According to Park Associates, HDTV sales in the U.S. will grow 71% by 2009. Gee, you couldn't fool me. I have a 65" Mitsubishi television at home and my cable provider (Charter) still only offers me 4 HDTV channels via their set-top box. I'm not a huge WB fan, but I do like to watch Smallville, and the WB is available in HDTV, but alas, not by Charter. So I often prefer to just download an episode of Smallville via the P2P Bittorrent network since it's a higher quality version than the one on broadcast TV.
Appetite for high-definition TVs & services is steadily increasing among U.S. consumers Television manufacturers will see a surge in cumulative HDTV sales over the next few years, which will boost the overall market value to $65 billion by 2009, according to "Adoption of High-Definition TVs and Services," a new study from Parks Associates.
The report, which includes data from Parks Associates' "Mobile Entertainment Platforms & Services" study, finds consumers are growing less skeptical about HDTV, which is creating a gradual increase in demand for high-definition products and services. Nearly 47% of TV households in the U.S. plan to buy an HDTV in the next twelve months. This increase would boost HDTV sales by 30% and HD video services by 38% by the end of 2006.
"Consumers are beginning to see the true benefits of HDTV," said Deepa Iyer, a research analyst at Parks Associates. "Consumers who were once hesitant to spend huge dollars on an HDTV are now reconsidering this product category."
As a result, service providers, including broadcasters, cable, and DBS operators, are beginning to feel a push to expand their HD video services in order to attract more HD subscribers. Service providers, content producers, television and chipset manufacturers, and other solution providers are all working to bring more high-definition products and services to market, although Iyer warns that they need to ramp up their efforts. The overall market penetration for high-definition televisions and services is very low. The current subscription rate for HD programming is barely 10% among all digital video subscribers, while only 35% of total HDTV households subscribe to HD video services.
"It is a chain reaction," Iyer said. "An increase in HDTV sales will fuel the demand for other services including high-definition VOD, local content, primetime programming, and movies. However, this industry lacks a sense of urgency in its efforts to bring compelling HD services to consumers. It has to recognize that HDTV will become ubiquitous only if all collateral forces within come together to embrace the change."
Parks Associates will further examine the issue of meaningful content delivery at the upcoming executive conference "Fall Focus: Making Media Meaningful," hosted November 9-11, 2005, at the Fairmont San Jose. With sessions such as "Enhancing the Television Experience via Interactivity" and "The "Eyes" Have It: Video Content on Consumers' Terms," this event will feature analysis and discussion on the expanding paradigm for video services.
"Adoption of High-Definition TVs and Services" provides an analysis of the enablers, inhibitors, and opportunities for high-definition TVs and services in the U.S. It provides insight into service providers' strategies and consumer behavior patterns for next-generation services and applications.
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America - land of the free, home of the brave? Not when it comes to broadband choices! The Channel Changer, a blog all about "communication competition", has an interesting post on Sen. John Sununu and pondering why Sununu, a technology proponent hasn't signed onto the controversial bill written by Sen. John Ensign, titled "Broadband Investment and Consumer Choice Act of 2005" which aims to allow for free open competition in the broadband sector. Go check it out....
Palm launched their TX and the Z22 handhelds today. The Palm Z22 is an especially affordable PDA at just under the $100 mark ($99). (The Palm TX is $299.) It also appears that Palm dropped the names Zire and Tungsten. The Palm TX is targeted at mobile professionals and includes a large display, integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The Palm Z22 organizer is Palm’s first $99 color organizer for the mass market, but personally I am underwhelmed. I prefer a more expensive converged device with more features since it means one less device to carry around.
A $99 cheapo handheld sounds like something parents would give their kid for Christmas because their son or daughter requested a color handheld -- only to be disappointed that it doesn't have all the features they want. The Palm TX seems interesting though, but you really have to wonder if Palm's heart - especially the Palm engineers' hearts - is really into making new innovative handheld devices considering they've now decided to offer Palm devices running Windows Mobile.
Sadly, the fracturing of the Internet has begun.
First, we have Level 3 and Cogent Communications, two major Internet backbone providers bickering - they've cut off peering Internet traffic to each other. From ZDNet:
Two major Internet backbone companies are feuding, potentially cutting off significant swaths of the Internet for some of each other's customers.
On Wednesday, network company Level 3 Communications cut off its direct "peering" connections to another big network company called Cogent Communications. That technical action means that some customers on each company's network now will find it impossible, or slower, to get to Web sites on the other company's network. more...
Then you have instances of ISPs blocking VoIP traffic. And now you have Greg Galitzine providing this analysis of yet another attack on the "openness" of the Internet. Greg sarcastically writes, "a group of countries including the likes of Iran, Cuba and China — bastions of freedom all — have seen fit to complain about who controls the Internet." Greg opines, "Apparently at issue is the stated position taken by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) that they would retain indefinite control of the Internet's foundation — its "root servers" — which act as the basic directory for the whole ‘Net."
Greg provides some great insights into this issue and includes links to other websites discussing this very important issue on who controls the Internet. While it seems fashionably vogue to be anti-American these days, here's one issue where we shouldn't let control of the Internet be dictated by dictatorships. And since when has their been a problem with the U.S. controlling the root servers? Has the U.S. wielded this power to censor certain websites? No, they haven't. So what's the problem?
Like Greg comments in his article, do we really need to have a committee of countries controlling the Internet root servers, each with their own agenda? Please... we don't need a re-creation of the United Nations for the Internet. This isn't me waving my patriotic red, white, and blue banner saying it's the U.S.'s God-given right to control the root servers simply because the U.S. invented the Internet (though that is a valid argument), rather I'd like to see a single entity be in charge of the root servers - and only if this entity is a democratic, freedom-loving entity. Maybe the U.S. can rotate control of the root servers to other democratic countries such as the U.K., Australia, Canada, etc. but please, don't make control of the Internet "by committee" comprised of anti-democracy, anti-freedom countries. The Internet is one of the planet's greatest outlets for freedom of speech and democracy. Let's keep it that way.
AOL seems to have its sights set on the blogosphere. After the news today of AOL purchasing Weblogs, Inc, AOL is now offering online presence capability for its millions of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) users to be use in conjunction with online blogs. As part of promoting this new feature, AOL has partnered with Six Apart (MovableType & TypePad), Facebook, Inc., LinkedIn Corporation., and Glam.com. I should mention that Skype already offers the capability to show your presence on a web page. Although the news release promotes the chat capabilities more than voice capabilities, no doubt AOL has voice in mind and helping to connect people via voice. They even have the SMB market in mind as seen by this promo image they sent me showing how you can connect with a realtor:
Check out the news release.
In concert with our CEO Jon Miller's fireside chat at the Web 2.0 event, we are announcing several new partners for the AIM service, and rolling out a new free AIM Presence licensing program that will give any blogger, podcaster, consumer or small business the ability to add AIM presence and the AIM service to their Web site.
This free presence availability promises to light up user-generated and independent commercial sites alike, enabling real time communications with audiences and customers via the largest IM network in the U.S.
AOL'S AIM SERVICE TEAMS WITH FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN, SIX APART AND GLAM.COM TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER IN REAL-TIME
Invites Bloggers, Podcasters, Consumers and Small Business Owners to Add AIM Presence to Their Web Sites with Free Licensing From AIM.com
Dulles, VA - October 6, 2005 - Top blogging, media and social networking services are teaming up with AOL to bring the AIM service directly into their communities, integrating users' online status and giving them one-click access to real time communications whenever they like. AOL's new partners, including Facebook, Inc., LinkedIn Corporation., Six Apart, Inc. and Glam.com, Inc. join a growing list of sites and services that are integrating AIM 'presence' and the massive reach of the AOL network to let users see when friends, family members, colleagues and contacts are available for text, live voice and/or streaming video chat ( http://www.aim.com ).
Today AOL also announced that it is giving bloggers, podcasters, consumers and small businesses the ability to add AIM presence and one-click access to the AIM® service to their Web sites free of charge. Called AIM® Presence ( http://www.aim.com/presence ), the new program offers a free distribution license and lets sites and services publish AIM presence by simply cutting and pasting a line of HTML code into their Web pages. The program uses the familiar Running Man icon to indicate presence so that visitors can see when others are online and available to communicate.
"The AIM service should be everywhere our users are and want to be, from blogs and shopping sites to professional and social networking services," said Chamath Palihapitiya, vice president and general manager, AIM and ICQ, America Online, Inc. "With the new AIM Presence program, we are taking this commitment to a deeper level, enabling everyone from bloggers and podcasters to small businesses to tap our network's reach and connect with key audiences in real time."
Facebook, LinkedIn, Six Apart, Glam.com Join Growing List of AIM-Enabled Communities.
Effective today, Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com ), an online directory that connects people through social networks at high schools, universities and colleges, has selected AOL to be its exclusive provider of instant messaging and presence technologies. Facebook will build AIM presence and the AIM service into users' profile pages on Facebook.com, enabling them to share online status and initiate IM sessions from within the service.
In addition, AOL has selected LinkedIn, a network that enables professionals to find jobs, people and opportunities through their existing network of business relationships, as its preferred provider of business profiles for the AIM service. In turn, AOL will be the sole provider of instant messaging services for LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com ), which will integrate AIM presence to enable its 3.8 million users to communicate with their connections in real time. AIM users will be able to add their LinkedIn connections to their AIM® Buddy List® feature with one click, and to instantly invite contacts from their AIM Buddy List feature to connect on LinkedIn.
Also announced today, Six Apart ( http://www.sixapart.com ), a leading provider of weblogging (blogging) software and services best known for its Movable Type publishing platform, TypePad service and LiveJournal community, has formalized its integration of the AIM service within its growing community. Under the agreement, Six Apart will empower its over 11 million bloggers to share their AIM presence information on their blogs so that readers, fellow bloggers and media can easily be in touch.
Finally, Glam.com ( http://www.glam.com ), a new web site offering magazine-quality fashion and beauty editorial with embedded e-commerce, has selected the AIM service as its exclusive real time communications partner. Glam.com will give its users the ability to register their AIM® Screen Name as part of their Glam profile and will give them the ability to connect via text, voice or video for a more social shopping experience. Glam will also add an "IM this" button to its pages to let users share images and links to hot finds or great deals, making the online shopping experience more fun and interactive.
AOL extends its commitment to connecting communities.
Facebook, LinkedIn, Six Apart and Glam.com join ranks with Apple Computer, Inc., Plaxo, Inc., IPCelerate, Inc., Intellisync Corporation, CareerBuilder, Inc., Ruckus Network, Inc., Pivot Solutions and Thomson Financial in connecting communities of IM users. These sites users' will also be able to chat with at-work IM users on enterprise networks from members of the AIM® Enterprise Federation program, including Jabber, Inc., Parlano, Inc., Antepo, Inc., Omnipod, Inc., Reuters, Inc. and Microsoft Corporation.
To learn more about the new free AIM Presence licensing program for individuals and small businesses, please go to ( http://www.aim.com/presence/faq.adp ). To learn more about AIM's commercial presence program, please contact aimpresenceinfo@aol.com.
About The AIM® Service
With more than 42 million active users in the U.S. alone, the AIM® service ( http://www.aim.com ) is at the center of one of the largest and most dynamic online communities. The AIM service is an integrated communications client that is available for use on computers, mobile phones and other handheld devices. It offers instant messaging, email and mobile texting as well as a variety of voice calling and streaming video services. Features include a Plaxo-enabled AIM® Address Book and integrated access to the AOL® Explorer, AOL® Mail, AIM® Mail, AIM® Talk and AOL® TotalTalk services.
About America Online, Inc.
America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.
Media Contact:
Krista Thomas
America Online, Inc.
703.265.5880,
kristadthomas@aol.com
All company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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P R E S S R E L E A S E
Glam.com and AOL Team to Let Women Shop Together Online
New Interactive Fashion and Shopping Site Taps the AIM Service to Offer Shoppers Real-Time Communications
San Francisco Oct. 6, 2005 Glam.com, the first website to offer magazine-quality fashion and beauty editorial with embedded e-commerce, enabling women to purchase virtually any featured merchandise, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with AOL. Under the terms of the agreement, Glam will integrate the AIM service into the Glam.com site and make real-time text, voice and video communications available to all Glam users. Using the AIM service on Glam.com, visitors will be able to share links to merchandise they find on Glam and chat about the items, browsing and shopping together online similar to the way women do in real life.
Women browsing and shopping on Glam.com will now be able to see when friends or other shoppers are visiting Glam.com, and will be able to connect in real time through the AIM® service. Shoppers will be able to send each other instant messages with product images and links, letting them look at fashion items together, give their opinions, weigh in on purchase decisions and, for the first time ever, re-create online the experience of shopping together at their favorite store.
Glam.com will also have regularly scheduled AIM® live chats with fashion designers, professional stylists, retail buyers and editors, so that users can chat with the designers themselves about their new collections, ask stylists for tips on products, and hear from retail buyers about upcoming trends.
"Working with AOL to offer the AIM service to our user base reinforces our commitment to continually enhance Glam.com's revolutionary approach to online shopping," said Fernando Ruarte, co-founder and vice president of Products at Glam.com. "Now, Glam.com users can have a unique, fun and convenient experience shopping online with friends, enjoying the social pleasures of shopping that were previously limited to the offline world."
"Shopping is a very social activity, and people like to bounce fashion ideas off of friends before they buy. We are extremely pleased to be joining forces with Glam to bring that fun offline experience to life on the Web," said Chamath Palihapitya, vice president and general manager of AIM and ICQ, America Online, Inc. "With high-quality voice and video services now fully integrated, the AIM service will let Glam shoppers chat in any way they like, with friends old and new."
Features and Benefits:
Glam.com visitors can use the AIM service within Glam.com
Glam.com will be seamless integrated with the U.S.'s #1 Instant Messaging network
New Glam.com users get an AIM® account and Screen Name when they register at Glam
Users can see their Shopping Buddies on Glam and, with one click, invite them to shop together co-browsing the Glam.com site and looking at pages together
Users can see, and shop with, any member who is online on Glam
Users can send and receive any Glam.com pages to each other and to any AIM user
Users can also use the Mobile AIM service for shopping
Log on to www.glam.com for additional information.
About Glam.com
Glam Media, with offices in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York, is one of the first companies to bring together the worlds of high technology, fashion, and publishing. Glam has built a category-creating website that completely alters the online shopping experience. Glam Media is backed by the blue-chip venture capital firms of Accel Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Walden VC and Information Capital. Glam Media, Inc. is led by seasoned executives from media, publishing, technology, and fashion companies such as Armani, eBay, NetObjects, Tickle, Versace and Yahoo. The editorial staff of the company is led by professionals from Vogue, In Style, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, The New York Times, and Ziff Davis.
Media Contact:
A Glam / Spark contact should go here.
All company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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P R E S S R E L E A S E
LinkedIn and AOL Form Agreement to Enhance Business Communication Via Profile Integration and Presence Services
LinkedIn becomes preferred provider of business profiles for the AIM service; enables its users to see when their connections are available for real-time dialogue
Palo Alto, Calif. [October 6, 2005] LinkedIn Corporation, operator of the world's largest business network, today announced that it has signed an agreement with America Online, Inc. to integrate its AIM® service into LinkedIn to provide LinkedIn users with AIM presence information, so that they can easily see when their LinkedIn connections are online and available for real-time communications.
This new capability for instant text, voice and video communication will give the more than 3.8 million LinkedIn users a new way to maintain and strengthen their relationships with relevant business contacts, such as clients, business partners and former co-workers.
Under the agreement, LinkedIn also becomes the preferred provider of business profiles for the AIM service, enabling AOL® members and AIM® users to integrate their LinkedIn profiles into their AIM® profiles. The more than 41 million active AIM users will also be able to add their LinkedIn connections to their AIM® Buddy Lists® with one click and will also be able to instantly invite contacts from their AIM Buddy Lists to connect on LinkedIn.
Meanwhile, LinkedIn will enable its users to register their AOL® or AIM® Screen Names with LinkedIn and detect when their connections are online and available for real-time communication through the AIM service. LinkedIn users will also be able to invite their LinkedIn connections to join the AIM service, so that they can detect their connections' presence on LinkedIn and converse with them in real time. Both AOL and LinkedIn will make the integrated features available at no additional charge to their users. The AIM service as well as Personal accounts on LinkedIn will continue to be free.
"LinkedIn is a best-in-class service that will make it easier for AIM users to stay up-to-date with their professional colleagues," said Chamath Palihapitiya, vice president and general manager for AIM and ICQ at America Online, Inc. "Through this agreement, we are bringing real-time communications to the largest business network on the Web, giving people instant text, voice and video access to their network of colleagues and existing business partners."
"We chose AIM as it is already the most popular instant messaging service among our user base of 3.8 million business professionals," said Reid Hoffman, CEO of LinkedIn. "By providing AIM presence information within LinkedIn, we provide our members with another vehicle for maintaining and strengthening existing business relationships."
About LinkedIn Corporation
LinkedIn is the world's largest and most effective business network. On LinkedIn, more than 3.8 million professionals find jobs, people and business opportunities through their existing network of trusted business relationships. LinkedIn offers four premium services. Hiring managers posting jobs on LinkedIn Jobs (https://www.linkedin.com/jobs) receive candidates recommended by fellow employees or other trusted contacts. More than 230,000 service providers listed in the LinkedIn Services business-to-business directory (https://www.linkedin.com/services) have an opportunity to be at the top of the search results when contacts of their former clients search for recommended service providers. More than 950 membership organizations use LinkedIn for Groups (https://www.linkedin.com/groups) to strengthen connections between members and develop greater loyalty to the organization. LinkedIn Business Accounts (https://www.linkedin.com/business) enable recruiters and researches to search beyond their personal networks and get in touch with job candidates and experts more quickly and efficiently. LinkedIn Corporation is located in Palo Alto, Calif. and is funded by Greylock and Sequoia Capital, the venture capitalists behind Google, Yahoo!, Cisco and Apple.
Just got this news release on a FTTH deployment that includes IPTV, voice, video, video-on-demand, HDTV, ludicrous 100 Mbps Internet speeds, and more. Man, my cable broadband is starting to look like lame dial-up when I read news releases like this!
Optical Entertainment Network (OEN) announced today their plans to deploy fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) to over 1,600,000 households in Houston, Texas, the 10th largest television market in the U.S. The company, who has partnered with leading European and North American vendors plans to launch its United States service offering in December 2005 and begin European operations in Q2 of 2006.
The company has designed the first truly integrated IPTV service for Video, 10 to 100 Mbps Internet, Voice, Video-on-Demand (VOD) and other broadband applications such as, Home Security, videoconferencing and telemedicine. OEN has acquired programming agreements for IPTV distribution from top programming television networks and will deliver over 400 television channels, including 50 plus channels of High Definition Television (HDTV) to subscribers. In addition, OEN will offer video-on-demand, subscription video-on-demand, pay-per-view specials and events and original HDTV programming created by OEN Studios, the creative television production arm of Optical Entertainment Network.
"FTTH makes OEN unique among entertainment service providers", said Tom Wendt, President and CEO. "The marriage of FTTH and OEN's fiber technology allows our service to have the largest programming lineup of any multi-channel video provider in North America."
The OEN system provides state-of-the-art integrated services including standard and high definition television, Internet, telephone services and unified messaging. This network delivers innovative new applications such as, videoconferencing, gaming, telemedicine, niche programming, and connected learning to homes in the Houston area.
All of these services have been integrated into IP (Internet Protocol) architecture, designed specifically for Gigabit Ethernet FTTH systems.
"Other existing Fiber-to-the-Home deployments today are using traditional cable and telephone network technology from the legacy copper based systems", said Curtis Overstreet, Chairman of the Board and Chief Financial Officer, "Our system takes full advantage of the limitless bandwidth capacity offered by the latest in optical technologies to not only generate new revenues from innovative applications but to create some exciting new revenue generating business models such as advertising targeted at the household level".
OEN's first deployment partner is Phonoscope of Houston, Texas, owner of the largest privately held metro fiber network. Already the existing network reaches 200,000 household easements and is within 100 to 500 yards of approximately 1.6 million households in the 6 county areas around Houston. OEN which is already generating revenues from HDTV program production will have live subscribers from day one of this deployment.
"OEN has assembled the best partners in the industry for this venture, including key industry leaders in FTTH construction, engineering services, technology and in investment banking", added Thomas Wendt, "and we've been successful in marrying this infrastructure with the premier entertainment companies of the world", Wendt adds.
About Optical Entertainment Network
Optical Entertainment Network is a Houston, Texas based company providing the first major market deployment of Video, Internet and Voice to residential and commercial customers over a system specifically designed to optimize Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) technology. The company is a platinum member of the FTTH Council. More information can be found at the company's website at www.4fiber.tv.
The first city-wide deployment of broadband-over-powerline (BPL) technology in the U.S. went line in Manassas, Virginia. The BPL network is operated by Communication Technologies, Inc. (COMTek). COMTek is recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the 500 fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States. While having a city-wide broadband-over-powerline is a major milestone, I still think broadband-over-sewer lines is way cooler. After all, half the stuff on the Internet is crap anyway.
I was just checking out Ubergizmo, and they posted a story about the San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom declaring that Wifi connectivity is a 'fundamental right', the equal of food, clothing, and shelter. This is the same mayor who shortly after he was elected permitted same sex marriages to take place in City Hall which stirred a political storm and made him a national celebrity after previously being unknown..
In any case, Newcom envisions an "affordable" Wi-Fi network covering the 43 hills, and 49 square miles of San Francisco, with Google as one of the bidders. Whether or not this is simply another "publicity stunt" on Newsom's part or if he legitimately wants free WiFi for all San Franciscans remains to be seen, but they apparently have $200 million extra to burn.
I'm not much of a Mac user myself (I haven't touched a Mac since college), but I do admire the loyal Mac community. As such, I thought this bit of news for easily and cheaply upgrading your legacy Mac might be a benefit to my Mac readers.
New Low-Cost PowerLogix Upgrade Makes Legacy Macs More Than Nine Times Faster
Put some pounce back into a PCI-based Mac with new 900MHz PowerForce 750GX G3 upgrade immediately available for $139
PowerLogix and Other World Computing have immediately available a new 900 Megahertz (MHz) PowerForce 750GX G3 upgrade for PCI- based Macs including PowerMac 7300, 7500, 7600, 8500, 8600, 9500 and 9600 models from Apple Computer, as well as select Power Computing and Umax clones.
The 900MHz PowerForce 750GX G3 includes 512K of L2 cache also running at 900MHz and is immediately available for $139. With a clock speed up to nine times faster than original stock 601 or 604 Apple processors, additional performance and software compatibility are possible because of the modern IBM G3 750FX processor gains this upgrade is based upon.
The PowerForce 1 Gigahertz (GHz) PowerForce 750GX G3 featuring 1MB of L2 Cache also is available for $209.99.
The new PowerForce 750GX G3 is the latest in the PowerForce G3 line, previously honored as "Editor's Choice" by MacWorld Magazine.
"Computers people thought were aging beyond the ability to use Apple's latest advances are still viable," said Larry O'Connor, president of Other World Computing, master distributor for PowerLogix. "Even without using software like XPostFacto to use Apple's Tiger OS, this upgrade makes applications running under OS 8.6 to OS 9.2.2 fly like never before. If it's not broke, don't need to fix it or replace it. But you can buy one of these upgrades to get a whole lot more from it."
The PowerForce 750GX G3 upgrades also include a built-in fan sink to aid CPU cooling, fail-safe protection circuitry, CPU Director software and compatibility with add-on PCI cards.
Online ordering and more information on this new PowerLogix G3 upgrade are available online at www.macsales.com/legacy
Cool new WiFi hotspot finder utilizing a software toolbar. I'll have to download and check it out.
JiWire, the leading provider of information and services to help people connect to the Internet without wires, today unveiled its new WiFi toolbar for major Internet browsers. This free utility features immediate access to a worldwide hotspot directory, WiFi security and connection status, so users can easily find, monitor and secure any wireless connection.
The WiFi toolbar, available at: http://www.jiwire.com/wifi-toolbar.htm, takes just seconds to download and is currently available for Mozilla Firefox (Windows), with coming releases for Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox (Mac OS X), and Safari (Mac OS X). Key features include:
• WiFi Hotspot Finder: allows users to search from the more than 70,000 verified public Wi-Fi hotspots in 103 countries worldwide.
• WiFi Security (via JiWire SpotLock): offers users an easy way to secure their connections with SpotLock and keep data safe directly from their browser.
• WiFi Connection Status: allows users to monitor important details about their connection, including signal strength, level of security protection, MAC address, and IP address
“With more than 70,000 verified hotspots in over 100 countries, WiFi is becoming more available to everyone,” says Kevin McKenzie, CEO of JiWire. “The JiWire toolbar enables people to find and leverage secure WiFi in the context of how they already use the Internet, making it more accessible and easy to use.” According to Pyramid Research, the number of WiFi users is expected to grow to 707 million by 2007.