because new software toolkits from Microsoft, Apple, Research in Motion and Nokia have lured developers to those established platforms. He also told Barron's that HTC is "demanding a guaranteed minimum revenue surety from Google, because it does not expect there will be enough demand for [the] GPhone."

However, a Google spokesperson told news media that "we remain on schedule to deliver the first Android-based handset this year, and we're very excited to see the momentum continuing to build [for] the Android platform among carriers, handset manufacturers, developers and consumers."

Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with industry research firm JupiterResearch, downplayed the report of a delay. "It's one rumor, based on speculation, relating to one manufacturer," he said, noting that HTC itself is saying that the device remains on schedule.

Last year, Google announced the open-source mobile platform, as well as dozens of companies who had joined in a new Open Handset Alliance. The alliance members include HTC, Motorola, T-Mobile and Qualcomm.

T-Mobile Also on Track

Android is a Linux-based software stack with an operating system, middleware, interface and applications....

IBM announced new software and services for mobile workers Friday, including applications for the iPhone and Blackberry devices. The Armonk, N.Y.-based company cited a surge in mobile devices as an important new market for traditional desktop, storage and server vendors.

IBM's internal research by its Institute for Business Value estimates that more than one billion people will be connected to the Internet this year -- a 191 percent jump from 2006. This makes mobile computing one of the fastest-growing markets in the world.

Mobility@Work

IBM's focus is on consulting and implementation services for businesses called Mobility@Work. Spokesperson Jan Walbridge said, "The program has been under wraps for six months. But with the attention to mobile-device security, new mobile devices, and considering how companies are trying to save money on energy lately, we felt it was time to announce the initiative."

Enterprises can call in the Mobility@Work team to analyze their systems, ERP and current devices, and get suggestions for a productive mobility strategy.

"Companies need to ask: Will it be productive, does it really add value to our bottom line?" Walbridge said. The Mobility@Work team then helps companies implement a final strategy and provide a post-implementation analysis measuring the return on investment.

For example, mobile workers with the right applications can work with backend systems such as real-time inventory, pricing and order placement.

Too Many Devices, Too Little Time

Many companies are currently going mobile whether they officially approve it or not as employees are hooking in iPhones, Blackberries and Windows Mobile devices. Whether the mobility is providing a real value is a concern.

These companies need to ensure that the applications are secure and efficient. In fact, a feature at the Black Hat Security Conference was a Wall of Sheep -- the most vulnerable devices and environments on the market today -- and to no one's surprise,...

Motorola’s technologies performed well in FCC “white space” testing, reports E-Week. Google, Microsoft, Motorola and other IT companies hope to exploit the digital television transition by delivering wireless broadband in the empty spectrum between digital television channels.

Motorola said Aug. 7 its geolocation device operated successfully in the Federal Communications Commission’s ongoing white spaces field trials.

The spectrum between the channels will become available after Feb. 17 when broadcasters make the switch to digital broadcasting. The FCC began testing white spaces devices with mixed results in January using a prototype device supplied by Microsoft. In July, the FCC tested prototypes built by Philips and Motorola as well as Silicon Valley start-up Adaptrum and Singapore-based Institute for Infocomm Research.

“It worked as well as we said it would,” said Steve Sharkey, Motorola’s senior director of regulatory and spectrum policy. “It went really well.”

Motorola’s device was the only one using both geolocation and sensing technologies, while devices from Philips, Adaptrum and InfoComm relied only on sensing to detect existing TV channels. Motorola primarily relied on combining geolocation with an FCC database of channels to find spectrum in the white spaces that would not interfere with existing TV channels.

“That was one of the key things for us,” Sharkey said. “It knows what’s in the area and what channels to use and picks out the best channel. From our point of view, geolocation has to be part of the solution.”

The testing was conducted in a variety of conditions including a regional park in the Washington-Baltimore area, BWI Airport, downtown Washington and Ellicott City, Md.

Motorola will not be involved in the next stage of outdoors testing, when the FCC begins testing for interference with wireless microphones.

When the FCC concludes the outdoors testing, the agency will then prepare a report and make overall recommendations on the use of white spaces devices. If the FCC supports the use of white spaces, device makers like Motorola could start manufacturing technology for laptops, smart phones, PDAs and set-top boxes that can utilize the white spaces. All of the devices would have to be certified by the FCC.

“It’s really ideal spectrum for rural broadband and we see uses in land-mobile applications,” Sharkey said. “We view white spaces as somewhat similar to Wi-Fi. When it was first approved for use, no one knew all the applications, devices and form factors that would evolve.”

Opposition to the use of white spaces is led not only by sports leagues but also the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters), which fears interference, and some lawmakers who want the white spaces spectrum to be auctioned off the highest bidder.