Mae : Wireless Mobility Blog
Mae
| News and views on everything wireless and mobile, from WiFi and WiMAX to 3G and fixed-mobile convergence (FMC).

Samsung Promotes Mobile WiMAX with SPH-P9000 MIT Device

November 7, 2006

It often seems to be the case that the latest and coolest wireless devices become available first in Asia, and eventually make their way to Europe and the U.S. Hopefully for us geeks, that will be the case with Samsung’s latest gadget, the WiMAX-enabled SPH-P9000 (or more affectionately referred to by Samsung as “MIT” for “Mobile Intelligent Terminal), which is a combination cell phone, MP3 player, and PDA with built-in QWERTY keyboard.



The device was unveiled today at Mobile WiMAX Summit in Seoul, South Korea.

Yes to WiFi in Singapore, No to WiMAX in Germany

November 6, 2006

Talk about vision. The government in Singapore this past summer announced a ten-year “digital future” plan (Singapore iN2015) to make the country number one in the world in terms of adding value to the economy and society using what it calls “infocomm” technologies.

InformationWeek, in its September 4, 2006 edition, reported that one of the iN2015 goals, to have connect at least 90 percent of homes up with broadband, is being pursued in conjunction with the efforts of service provider SingTel.

More specifically, the InformationWeek report notes that SingTel hopes to make nationwide WiFi a reality in Singapore by year’s end.

WiMAX Network in Chennai, India

November 3, 2006

India’s telecommunications and electrical infrastructures, two arguably key elements necessary for technological advancements, leave something to be desired. By some estimates, for example, annual investment of $20 billion is needed to bring the country’s electrical grid up to snuff to meet yearly demand increases of about seven percent.

But, the country is pushing ahead into the twenty-first century despite the obstacles. Red Herring reported in its Oct. 30 edition that Aircel Business Solutions has committed as much as $100 million to build a WiMAX network in the southern city of Chennai.

Kelton Research: Home WiFi More Important Than Starbucks Coffee

November 2, 2006

In a recent survey of 549 American age 18 and up, Kelton Research found that access to broadband, wireless Internet in the home is more important than a cup of Starbucks coffee every day.

Eighty-nine percent of respondents said they would rather give up Starbucks for a year than go without WiFi.

The importance of WiFi was reflected in answers to two other questions Kelton asked. When asked what would be worse, having WiFi go down for the weekend or having a favorite sports team lose the big game, 81 percent thought losing WiFi would be worst, while only 19 percent ranked sports more important.

Symbol Technologies Bridges Various Radio Frequencies with RFS700 Switch

November 1, 2006

Symbol Technologies, a company that specializes in enterprise mobility solutions, announced today what it says is the first ever radio frequency (RF) wireless switch (RFS7000) capable of bridging all RF technologies—including RFID, 802.11n, mesh, voice over wireless LAN (VoWLAN) and WiMAX.

In its announcement about RFS7000, Symbol said the switch “is designed to support and consolidate Wi-Fi and emerging RF technologies,” enabling businesses to “efficiently and cost-effectively deploy and centrally manage wireless voice, data and infrastructure devices throughout the RF spectrum.”

In an article today, Laptop Magazine reporter Jeffrey Wilson noted that the RFS7000 supports up to two-hundred and fifty-six 802.11a/b/g access port, and enables Layer 3 roaming, “which allows mobile users to maintain a connection to high-bandwidth applications as they roam.”

Here is an image of the unassuming-looking RFS7000, courtesy of newscom.com.

Cell Phone Waiting Lanes at Airports

October 31, 2006

The use of cell phones has changed society yet again. This time, the change took place at Detroit Metro Airport, where officials noticed that the pickup/dropoff lane for the L.C. Smith Terminal was getting crowded when vehicles idled at the curb waiting for passengers who were still in the airport somewhere.

To reduce the congestion, the airport created a “cell phone waiting lane” where cars can wait while the driver calls the person being picked up, arranges the exact pickup time, and then pulls up to the regular pickup/dropoff lane once the person is actually there and ready to hop into the vehicle.

Touchscreen Controls for Next Gen of iPods?

October 30, 2006

Rumors have been flying around the past few days that Apple’s next generation of iPods will use touchscreen based navigation instead of its iconic scroll-wheel.

The rumors are based on Apple’s Oct. 26 filing for a patent (20060238517) to protect an “Electronic Device Having Display and Surrounding Touch Sensitive Bezel for User Interface and Control.”

TG Daily blogger Mark Raby noted in an Oct. 27 post that this patent bears some similarities to another one (20060242114, “Method and apparatus for configuring a computer”) filed recently by Apple, apparently related to a possible tablet computer. But, the electronic device patent seems more geared to an iPod.

Local Weather Forecast for Dummies

October 27, 2006

If you find it too difficult to check the weather by using a website like weather.com, you could always look out the window. Or, even easier, you could simply glance at your Brookstone 5-Day Wireless Weather Forecaster, which displays weather data obtained by radio signal from AccuWeather.

Disclaimer: I’m not affiliated in any way with Brookstone or AccuWeather. I just think this is a cool gadget.

T-Mobile Launches Dual-Mode Service in Seattle

October 26, 2006

The big wireless news so far this week is T-Mobile’s launch of its dual-mode WiFi/Cellular service in Seattle.

TMCnet Associate Editor Patrick Barnard reported yesterday that the new service “lets T-Mobile’s subscribers make free phone calls using their at-home WiFi network or from any number of public WiFi hot spots which have been set up throughout the city. For now, only subscribers using the Nokia 6136 and the Samsung T709 dual mode phones can place free calls over WiFi.”

The new service uses Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology, which was developed by Kineto Wireless and is now part of 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s (3GPP) standards.

TNS Study: 3G Adoption Slowed by Cost, Lack of Understanding

October 25, 2006

Market research company TNS Global Technology Insights yesterday released information about a recent study it conducted regarding the use of 3G mobile phone services both in the U.S. and around the world.

Despite the fact that 3G enables “consumers to use their mobile phones more interactively and for a wider range of applications, including transmitting voice and data simultaneously,” these types of services are not being used by as many consumers as one might think, the report says.

In the U.S., TNS says in the report, 16 percent of mobile phone users own 3G-enabled handsets, but only 10 percent of those consumers actually make use of the enhanced features.