Making Wi-Fi easy.
Beijing will be covered with outdoor Wi-Fi service by 2010. The city has just deployed a network covering 100 square kilometers. They will offer free Wi-Fi during the Olympics. This is one of the most challenging projects I’ve seen since the city is immense (17,000 square kilometers).
Read more about Beijing’s muni Wi-Fi network here.
Written by Esme Vos - Visit WebsiteAdd comment June 28th, 2008
While citywide Wi-Fi network operators such as MetroFi and EarthLink have not succeeded in making the free-service-in-exchange-for-ads model work, Blyk, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) based in the UK has just signed up 100,000 members in less than a year for its “free calls and texts” service. Compare that number to the pathetic 170,000 subscribers of failed US MVNO, Helio, which has been around since October 2005 and has wasted over $270 million of investor money. Virgin Mobile announced it is taking over Helio for a paltry $39 million in stock.
What is Blyk doing that makes it so different and potentially threatening to the traditional mobile operator model of tying people down with expensive, long term contracts, imposing hidden fees and charging nasty cancellation penalties?
Read my post on Muniwireless:
MVNO Blyk succeeds in providing free mobile phone service
For those who are not familiar with Blyk: it is a mobile phone service available in the UK, soon launching in the Netherlands. No contracts, no hidden fees, no cancellation penalties. You get 43 minutes and 217 text messages free every month, but have to receive up to six advertising messages daily via SMS or MMS. They send you the SIM card to pop into your mobile phone. But you need to be between the ages of 16 and 24 to sign up for the service.
Written by Esme Vos - Visit WebsiteAdd comment June 28th, 2008
The city of Bangkok wants people to stop driving around and start using the Internet more often to communicate and get work done. So they are offering free Wi-Fi access at 15,000 hotspots in the city. There’s a caveat: the speed is basically dial-up (64 Kbps) so one could send and receive email, and do basic Web surfing but that’s it. This is the first time I’ve heard of a city urging people to cut back on petrol use by telecommuting.
Written by Esme Vos - Visit WebsiteAdd comment June 25th, 2008
Having a Wi-Fi network around the house or workplace is great, especially after years of being shackled to a cable coming out of the wall. It is even better if you can share it with your community, and enjoy other people’s Wi-Fi when you are not around your own network.
What’s nice about Wi-Fi is that you don’t have to be a tech guru to set it up; usually it works almost out-of-the-box. But sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes you just walk into the other room and the connection gets jittery. Well - don’t get pissed! There are many simple ways to make your Wi-Fi better. Just read this short article from the Australian site Tech Review - and your Wi-Fi life will become much easier.
Written by Amit Shaked - Visit WebsiteAdd comment June 24th, 2008
Nokia has bought location-based social networking site, Plazes, for an undisclosed amount. Location-based services are hot these days, especially among mobile operators. Two months ago, Vodafone bought ZYB, a Danish mobile social network, for 31.5 million EUR.
Plazes would complement Nokia Maps every well. Nokia Maps is a map application on Nokia’s Symbian phones which shows you not only a map of a city or region, but also the restaurants, hotels, shops and other establishments around you. So having Plazes show you where your friends are on a Nokia Map would be very cool.
Written by Esme Vos - Visit WebsiteAdd comment June 23rd, 2008
I think most everyone would agree that a good internet connection on an Airplane would be a great productivity tool… and even a great way to kill time. Here is an interesting overview of the plan Aircell has to solve this problem. Not free - but in this situation, it may be worth the money to get a good connection.
Written by Michelle Trainor - Visit WebsiteAdd comment June 23rd, 2008
Larry Dignan, editor-in-chief of ZDNet, posted an article about the rise of the Netbook (very small laptop computers such as the Asus 900 eee PC) and predicts that Netbooks will cannibalize the laptop market and perhaps later, the smartphone market, but only if the price is low enough (below $300).
I think many people will be buying Netbooks, iPhones and other very small Wi-Fi enabled devices in the next three years and with that, will demand wireless connectivity everywhere. How will they connect?
- 3G/HSPA: but the data plans are expensive and there are data caps. You are also required to sign up for one to two years. In addition, you get socked with ridiculously high roaming charges when you travel.
- WiMAX: faster than 3G, but still not everywhere. Even if you can get it now in Amsterdam, where else can you get it? Do you need yet another subscription to a WiMAX service if you go to Paris or will your WiMAX provider in Amsterdam have roaming agreements with other WiMAX operators? Who knows.
- Wi-Fi: not everywhere yet, but in most cities you can find free Wi-Fi at cafes, train stations, and other locations. There are a few citywide Wi-Fi networks (for example in Minneapolis). You can also get Boingo or iPass subscriptions so that you pay one low monthly fee, then roam onto other networks (e.g. in airports and hotels). But not everywhere is a member of Boingo or iPass. This is still the cheapest, least cumbersome.
Read more:
Worldmax launches WiMAX service in Amsterdam
Clearwire WiMax gets September start date in U.S.
Written by Esme Vos - Visit WebsiteAdd comment June 19th, 2008
When Steve Jobs announced the new 3G iPhone last week, he said that the download speeds on 3G networks are quickly approaching those on Wi-Fi networks. It’s an exaggeration but there’s no doubt that mobile phone operators have made improvements to their networks over the year.
Unfortunately the same operators who are offering the new 3G iPhone with a data plan are also discouraging heavy data use by imposing restrictions, such as a cap on the amount of data the a user can upload and download. If you exceed these limitations, the operator reduces your bandwidth to dial-up speeds.
Read more here:
T-Mobile’s 3G iPhone unlimited flat rate data plans are a sham
Written by Esme Vos - Visit WebsiteAdd comment June 18th, 2008
A group of investors has taken over the Philadelphia municipal wireless network from EarthLink. The group plans to expand the network, offering both wired and wireless service. They will provide free Wi-Fi access to individuals (supported by advertising) but charge business and institutions.
Read more here:
Details about Philadelphia wireless network takeover
Eleventh hour rescue for Philadelphia network
Written by Esme Vos - Visit WebsiteAdd comment June 18th, 2008
If you are thinking of buying the new 3G iPhone in the UK, consider this: mobile phone operator, O2, is throwing in free Wi-Fi access in any of The Cloud’s and BT OpenZone’s Wi-Fi hotspots. According to Macworld, O2’s deal with BT and The Cloud gives users access to more than 9500 hotspots around the UK. Not bad.
Written by Esme Vos - Visit WebsiteAdd comment June 11th, 2008
