WiMAX News & Opinion

Take pictures!

Thought I'd share a few pictures from the Roman adventure with the TMCnet readers. Readers will know I am an avid iPod fan, so therefore, I had to take a picture of myself in front of the Mac center just a stone's throw from our hotel:

No technology will ever amaze me half as much as the structures that are still standing after millenia.....here is a picture from� the Roman forum:

A picture of my fiance, James in front of Il Coloseo:

Did you know that Michaelangelo actually took seats from the Coloseo and used them here at the Vatican? Well, now you do!

I’ve been kind of scratching my head, as I have just read an interesting, albeit strange study issued by MRSI (Marketing Research Services Inc.) for Boost Mobile that notes “on their [14-to-24-year-olds] journey to adulthood many of them will experience a positive pivotal moment in their lives.”

I would hope that on such a journey, regardless of teen angst and post-college job hunting, something positive will happen to you. It’s almost inevitable, but I guess this would depend on your outlook on life. If you’re the type of person that views the glass half full, then perhaps you are among the many to have, in fact, experienced a pivotal moment. Congratulations.

"Apple gets into the wireless space, Motorola associates itself with a wow brand and Cingular aligns itself with an iconic music-device company."

Sweeeet.

I've returned from my Roman holiday and I have to say, it was certainly a fantastic week. I'll have to go home and upload my pictures from my new Canon Powershot SD400 and do a sort of week in pictures.

Technologically related points from my Roman excursion:

• During the month of August, Villa Borghese is offering free WiFi. If I had a laptop, I would have certainly found a nice spot in the park and surfed a bit.
• We hit up many Internet points, a place to sit and surf for about .50 euro for fifteen minutes. Italian keyboards took a little bit of getting used to, but I managed fine and sent word home on our many adventures.
• I found a Mac center just of Via Cola di Rienzo, a short stroll from our hotel.

While we're talking about technology in education.....

Florida Department of Education and Microsoft to roll out Sunshine Connections, designed to improve teacher efficiency, collaboration and access to statewide resources.

PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- Aug. 19, 2005 -- Starting today, teachers in Bay County, Fla., will be the first in the state to be able to easily and quickly share lesson plans and best practices and the first to be able to access real-time student performance data right from their desktop computers with just a few clicks of a mouse.

Gov. Jeb Bush announced the deployment of the first phase of Sunshine Connections, a leading-edge collection of online tools and a custom-designed interactive Web environment developed by the Florida Department of Education in collaboration with Microsoft^® U.S.

I wonder if the craze of the white ear buds will be overthrown by listening to your very own jelly bean?

On Monday evening, my fiance and I are embarking on a Roman holiday. Being the gadget geek that I am, I have composed a checklist for myself so that I do not forget all of my essential (and not so essential) technological items to ensure that I do not fall bored on the plane.

• iPod: check!
• iPod shuffle for the fiance: check!
• Brand new Canon Powershot SD400: check!
• Memory card for camera: check!
• Extra battery for camera: check!
• Portable DVD player: check!
• DVDs: Smallville seasons 2-3, (I've already watched them, but it never hurts to rewatch Michael Rosenbaum epsiode after episode when all you really can do is sit in your seat) From Hell (great tale of Jack the Ripper based on the graphic novel), Spider-Man 1&2.

Yes you have noticed that all of these come from comic books.

Intel plans to work with 100 cities globally in an effort to expand on services utilizing WiMAX technology.

In an article issued by Reuters, it is reported that Intel will add to its success of WiFi by assisting city officials to develop a market for WiMAX which will eventually offer high-speed wireless to entire cities.

From the article:

Cities outside of the United States that are working on the wireless initiative include Taipei and Jerusalem, both of which have plans to test WiMax within a year, added [Anand] Chandrasekher. (vice president of sales marketing group, Intel)

Intel is stepping up to the plate to help government, business and citizens through wireless technology.

News release below:

Intel To Help Communities Worldwide Maximize Their Wireless Capabilities

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 18, 2005 – Intel Corporation today announced an initiative to help communities use wireless technology and innovative applications to expand and improve services for municipal governments, businesses and citizens.

Under the "Digital Communities" initiative, Intel is leading a diverse group of high-tech companies to help 13 "pilot" communities design, develop and deploy comprehensive solutions and services to enhance government efficiency, promote economic growth, foster greater community satisfaction and bridge the digital divide.

I can't help but Google WiMAX on� a daily basis considering, you know, I am the primary WiMAX ("and other type things") blogger here at TMCnet. In today's Google escapade, what to my wandering eyes should appear but WiMAX news in German.

Author Richard Sietmann writes:

Als Unterwegs-Surfer könnte man meinen, es gäbe mit GPRS, UMTS und WLAN-Hotspots bereits genügend Wege, die drahtlos ins Netz der Netze führen. Weit gefehlt: Jetzt tritt mit Wimax ein weiterer Spieler an, die Partie an sich zu reißen.

Heavyweight contender Microsoft gave the ol' right-uppercut-left-hook combo on middleweight champion, Apple. (Sorry, Apple - as much as I love you, you're just not a heavyweight. Yet.)

Recently,� the US Patent & Trademark office� rejected a patent request for the beloved iPod because Microsoft had already filed for a similar request just 5 months prior.

Intel & Nokia are partnering up to offer WiMAX for gamers

Intel and Nokia will support WiMAX development in hopes that this will be the be-all for video games.

From gameshout.com:  Intel will focus on IEEE 802.16e, a mobile version of the technology that will offer broadband Internet access to users playing video games on the move. This standard is currently under development.

Just be sure to take regular breaks, drink plenty of fluids, and avoid 50 hours of straight gaming.

Perhaps I should warn fellow blogger David Butcher about mobile phones taking over countries. Well, maybe not take over, but they're certainly outnumbering the citizens.

AFP reported today that in Lithuania, there are more mobile phones than there are people. 4.1 million mobile phones for 3.4 million people?

An interesting release issued today by ABI Research examines offerings in the automotive/navigation market, specifically satellite radio and streaming video.

Sirius Satellite Radio announced earlier this month that Ford will offer Sirius Satellite Radio as a factory-installed option, and Toyota and Lexus will offer SSR hardware. Land Rover was also among the players in the automotive industry to offer factory-installed SSR. ABI Research wants to know, however, when will streaming video grace auto consumers via satellite radio?

Made you read!

I promise this will not be a prolonged post about baseball players. In fact, this will not be about baseball at all.

Whilst surfing through WiMAX news, I found --yet again-- the overly-used term to describe WiMAX - WiFi on steroids.