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Attention Blackberry Users: you can now quickly and immediately jump on and off over 100,000 hotspots around the world without the painful process of entering a user name and password. Boingo, a global provider of WiFi service has become a friend while I am on the road. The company provided me an account over a year ago and since then I have been able to enjoy rapid access to hotspots in hotels, around town and in airports all over the world. I consider this type of service a must have for anyone who wants to stay connected to broadband networks on the go. Yes I have EVDO and also 3G from AT&T via an iPhone but I have found most Boingo networks to be lightening fast and when you are uploading photos or downloading large attachments speed is an issue.

On a laptop, Boingo software alerts you to when you are in range of a hotspot you can gain access to automatically. You see this is an important feature as Boingo has relationships with many other hotspot vendors and there is no way you are going to memorize them all. On an iPhone - since there is no multitasking you must manually launch an application when you think you are in an area where a Boingo associated hotspot might be. If the software detects you can logon, you can press one button and quickly connect.

Obviously on the iPhone you run into many situations where you could have connected to Boingo had you known to run the software. Thanks to a simple concept called multitasking which every smartphone in the world allows except Apple, you can now run Boingo software on your favorite RIM device and be alerted automatically when you can jump on a WiFi network. Bravo. Oh and to be fair, the iPhone does allow multitasking - but only for Apple applications.

A few notes of interest:

• The Boingo Mobile application will initially be available for the BlackBerry Curve 8900, BlackBerry Curve 8320 and BlackBerry Bold smartphones. Boingo will announce support for additional BlackBerry smartphone models as they become available.
• Boingo, and its Concourse Communications Group subsidiary, operate wired and wireless networks at 55 airports worldwide, including 29 of the top 100 North American airports, as well as the WSDOT Ferries Division Wi-Fi network.

If you like this entry, check out my favorite tech tools post.

I conducted dozens of videos this week at Supercomm and many were done in the TMC newsroom. I posted a few of them below for you to see. Feel free to check out the complete list of Supercomm video interviews performed by the TMC news team and others. Expect them all to be posted by October 30, 2009.

I wanted to alert my readers to some exciting news happening at TMC. As you likely know TMC is among a handful of media companies growing at a time when the media landscape is in dramatic decline. As you might imagine this growth is primarily online. Over the last decade and especially in the last few years we have focused on building online communities (Channels and GOCs) for customers who sponsor these areas as they rapidly attract focused decision-makers from around the world.

The visitors who come to these communities benefit from a massive amount of free content which helps them make informed purchasing decisions. For example people looking for products in Call Recording, Smart Data Centers, IP communications, HD Voice, Fixed Mobile Convergence or Next Generation Communications can come to the respective communities focused on these topics and have access to hundreds and in most cases thousands of TMC written articles detailing the news in their specific area of interest. Our business model is straightforward; aggregate massive amounts of focused and quality content using custom-built content targeting technology - make it relevant and pertinent so as to attract the right readers who need this information as they research the products and services they are looking to buy.

For our sponsors, these communities allow them to rank high organically on search engines to get their message out to a focused audience while simultaneously being able to measure the traffic to ensure they can justify their spend to the sales and executive management teams.

Basically, this suite of communities replicates the trade show model online and just like a trade show that attracts more attendees as the exhibitor base grows; the 120 monthly sponsored communities on TMCnet attract a massive audience which in turn attracts more sponsors.

In short, I am very confident we can continue to provide free quality content in all the areas we enter. Meaning while other media companies are beginning to charge for their once free content and many others are reducing their editorial teams, TMC is adding to its editorial, sales and marketing teams as we have a model which works exceptionally well for our readers and sponsors.

We are growing our team as we enter a slew of new markets with our business model of providing laser-focused content - backed by over a decade of proprietary content targeting technology; essentially building targeted online communities which rank high on search engines as they attract large amounts of focused traffic.

Here is my quote from a press release we put out today mentioning the hire of a brand new position - VP of Business Development. Matt Weiner is filling this position and his background of working for Penton and Yahoo! make him a good fit for the position."Over the last decade, TMC has invested in the technology and people necessary to build a next-generation media company which creates communities online, in-print and in-person," Tehrani continued. "By providing our audience with top quality news, training and information, we have attracted global purchasing decision-makers to our communities. As TMC's global communities have increased in size and quality, they have attracted hundreds of advertisers and sponsors who receive regular measurable results for their marketing and SEO budgets. Our future strategy involves continuing to build communities which draw large amounts of targeted traffic as we continue to connect buyers and sellers -- and adding Matt to the team is an integral element of that strategy."

Aside from Matt, we have added a number of other positions and just as importantly we continue to ink partnership after new partnership as we enter new spaces where we leverage our community building engine in combination with the thought leadership of individuals and/or corporations in new markets.

Thank you for continuing to support our rapid growth - thanks to our readers and existing and news sponsors - we look forward to helping all of your companies grow with ours.

Yesterday I mentioned some negative comments about the new Motorola Droid. I have never seen the device and I mentioned that in my blog entry. I did see photos which I said were boxy. And quite frankly I have little confidence in Motorola as I have seen them release disappointment after disappoint across multiple product lines. Ironically the people I meet at the company always seem to be top notch. Perhaps it is a management issue. This is just speculation on my part but there is obviously a systemic problem when the company not only seems to be driving itself out of business, it sent some of its top people to Nortel to help do the same.

Today at Supercomm I had a chance to speak with a highly respected Verizon executive who does not work on the wireless side of the house. He has used the Droid and says it is hip and lightening fast. He said specifically that the browser came up immediately and web pages did the same.

I thought it makes sense for my readers to know this as I do not want to negatively influence you by presenting my early thoughts without appropriate balance. I trust my source was speaking truthfully (but there obviously could be inherent bias) and I was asked by another Verizon representative to not disclose the name of my source.

So there you have it. Maybe Motorola with its back against the wall has come out swinging with a phone which will be a solid competitor to the iPhone. One other comment - the phone is supposed to feel heavy - which is not a surprise when you consider all of the high tech chips packed into a slim form factor which includes a real keyboard.

Here is an extremely informative overview of the challenges facing NSN from Caroline Gabriel. It leads off discussing the fact that Siemens is thinking of pulling out of the joint venture. The article points out where the company has been successful and where it has not. One area which is worth delving into is a mention of NSN pulling out of WiMAX without having significant LTE business. While the two areas are obviously related, pulling out of WiMAX was likely a decision based on the potential revenue available in the market based on current analyst estimates. In other words, would it make sense to keep spending millions on WiMAX R&D until the LTE business takes off? Probably not - it makes sense to put your best and brightest on the product area with the most potential.

Having said that, I am a huge fan of Rethink and their analysis is always thought provoking. I look forward to reading it each weekday. If I get a moment I have to remember to have someone on my team reach out to them to see if they want to blog or write articles on TMCnet.

I am here in Chicago for Supercomm 2009 where I have numerous video interviews and meetings set up. I will be attending a few receptions and the first one is this evening in celebration of Genband's 10-year anniversary. We have a booth at the show where we will be filming live interviews with industry executives and thought leaders and we are excited that TMC's Paula Bernier will be participating in the conference portion of the event. Genband is participating on the panel she will be moderating and will be sending out a press release which I feel objectively describes the session. Hopefully you will get a chance to stop by and see Paula in action.

Here is a photo of Supercomm 2009 Chicago exhibit hall and the release:

GENBAND to Participate in Transcoding Panel with Verizon, Nokia Siemens Networks at SUPERCOMM 2009

Conference session explores transcoding requirements, challenges, insight for voice and multimedia interplay

Plano, TX, October 19, 2009 - GENBAND Inc., a market-leading developer of next-generation IP infrastructure solutions, today announced it will join with Verizon Communications Inc., and Nokia Siemens Networks for SUPERCOMM 2009's programming session: The Transcoding Path to IP Network Interoperability. Taking place on Wednesday, Oct. 21 from 3:10 p.m. - 3:55 p.m. in room W183b, the panel will discuss interworking complexities at network borders and how the industry is addressing these challenges through transcoding.

"As challenges arise from managing and routing VoIP and multimedia sessions, service providers are increasingly using transcoding to address interconnections at network borders," said Paula Bernier, Executive Editor at TMC and moderator of the session. "I look forward to discussing this timely topic, including both the service provider and equipment manufacturer perspectives as they supply and deploy transcoding solutions across IP networks. We will discuss successes and challenges of implementation as well as the roadmap for transcoding and its relationship to trends such as IMS and FMC."

Ms. Bernier will moderate a panel comprised of Tim Dwight, Principal Member of Technical Staff in Verizon's Core Network Technology organization; Al Young, Account Director at Nokia Siemens Networks; and Andrew Bender, Vice President of Technology at GENBAND.

SUPERCOMM 2009's conference program focuses on broadband solutions, in the form of real-world examples and case studies that feature the users of technologies and services as presenters, along with the service providers implementing the technologies in their networks and deploying the applications those technologies enable.

The Transcoding Path to IP Network Interoperability session will explore the requirements for transcoding and the strategies to resolve challenges that arise from combining networks with varying voice and multimedia traffic types.

Carrier consolidation, the convergence of fixed and mobile networks, and the prevalence of all-IP network architectures are all driving a growing need for transcoding in today's communications networks.

The traditional approach to connecting IP networks uses gateways to convert traffic to a common TDM format, which resolves media compatibility but increases cost and can impair voice quality. GENBAND offers a unique solution that avoids these issues by enabling direct IP-IP transcoding with support for fixed, mobile, and satellite codecs.

The SIP Forum has a new special interest group which focuses on smartgrid and I am thrilled to see this happen as the potential for SIP and other communications protocols and technologies to transform our global electrical system is huge. You should be watching this space closely if you are looking for growth opportunities for your company and/or career. To learn more check out the new smartgrid page on the SIP Forum site, and feel free to visit the new smart grid industry site on TMCnet and come to TMC's Smartgrid Summit this January in Miami.

I am a bit of a watch nut and especially a lover of watches which are rich in technology. As of today I don't wear one because my mobile phone has pretty much replaced it but the last one I loved to wear was the Tissot High-T which was a Microsoft SPOT watch allowing me to keep up to date on news and my calendar. Microsoft SPOT technology used FM frequencies to send data signals to a range of devices from watches to coffee makers which kept you informed of changing weather. What was amazing about the Tissot was the fact that it alerted me 15 minutes before every meeting I had. At a trade show where I had to hop from booth to booth, the watch reminded me with a subtle vibrate function that a meeting was imminent. A quick glance at the watch let me know where I had to go.

The High-T stopped charging so I sent it back to the factory to have it fixed. Tissot kept the watch, told me it was discontinued and then gave me a credit towards a new watch which by the way sits unopened in my house in its original box.

I read with great enthusiasm that inPulse will have a new watch designed to work with Blackberrys and it will likely function a lot like the old SPOT watches (the service was also discontinued) but even better as it will alert you to messages, callers and other bits of information tucked away on your device. Why would you want to use this watch? Well, you could glance at it to check Caller-ID before you take a call. Or you could scan the subject line and sender information of your e-mail before taking out your smartphone. Another benefit is it will not need a $10/month service plan as it should just use Bluetooth to work with the information on your Blackberry.

Photo courtesy of Crackberry.com

 In short, I think this watch is something people who are on the leading edge will jump on but the average user may find this solution to be bulky and geeky. I am looking forward to seeing it in action. If they get this thing to work with an iPhone I will likely buy one.

Recently I had a chance to visit Xirrus in their offices in Thousand Oaks, California and meet John Merrill, the Director of Marketing and Dirk Gates the CEO. Dirk is legendary in tech as he was the president and later CEO of Xircom, the company which made those PCMCIA cards which allowed a laptop to connect to a network and modem. The company was later sold to Intel and Dirk stayed on at Intel for a number of years and later left to found this company.

I had a chance to have a tour of the company and see their Wall of Wonder or WoW where they do testing of access points. I also learned about how the company is growing, what new products are coming out and we even took apart some product and went through the components.

Dirk explains that most companies in the space don't innovate in the access point space, they spend more of their effort developing software. And the chip vendors they tell me focus on chips which are focused on the low-end of market or consumers.

This was the opportunity Gates saw as he founded the company. He noticed that cell towers have multiple radios arranged in a radial fashion with directional antennas and wondered why APs did not. He decided to leverage ideas which worked in the cellular world to build a next generation access point with better performance and coverage. Up to 24 radios can be in an access point allowing a high capacity, high density solution which allows rapid deployment.

Merrill thinks this solution is the only one which allows the replacement of wires in an organization.

I hope you enjoy these videos.

John Merrill gives us a tour of Xirrus HQ

Dirk Gates explains the reason he founded the company and the next enterprise network upgrade cycle

Xirrus WiFi Array Deconstructed

Software as a Service or SaaS has become an established way of working where instead of buying servers, operating systems and software, you lease software over the web on a monthly basis allowing you to scale up or down as you need. It took time for corporate IT departments to embrace the concept but thankfully champions like Marc Benioff the CEO of Salesforce.com perservered during numerous economic downturns to allow the concept to gain traction.

The idea of SaaS is simple - you share infrastructure but gain all the benefits of having secure and reliable computing in a more cost-effective fashion.

In a recent conversation with Iridium's Greg Ewert, the Executive Vice President of Global Distribution and Business Development for the company, He explained that Iridium is beginning to roll out the idea of Satellite as a Service where government bodies can work with his company to purchase portions of a satellite, share the rockets, etc.

The value proposition is the same as it is in the software world and you can expect applications where security is not as much of an issue such as weather to be the first to migrate to this new idea. Of course national security projects will likely not go the hosted route in the foreseeable future but imagine now how many more applications will get rolled out now that the cost has come down via this approach.

Iridium also sees itself as a major force in the M2M space as only 10% of the world's land mass is covered by cellular. They are already having success helping with the information flow in supply chains, sending data from remote windmills in the ocean and numerous other applications.  Greg seems confident the company has great potential to expand based upon their price/performance, latency and packet performance.

I left the meeting impressed and you can check out the video for yourself to learn more.