Recently in Wi-Fi Category
AdMob has released some new information about smartphone ad serving and Wi-Fi- The iPhone is at the forefront of Wi-Fi usage and recently launched smartphones such as the G1 and BlackBerry Bold suggest that Wi-Fi traffic will continue to grow in the coming months. Mobile devices that aren't phones (e.g. Sony PSP, iPod Touch) are also generating significant traffic on WiFi.
Delta Air Lined will be offering Gogo
Inflight Internet service onboard six of the airline's aircraft, starting tomorrow.Inflight Internet will be available first on five MD-88 aircraft flying Delta Shuttle routes between New York's LaGuardia Airport and Boston's Logan and Washington's Reagan airports plus one Boeing 757 flying throughout Delta's domestic system, with service spreading to other Delta routes as additional aircraft are introduced.
To celebrate the launch, Delta passengers traveling on the Gogo-equipped MD-88 Shuttle aircraft will be treated to a holiday surprise with complimentary access to Gogo during a Dec. 16 - 31, 2008 promotional period.
WeFi has discovered ten million Wi-Fi access points which have been recognized and classified by WeFi. WeFi also announced that it has passed one million users, spread over 215 countries and territories worldwide. These users contribute to what is the largest virtual global Wi-Fi network, and the largest worldwide map of Wi-Fi access points available today.
New Wi-Fi access points have been added by the WeFi software on members’ devices at an increasingly growing rate. As the network is user-generated, the more users, the more access points discovered and added to the network.
AT&T that will acquire Wi-Fi provider Wayport, for
approximately $275 million in cash.
The acquisition expands the AT&T Wi-Fi footprint to nearly 20,000 domestic hotspots, takes the company's global Wi-Fi presence to more than 80,000 locations, and creates thousands of new ways for customers worldwide to stay in touch. Wayport hotspots are in key locations, including select Wyndham, Marriott Vacation Club and Four Seasons hotels; HealthSouth and Sun Healthcare locations; plus McDonald's restaurants.
Southwest Airlines will be the first US carrier to test satellite-delivered broadband Internet access on multiple aircraft. The trial will begin with a Boeing 737-700 followed by three Boeing 737s in the first quarter.
The service is provided by Row 44. Southwest Customers with a Wi-Fi enabled device will have full access to the Internet including e-mail, music, shopping, and virtual private networks (VPN) via a high-speed connection.
Airline attendants on planes with Wi-Fi Internet access have received complaints from passengers who can see porn on fellow travelers’ devices that lead to Delta’s decision to filter inappropriate content.
Starting today, travelers on American's Boeing 767-200 aircraft
can access complete coast-to-coast coverage on nonstop flights between
Aircell's Gogo will be available to customers as a fee-based service in all
cabins. Aircell will charge $12.95 on flights more than three hours, which
include American's Boeing 767-200 flights. Each paid Gogo session includes
full Internet access. Cell phone and Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP)
services are not available.
Boingo Wireless announced the launch of Boingo service at both Dulles
International Airport (IAD) and Ronald Reagan Airport (DCA) in the
Boingo's Wi-Fi network is now available to the more
than 24 million passengers that go through
Delta Air Lines will have broadband Wi-Fi access onboard. Delta is joining with Aircell, to install the company’s Mobile Broadband Network on the carrier’s domestic fleet.
The system, Gogo, will enable Delta customers traveling with Wi-Fi enabled devices, such as laptops, smartphones and PDAs, to access the Internet, corporate VPNs, corporate and personal e-mail accounts, as well as SMS texting and instant messaging services. Gogo will be available to customers for a flat fee of $9.95 on flights of three hours or less, and $12.95 on flights of more than three hours.
Chrysler will bundle a bunch of entertainment and communication technologies under one umbrella name - “uconnect.” The featues are named, uconnect phone, uconnect tunes, uconnect gps, uconnect studios and uconnect web.
It includes Bluetooth hands-free, hard-drive stored media( 30GB that can handle up to 6,700 songs in a variety of formats) Sirius TV & Radio, GPS and the ability to turn your car into a WiFi hotspot. It will be available on most Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles starting in August.
UConnect Web, will be available as a dealer-installed Mopar accessory. The technology delivers uninterrupted, secure Internet connectivity for all passengers in and around the vehicle. a wireless router, connects to a 3G cellular data allowing passengers to connect to the Internet and any Wi-Fi capable device in the car can in turn connect to the via the auto-hotspot to the Internet.
The U.S. manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of UConnect Web is $449. Dealer installation is estimated at approximately $35 to $50. Autonet Mobile offers wireless Internet account service at $29 a month.
Alltel Wireless is offering premium Wi-Fi access to more than 25,000 hotspots developed through Alltel’s relationship with Boingo Wireless.
Alltel Wi-Fi is available for purchase by anyone in the United States as a stand alone offer. Consumers can access unlimited Wi-Fi access for $19.99 per month or $3.99 per day with no contract commitment. In the past year, more than 15,000 additional hotspots have been added to Alltel’s nationwide service, which includes thousands of hotels, bookstores, coffee shops and fast food restaurants. Travelers can also take advantage of Alltel’s premium Wi-Fi service, which provides Internet access in more than 100 of the nation’s airports and thousands of hotspots across Canada, Mexico and Europe. Exact locations of Wi-Fi hotspots can be found at http://wifi.alltel.com and downloadable Wi-Fi software for laptops can be downloaded for free at http://software.alltel.com.
Recently, Alltel Wireless began offering an Internet Anywhere Bundle, allowing Alltel customers to bundle their Wireless Internet plan with unlimited Wi-Fi access for their laptop. The $69.98 per month bundle gives customers the choice of connecting to either Alltel’s EVDO network or a Wi-Fi hotspot. More information about the bundle is available at www.alltel.com/internet.
Starbucks announced new benefits with its Starbucks Card
Rewards program.Starbucks Card holders who join the rewards program online
by July 14 will receive a complimentary beverage of their choice and
all members can now enjoy up to two consecutive hours of complimentary
AT&T Wi-Fi daily in Company-operated U.S. stores. This new benefit
joins other money saving offers that can be enjoyed every day,
including:
• Select complimentary syrup and milk options;
• Hot and iced brewed coffee refills on the house during your visit;
• Complimentary tall beverage of your choice with the purchase of one pound of whole bean coffee.
To participate in the program, customers can load a new Starbucks Card with $5 or more or take an existing Starbucks Card and join the program by visiting www.starbucks.com/card. Customers must use their Starbucks Card for purchases to receive benefits.
Ozmo Devices, a developer of low- power wireless solutions, announced that the company is collaborating with Intel Corporation to enable low-power devices to operate with Intel's Wi- Fi Personal Area Network (Wi-Fi PAN) technology. Ozmo Devices' technology will be publicly demonstrated for the first time on Tuesday, June 3, 2008, at Computex in Taiwan. Attendees will see first hand how Ozmo Devices' patent-pending technology extends Intel's Wi-Fi PAN technology to include connectivity with low-power wireless peripherals such as mice and headsets.
Translation from Wireless and Mobile News:This technology can be used to connect peripherals, head phonesor devices over Wi-Fi and will compete with Bluetooth.
The Ozmo solution extends the Wi-Fi functionality already existing on many platforms to include connectivity with low-power wireless peripherals such as mice and headsets. Unlike legacy WPAN technologies, Ozmo Devices' innovative approach does not require an additional radio inside the platform or a dongle to communicate with the peripheral.
Ozmo Devices' low-power Wi-Fi PAN technology includes a software driver that delivers native low-power peripheral connectivity to the platform and a highly integrated, ultra-low-power IC in the wireless peripheral that seamlessly communicates with the platform. This unique two-part approach delivers unprecedented performance and cost advantages for system developers while at the same time solving integration and interoperability problems associated with traditional approaches.Ozmo Devices'
low-power Wi-Fi PAN solution is slated for integration in high-volume
Wi-Fi-enabled platforms, and major peripheral manufacturers are
actively sampling the Ozmo IC for their new designs. According to Brian
VanHarlingen, Senior Technologist at Belkin, Ozmo Devices is enabling a
new generation of wireless peripherals that can deliver unrivaled
performance and convenience. "Belkin is committed to adopting new
technologies that improve the consumer experience," he commented. "Ozmo
Devices' innovative, practical approach to low-power Wi-Fi PAN promises
to deliver both rich functionality and convenience through previously
unrealized Wi-Fi functionality. We view Ozmo's technology as offering
unique value to the peripheral market, and we look forward to
introducing solutions that deliver on these promises."
There will be two versions of the service, ad supported free access and paid subscriptions.
AT&T announced that qualifying LaptopConnect customers can now access more than 17,000 Wi-Fi hot spots free of charge. Users can access Wi-Fi at nearly 7,000 participating Starbucks locations plus thousands more AT&T Wi-FiSM locations, including restaurants, airports, hotels and other convenient locations across the United States.
AT&T LaptopConnect uses AT&T's wireless network to keep customers connected to e-mail, the Internet and business applications almost anywhere they can make a phone call. Qualifying LaptopConnect customers will now automatically receive a pop-up message alerting them to Wi-Fi availability when in range of an AT&T hot spot. At that point, customers who have downloaded the latest AT&T Communication Manager software to their laptop PC just need to click Connect to access the Wi-Fi connectivity. The offer is available to customers who subscribe to a DataConnect plan of $59.99 or more.¹ AT&T Communication Manager comes with new LaptopConnect cards and is available for free at www.att.com/laptopconnect.
Row 44, provider of
airborne broadband systems for commercial aviation, is scheduled to perform commercial trials with Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines in North
America this summer.
Airline customers will pay a fee to access the service.
EarthLink notified its Wi-Fi customers in Philadelphia that EarthLink is terminating its Philadelphia Wi-Fi service and that EarthLink is providing its customers a thirty-day transition period through June 12, 2008.
After months of negotiations with the City of Philadelphia and a non-profit organization in which EarthLink offered to transfer to either the City or to the non-profit — for free — the entire $17 million Wi-Fi network, as well as pay cash and donate new Wi-Fi equipment, the transfer unraveled due to unresolved issues among the City, Wireless Philadelphia and the non-profit, notes the Earthlink news release.
“EarthLink has worked diligently for many months to transfer our Wi-Fi network to a new owner — at no cost,” said Rolla Huff, EarthLink’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Unfortunately, our hope that we could transfer our network to a non-profit organization that had planned to offer free Wi-Fi throughout Philadelphia will not be realized. Since we have exhausted our efforts to find a new owner of the network, our only responsible alternative now is to remove our network at our cost and assist our Wi-Fi customers with alternative ways to access the Internet.”
AT&T and Starbucks today announced the beginning of the rollout of AT&T Wi-Fi service at company-operated Starbucks stores, kicking off a nationwide effort that will continue through 2008. At the 2008 AT&T Inc. Annual Meeting of Stockholders in San Antonio, chairman and chief executive officer Randall Stephenson announced that the companies have already started the deployment of AT&T Wi-Fi service at Starbucks locations in San Antonio, making it the first market to deliver the complete AT&T Wi-Fi experience in the U.S.
Also, as of May 1, qualifying AT&T high speed Internet and Wi-Fi customers will have complimentary Wi-Fi access at more than 7,000 Starbucks locations nationwide. For millions of AT&T customers, that means more speed in more places — and for free. Qualifying AT&T customers can connect to the Internet from Wi-Fi enabled company-operated Starbucks locations nationwide by simply selecting “ATTWiFi” after powering up their computers. Free AT&T Wi-Fi service is currently offered with AT&T’s three higher-speed residential broadband packages, all small business broadband packages and with all AT&T U-verse(SM) offerings with high speed Internet service.
For other customers, AT&T Wi-Fi service will reach company-operated Starbucks locations on a market-by-market basis throughout the year. The experience will include a mix of free and paid connection options for both frequent and occasional Wi-Fi users and qualifying Starbucks customers. Once AT&T Wi-Fi service is available, customers will be able to shop and surf both Starbucks’ and AT&T’s respective home pages for products and services.
TapRoot Systems Inc., a developer of software for the smartphone market, today announced that it is providing free trial versions of its WalkingHotSpot solution to Wi-Fi enabled smartphone users.
In response to massive world-wide inquiries surrounding the recent announcement of TapRoot’s award-winning WalkingHotSpot solution, TapRoot is now providing free trial versions of this software to transform a Wi-Fi enabled smartphone into a hotspot providing access to the Internet. The free trial version, for selected Wi-Fi enabled smartphones using the Symbian S60 and Windows Mobile®6 Professional operating systems, can be downloaded by visiting the download page of www.WalkingHotSpot.com. Support for other major mobile operating systems is coming soon.
The carrier version of the WalkingHotSpot solution supports multiple devices simultaneously through secure connections. The application is specifically designed to be power-efficient, robust and end-user friendly. The solution is commercially available for immediate implementation in carriers’ networks.
Chrysler will be equipping the ChryslerTown & Country and the Dodge Caravan minivan with Wi-Fi and 4G in the 4th Quarter of 2008 and early 2009. This service will allow for Internet connections, email and music downloads.
San Antonio is the place for AT&T Wi-Fi at Starbucks and use of the super touchscreen table Surface in AT&T stores that works as a sales tool.
There have been several reports that the first AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot at Starbucks is up and running in San Antonio. The Surface experience also surfaced there.
Beginning April 17, visitors to AT&T stores in New York City, Atlanta, San Antonio, and San Francisco can try to experience Surface in person.
AT&T is the first company in the world to bring Microsoft Surface to life in a retail environment, giving customers the ability to explore their mobile worlds using touch and device recognition technology. Users will be able to place two devices on Surface at once, comparing features and benefits. Even looking at coverage maps becomes an interactive experience when users navigate them by moving their hands across the display. This will give them a unique experience of using cutting-edge surface technology to help make purchasing decisions easier.
According to MIT’s Technology in Review, Intel has announced plans to sell a specialized Wi-Fi platform later this year that can send data from a city to outlying rural areas tens of miles away, connecting
sparsely populated villages to the Internet.
The technology is called the rural connectivity platform (RCP) and has data rates up to about 6.5 megabits per second, which is good enough for video conferencing and telemedicine.
The RCP is made of a processor, radios,
specialized software, and an antenna, is a cot effective way connect
remote areas.
Intel has installed and tested RCP in India, Panama, Vietnam, and
South Africa. Later this year, the company will sell the device in
India, with a target price below $500.
The point-to-point technology requires two nodes, providing backhaul infrastructure for less than $1,000.
Sony upgraded its Mylo to COM-2, Available in black or white, with a back-lit, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, this wireless broadband device connects to open Wi-Fi networks. It does not require a monthly service contract, and as an added bonus, the new COM-2 mylo communicator devices will receive free access to participating Wayport hotspot locations in the U.S. including more than 9,000 McDonald’s locations until Dec. 31, 2010.
Sony Mylo COM-2 also has:
- Enhanced web browsing.
- 1.3 megapixel camera .
- Skype-to-Skype voice calls.
- Widgets - Google search, MyContacts, YouTube, Facebook Notifer
- Instant messaging AOL & Yahoo - Video viewable on a 3.5-inch screen has a resolution of 800 by 400 pixels.
- Hotspot location database from JiWire for the top 20 U.S. cities.
- 1GB of internal memory - up to 8GB of additional storage with Memory Stick Duo media.
Covad Communications Group Inc., announced that it will use technology from Cisco to deploy a wireless broadband test network in San Carlos, California. The test is part of the ‘Concept City’ phase of Wireless Silicon Valley, a project of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network.
Covad’s Covad Wireless business unit, which already serves business customers in San Carlos, will layer a new wireless broadband mesh capability onto its existing fixed wireless broadband service.
Covad Wireless will use the latest wireless equipment from Cisco to create a mesh network, and judge performance, user experience and customer demand during the testing period. Central to the test is creating a repeatable financial and operational model. Following the completion of the test, Covad Wireless will explore expanding the mesh service to additional locations in the region.
Unlike many of the municipal WiFi experiments in other metropolitan areas, the San Carlos test network is an extension of Covad Wireless’ existing, fixed wireless business and benefits from the expertise of Cisco and the participants in the Wireless Silicon Valley initiative.
