March 2007 Archives

RSI ID Tech Intros New RFID-enabled Retail Display Cases

March 27, 2007 3:59 PM |

So much news coming out of CTIA today is flooding the newswires that I’m gonna do something unimaginable—blog about a news item I received today that’s not connected with the wireless show. Gasp!

Don’t worry, I’ll definitely be blogging about CTIA this week. Just not this second.

Okay, here goes…

RSI ID Technologies, which was founded in 1991, is primarily a manufacturer of RFID antennas, inlays and tags; it also offers a line of HF and UHF RFID labels, readers and software. The company’s self-described mission is to “deliver complete, innovative solutions to complex RFID problems across global markets.”

Today’s announcement from RSI ID Technologies targets the retail market: the company is now offering two RFID-enabled display cases, under the brand name Pressica, designed specifically for eyewear and jewelry.

These displays “combine item-level RFID tracking and RFID-based access cards to maximize loss prevention and provide retailers with unprecedented asset visibility.”

The ideas is that retailers can account for all items on the sales floor in real-time, while protecting high-value merchandise. Only employees with an RFID access card—which is tied to that person’s employee identification number—can open the case. If someone removes an item, they’re responsible for it until it’s either sold or returned to the case.

Software for the system tracks the number of items each employee shows to customers, including how often and for how long each item is removed, cross-referenced with how many sales the employee makes.

“This allows the retailer to not only protect against lost or stolen goods, but to be more responsive to customer needs, provide better customer service and increase employee accountability and productivity,” explained Wolf Bielas, co-founder and CEO of RSI, in a statement.

Seems like a pretty nifty idea. If you want to take a look for yourself, RSI is exhibiting the new cases at the RFID World show in Dallas, Texas this week (booth #513).

CTIA Wireless News Starts Now

March 26, 2007 9:18 AM |

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The CTIA Wireless 2007 show kicks off tomorrow in Orlando, Florida. Already the newswires are starting to get flooded with announcements from wireless industry companies promoting their latest products, services and achievements. A quick search on Google News for “ctia” turned up the following:

Announcement that the creator of BlackBerry (Mike Lazaridis) has replaced Motorola’s CEO (Ed Zander) as the CTIA keynoter.
Announcement from TCS that it has been selected as a CTIA Wireless 2007 E-Tech Award finalist.
Announcements from Pantech and Nokia about their displays at the show.

I’m bracing for continued deluge of news as the show gets underway, and will be blogging, albeit from afar, on events and news that catch my eye.

In the meantime, here’s a question for you (courtesy of CTIA’s home page): what word do you feel best describes “wireless”?

a. Everywhere

b. Marketplace

c. Fashion

d. Exhibits

e. Freedom

f. Global

g. Cool

h. Other

i. None of the above

Chinese Government Embraces RFID

March 13, 2007 1:03 PM |

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Asia generally, and China in particular, tends to get a lot of play in wireless/mobile technology news, because often the latest, coolest products originate from there. Usually, in this context, China is discussed regarding cell phones. But there are other wireless technologies out there for which the Chinese market is of interest.

Take radio frequency ID (RFID), for example. In a recent report, RNCOS (an India-based research and consultancy firm) examined the outlook for RFID in China, including government policies.

RNCOS concluded that, in China:

Applications of both low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF, 13.56 MHz) RFID are relatively mature.
During 2008, there will be massive applications of ultra high-frequency (UHF) RFID—especially in supply chain management.
RFID’s growth during 2008 will be supported by well-developed standards and technologies.
The three key areas for RFID application development are Beijing, Shanghai, and the Pearl River Delta.
The retail sector—lead by Wal-Mart—is increasingly using RFID to improve supply chain efficiencies.
Two key drivers for RFID’s use in supply chain management are reduced costs and enhanced automation.
HF RFID is used in ID card applications, and UHF RFID is part of the country’s railway systems project.
The Ministry of Science and Technology is planning 20 major RFID programs, for which the government is allocating more than $16 million. One of the largest is China’s second-generation resident identification card program.

What strikes me most about these findings is the Chinese government’s embracing of RFID. In the U.S., applications for the technology often have been stymied by privacy concerns (people worry the government and/or corporations will use it to track behavior and buying habits). In China, where the government is a much, much more heavy-handed, there is no such restriction.

I wonder: will China’s use of RFID in ID cards make Americans more or less concerned about adoption of the technology? Probably more. What do you think?

How to Quit Your Cell Phone Contract--Without Termination Fee

March 12, 2007 12:36 PM |

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Okay, so you’ve decided to switch cell phone providers. Now, how to get out of your current contract without having to pay a hefty termination fee? A Dallas Morning News article Monday offered these techniques (obviously some more practical than others):

Pretend to die. Probably won’t work for Sprint, Verizon, or Cingular (AT&T); these companies may ask for a death certificate.
Join the military and get stationed overseas.
Move to a location where your provider doesn’t offer service. Be ready to provide proof of your new address.
Spend lots of chat time (at least half your calls) in areas where your service “roams.” (This causes the provider to lose money.)
Claim that changes to your contract have adversely affected your rates or service. Good luck, though, getting your provider to honor this particular escape clause.
Follow a script when you call your provider to cancel. (Here’s an example.)
Use a contract negotiation service like celltradeusa.com or cellswapper.com. Shell out $20 or so and the service signs your contract over to a provider that better suits your needs.

None of these solutions sound like they’ll work for you? Here is another list of possible tricks from consumerist.com. Good luck!

Sony's Cybershot G1 Camera: 6 Megapixels with WiFi

March 8, 2007 10:28 AM |

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The buzz is just starting to take off this morning about Sony’s new Cybershot G1 digital camera, featuring built-in WiFi capabilities. Rumors have been circulating for weeks, apparently, about this new camera—evidently the result of details regarding Sony’s new digital camera lineup that were leaked to the Web on Feb. 20.

Now, it seems, the new is official. Engadget blogger Thomas Ricker wrote about the new camera this morning at 6:48 a.m. before heading into the fray at the PMA show in Las Vegas. Tech Digest then picked up on the news with its own post.

(Image courtesy of Engadget)

What’s the big deal about this camera? Here are the features reports are touting so far:

802.11b/g WiFi
6 megapixels
3x optical zoom
ISO 1000
Optical image stabilization
3.5-inch LCD screen
2 GB built-in storage
VGA video camera

The Cybershot G1 is slated for an April launch in the U.S. Reported price tag is $600.

Looking at these features, the ones that catch my eye are the WiFi and build-in 2GB storage. One thing I’m surprised at is the low optical zoom—why are camera-makers still producing cameras with 3x optical zoom? When I bought my Olympus C-765 UltraZoom camera a couple years ago, it was the only model I could find in my price range ($300ish) with 10x optical zoom.

For anyone who wants to do any kind of serious zooming-in, 3x optical just doesn’t cut it. I can’t believe that a higher-end camera being launched today still has such wimpy zoom. But I guess it is difficult to build higher optical zoom into a slim camera body (I was willing to buy a slightly bulkier camera in exchange for the zoom).

If you’re interested, PC Magazine has a full review of the Cybershot G1.

So what do you think—is this a significant new camera? If you end up getting one, let me know how it works out.

Arthur D. Little: Telcos Failing to Capitalize on Mobile Web 2.0

March 7, 2007 12:06 PM |

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The phrase, “build it and they will come” has been used to justify the creation of everything from shopping malls to communications services. Yet, if a new report from consultancy Arthur D. Little is correct, many telecom companies are unwilling or unable to go out on a perhaps not-so-thin limb when it comes to mobile information-sharing services that fall under the “Web 2.0” umbrella.

Arthur D. Little analyst Martyn Roetter said in the report that Web 2.0 services—which enable the creation and distribution of content instantaneously and globally in a way not previously imagined—are a key driver of today’s Internet growth, yet telcos are not jumping on board.

“In order to harness and monetize Web 2.0 the Telcos will have to rapidly address the needs of this community,” Roetter said in the report.

Roetter included this example of why telcos should be capitalizing on Web 2.0: “Younger Europeans are already showing their readiness to interact on the move, with 38 percent of them accessing e-mail from mobile devices, while Google launched Gmail for mobile in November last year. Telecommunications businesses now need to offer access to the established web 2.0 services, for both communication and for the fulfillment of their wider social needs while on the move.”

So, the question is, if telcos aren’t joining the mobile Web 2.0 revolution, why not?

According to the Arthur D. Little report, telecom companies face a dilemma regarding Web 2.0 that they haven’t yet resolved: “whether to collaborate or compete with the newly emerged yet de facto web 2.0 leaders (flickr etc) and face the long haul choice of building competing communities or taking the reduced margin implied from partnerships with existing players in exchange for more rapid access to larger communities.”

AT&T is one example of a telco that took the latter path by partnering with MySpace and hopping on for a ride with deals included in 3’s X-series portfolio (which includes companies like Skype, Google and YouTube). Arthur D. Little’s report suggests that AT&T’s approach, while growth-oriented, is considerably more risky than what’s known as the “bit-pipe” solution of focusing solely on pure bandwidth delivery rather than services.

So, if telcos face considerable risk partnering with Web 2.0 companies, is there any way to mitigate that risk? Arthur D. Little suggests that companies focusing on the service-oriented space must choose their partners wisely, focusing on those that “can successfully grow profitably as the models develop from pure advertising into more mature, and in the long term, sustainable revenue streams.”

Seems like sound advice to me. What do you think?

New from Mayo Clinic: Health Info on Cell Phones

March 6, 2007 3:52 PM |

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Here’s good news for cell phone addicts who also happen to be hypochondriacs: this week The Mayo Clinic rolled out a health information service available on through most mobile phone service providers. The service, InTouch, costs $2.99 per month; for that, you got access to information (such as first-aid tips, health videos, and emergency room listings) from MayoClinic.com—on your cell phone.

By the way, I was just kidding about the hypochondriac part. While I’m sure some people will use the service to “confirm” that something is terribly wrong with them when it isn’t, it likely will be utilized mostly by busy folks who need to quickly confirm how to deal with illnesses, or find an emergency room when immediate help is needed.

A DallasNews.com report today noted that, “Although Mayo is not the first to offer health information on cellphones, it's the highest-profile player to do so.”

Currently, DallasNews.com said, InTouch is available to roughly 180 million mobile subscribers who use services from Sprint Nextel, Cingular (AT&T), Verizon, and Alltel. Of course, you’ll need Web capabilities on your phone to use the service.

Mayo Clinic’s new service is just another symptom, I guess, of the increasing utility of mobile phones as tools for accessing information while on the go.

Meraki Networks Aims to Bring WiFi to the Masses, Starting in San Francisco

March 5, 2007 3:28 PM |

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Meraki Networks—a Mountain View, California-based provider of wireless networking devices—is on a mission: bring WiFi to the masses. Or, as the company put its, “to bring affordable Internet access to the next billion people.”

How’s the company intend to do that? By making available what it calls “the first consumer wireless mesh Internet network designed to ‘unwire the world.’” First stop, San Francisco.

Meraki today announced that, during the next several weeks, it will be working with official in San Francisco to deploy a WiFi mesh network that’ll provide free access to 15,000 residents.

Okay, let’s back up here a little. What exactly is a mesh WiFi network? According to a definition provided on SearchNetworking.com, mesh WiFi is kind of like a high-tech version of the old bucket brigade: “A wireless mesh network is a mesh network created through the connection of wireless access points installed at each network user's locale. Each network user is also a provider, forwarding data to the next node. The networking infrastructure is decentralized and simplified because each node need only transmit as far as the next node.”

Meraki makes just such nodes. Its product page lists two devices: the $49 Meraki Mini (wireless access point and repeater) and the $99 Meraki Mini Outdoors (weatherproof version of the regular Mini). A free, Web-based toolbox (Dashboard) lets you set up and manage your mesh network from anywhere.

In terms of global impact, Meraki is a pretty small player (currently there are about 15,000 Meraki product users spread out over 25 countries, which amounts to an average of 600 users per country)—but it’s dreaming big.

Map of Meraki WiFi Network in San Francisco

“We want to bring Internet access to the next billion people in the world,” said Biswas. "Wireless networks offer the best opportunity we have to connect the rest of this country and the rest of the world to the Internet and our mesh technology is offering an inexpensive and easy way to do it,” said Meraki founder and CEO, Sanjit Biswas, in a statement.

The mesh network Meraki is setting up in San Francisco will use outdoor wireless routers to cover an area from Mission Delores Park through Castro and Duboce Park neighborhoods to Alamo Square Park. (The map image shown here of this area is courtesy of Meraki.)

“This is really a community project, and we are excited to work with individuals, families and businesses in this neighborhood to build out the availability of free access,” said Sanjit Biswas. “Our goal with this project is to bring free Internet access into homes across this neighborhood and into surrounding areas.”

If you live in San Francisco, within the area Meraki is covering, do let me know how this all works out, okay?

ABI: Wireless Connectivity Technologies Converging in Computer Chips

March 5, 2007 10:51 AM |

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Among manufacturers that make chips and other components found in wireless consumer electronics products like cellphones and PDAs, there is a definite trend toward trying to cram more and more functionality into smaller and smaller spaces.

One way to do this, ABI Research noted in a new report out today, is to create wireless integrated circuits (ICs, also known as computer chips) that truly are integrated in the sense that they bring together multiple wireless connectivity technologies—such as WiFi, GPS, and FM radio.

In other words, the convergence of different wireless communications technologies is being applied to the very chips that power handheld device applications.

ABI predicts that by 2011, 32 percent of all ICs with Bluetooth, WiFi, WiMedia, GPS and FM radio functionality will be “integrated products that are either incorporated into a connectivity package combining two or more solutions, or will be integrated with a host processor or baseband processor.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, ABI predicts that the two equipment sectors to see the majority of this integration will be cellular handsets and mobile computing.

The change is happening already, ABI said. Analyst Stuart Carlaw used two examples to illustrate this point:

Broadcom’s recently launched BCM4325, which integrates Bluetooth, FM radio and WiFi in a single IC

CSR’s recent acquisitions of NordNav and Cambridge Positioning Systems, in line with the company’s goal to begin producing ICs that combine GPS and Bluetooth

“We are on the cusp of a high level of integration activity, as silicon vendors look to add value to their offerings, diversify, and differentiate themselves in what are increasingly competitive markets,” Carlaw said in a statement.

ABI said in its report that integration is a vital tool silicon vendors must use to maintain margins in markets where original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are squeezing their suppliers for every last drop.

“It also allows vendors to meet ever stricter OEM requirements for power saving and board space,” ABI said of IC integration. “There is a distinct possibility that the trend towards integration will significantly alter the competitive silicon supplier landscape.”

How do you see this integration changing the marketplace?

Art Thieves, Beware of Cellphones

March 2, 2007 6:52 PM |

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Would-be art thieves may find their career goals stymied by innovative new uses for cell phone technology. In particular, according to a report today on TechnologyNewsDaily.com, camera phones are enabling the international database of lost and stolen art to be more quickly updated.

“Thanks to a new development from the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK, the investigator can now simply take a photo of the art object with his cell phone and send it instantly to a central server,” TechnologyNewsDaily reports.

An image analysis system compares the picture submitted to the database, helping to identify objects on the basis of features like shape, outline, color and texture. Any matches are returned to the caller’s cellphone. This, of course, aids in the process of quickly dispatching law enforcement—which in turn increases the chances that stolen art is intercepted before it disappears for good.

Seems like a novel, and excellent, use of cellphone technology. What will they think of next?

Ovum: Fixed-Mobile Convergence is More Than Just Dual-Mode

March 1, 2007 10:19 AM |

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Two terms that are tossed around very frequently in the telecommunications industry are “dual-mode” and “fixed-mobile convergence.” Both refer to the idea that, someday, there may be phone services and handsets available that let users seamlessly switch between different types of networks. Most often, the idea is that those will be cellular and WiFi networks.

Dual-mode services promise to improve the end-user experience when using next-generation telephony—saving money on minutes and getting access to better bandwidth when within range of WiFi network, but retaining connectivity via cellular in virtually all locations.

A new report out this week from Ovum, though, says that the industry of late has been much too focused on the development of dual-mode phones. All this hype, the research firm claims, is creating unrealistic expectations surrounding the viability of dual-mode telephony anytime in the foreseeable future.

“We predict that by the end of 2010, only just over 2 percent of mobile subscribers, or less than five and a half million people, will have purchased dual-mode services, almost ten years after vendors first began talking up the potential of the technology,” Ovum analyst Jan Dawson said in a statement.

In fact, Ovum questions whether dual-mode services will ever take off as hoped.

“Equipment vendors have been fixated on dual-mode phones as the key form of fixed-mobile convergence, but the people responsible for implementing this at the carriers are really skeptical that the devices and solutions are ever going to be ready for prime time,” Dawson says.

Dawson goes on to point out that “fixed-mobile convergence” can and should encompass much more than just dual-mode phones and services. One element that should be included is “identity convergence”—the ability of consumers to use the same phone number, e-mail address, username and password on both their wired and wireless devices.

Identity convergence offers obvious benefits to users, but Dawson says that it is online portals like Yahoo!, Google and MSN that are taking the lead in this area, rather than carriers—to the detriment of the carriers.

Another area that’s not getting enough play, Dawson says, is remote access and control.

“Remote access and control is nascent today but there's a big opportunity here for the carriers to invest in technology and capture this opportunity as it arises,” Dawson says in the report. Consumers likely would be very excited about—and willing to pay for—services such as ability to remotely program their DVRs or check home monitoring systems.

On the business end, the Ovum report advises that carriers looking to invest in FMC should consider mobile extension and enterprises gateway services that provide intelligent call routing and control for enterprises looking for ways to reduce mobile spending.

“These solutions are going to deliver many of the benefits people associate with dual-mode solutions without the costs and hassle of deploying a WiFi infrastructure for voice, or the limitations of dual-mode devices,” says Dawson.

The Ovum report, if its predictions and analysis are correct, should serve as a wake-up call to the telecommunications industry. Dual-mode services may not fly, but other FMC services have great potential.

“Recent merger and acquisition activity has left us with three major players with a significant opportunity to combine wireline and wireless offerings, but we've yet to see any real moves in this direction,” Dawson notes. :Now is the time to act.”

What do you think—is Ovum on the money or does this report miss the mark?

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sex shop: he MS fanboys need to step back and realise that read more
Georg: Fantastic or Foolhardy - or both at the same time? read more
Mirko: As you already mentioned: some methods are more practical than read more
Anniversary gift: Based on your article, it seems that the only significant read more
oil portraits: I also noticed the same trend here in our place. read more
G. Aasen: Interesting indeed. Let's hope they are more successful in Japan read more
Bahamut: If earthlink is going into difficulty, it will certainly affect read more
Free Flash Clock: Earthlink restructuring will definitely affect the wifi market. But wifi read more
Polin Armsley: niceSecond, the amount Li is suing Apple for seems rather read more
www.r10.net kÃ¼resel seo yarismasi: obviously still no iPhone nano around, but plenty of iPods. read more

March 2007 Archives

RSI ID Tech Intros New RFID-enabled Retail Display Cases

CTIA Wireless News Starts Now

Chinese Government Embraces RFID

How to Quit Your Cell Phone Contract--Without Termination Fee

Sony's Cybershot G1 Camera: 6 Megapixels with WiFi

Arthur D. Little: Telcos Failing to Capitalize on Mobile Web 2.0

New from Mayo Clinic: Health Info on Cell Phones

Meraki Networks Aims to Bring WiFi to the Masses, Starting in San Francisco

ABI: Wireless Connectivity Technologies Converging in Computer Chips

Art Thieves, Beware of Cellphones

Ovum: Fixed-Mobile Convergence is More Than Just Dual-Mode

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