Actionec has released the official information on the zControl since my previous post.
Actiontec’s product interconnects any devices that use the Z-Wave protocol such as Motion Sensors, Cameras, Doors, Thermostats, Blinds etc. Z-Wave operates at 900Mhz with a range of 30 m and a bandwidth of up to 40Kbits/s. Although the through output may seem small, it is more that enough to send and receive status information and issue commands.
Interaction with the zControl is done via its a Web-based interface and may be accessed virtually from anywhere (assuming you have an Internet connection in your home and your router/gateway is properly configured to access the zControl remotely). Discovery of your Z-Wave enabled devices can be either automatic or a configuration wizard can be used for that purpose.
Now I’m looking forward to a review of the zControl in a real-life environment. I’ll keep you posted if I find anything. Until then, enjoy these two demos: Z-Wave World and Z-Wave.com.
Njoy your day!
I was talking about this with friends months ago, and finally someone did it. Who? Yahoo!
JetBlue is the first domestic carrier to test high altitude connectivity. You can bring your WiFi enabled gadgets, your BlackBerry’s and start browsing the web. IM on Yahoo! post twits on Twitter or whatever you want. It’s an Airbus A320 and it’s called BetaBlue as presented on JetBlue’s website, and the services are free to customers and provided exclusively by JetBlue and LiveTV™, Yahoo!®, and BlackBerry®.
Yahoo! went another step and even added special Status messages like “Head in the clouds - seriously”, “Sleeping on the Plane” and “Ugh! Crying baby on flight”
I have been predicting this a while ago, and now that it’s here, I just want to say “kudos” to everyone involved, and nice winds for the pilots.
Otherwise the cabin will be filled with flying gadgets ;-)
This is why Wireless is FUN, and this is why I’m sorry I stopped writing here lately. I just hope I will have enough time to start writing again and bring you nice and fresh Wireless news, gossips and maybe not only wireless…
I recall a few years back, when computer experts experimenting with the original xBox discovered a method by which they could replace a piece of hardware within the unit and transform it from mere gaming machine to a full-featured computer. Folks began to manufacture and distribute the replacement chip, and laypeople could modify their xBoxes to create a powerful computer for a fraction of the cost of building such a machine from component parts. Microsoft’s strategy included taking a hit in profit on the hardware of the console, betting that they would more than recover the loss in the form of licensing software games, and they were not pleased about the popularity of this modification. Microsoft got litigious, claiming that the modifications were illegal manipulation of their intellectual property (i.e. the insides of that xBox); defendants claimed that since they had paid to acquire the unit, the hardware was completely their property to modify however they pleased. It was awkward for a while, as Microsoft sought to protect their empire while alienating their supporters.
I thought of this story not in relationship to any current weirdness with Microsoft, but rather with my currently uneasy relationship with Apple Inc. You see, I want an iPhone, but I frankly don’t give a damn about the phone function itself. While I am willing to pay the hefty price tag for what is allegedly the world’s greatest iPod/mobile internet/email/PDA device (with functionality over WiFi), I am not willing to pay a dime to AT&T for service (let alone the $59 x 24 months = $1,416 for the most meager minute allotments). Read the rest of this entry »
Olga Kharif from Business Week wrote an article today about MuniWiFi operators around the U.S. promising to dismantle the WiFi networks built until now because they have no customers… The statistics show that from the expected 20% - 30% of subscribers living in a certain area, only 1% - 2% subscribed.
Of course, people will love using *free* WiFi networks across the city, and of course everyone thinks it’s a good idea to have *free* WiFi, but the costs for a free network have to be covered by the city also, not only by the ISP’s and companies willing to use the *free* WiFi as an advertisement platform. Tom Haulli from Bloggingstocks wrote about San Francisco’s WiFi ballot: “Do you want *free* WiFi” the people are asked, and who in their right mind would say no to such a question? OK, maybe my grandma who has problems with GSM phones, and why do they work with no wires attached?
Some good news though comes from Glenn Fleishman, about *free* WiFi on trains in the UK. The new operator, National Express who will take over on the East Coast from December 2007, included it (*free* WiFi) in their offer, as until now only First Class had it, and coach passengers had to pay for access.
Wireless is fun, can be monetized, but it’s nothing like we’ve ever seen until now… Starting to get intrigued as how many people can be blinded by a single word: *free* and not take the time to ask themselves: what’s it going to cost me in the long run?!
What happens if you jump from entrepreneurship to full time corporate dude? First, you cease good ol’ habits such as doing email where rubber meets the road in the wireless industry - the WiFi’ed caffe!
Luckily sometimes big guys that work in tall buildings come back to the streets to smell that roasted coffee flavor and sniff those 802.11 airwaves, hopefully one of them free. Had my chance for a couple of days to bring the love back so here I am, feeding heavily on all that online stuff that makes me smarter and more competitive, at Bourbon Cocktails&Coffee in the lovely harbor city of Constantza.
Usually people would be sunbathing and stuff here but instead I’m wirelessbathing in all free nets I can find and hop on.
During my two day stay I ran across plentiful networks to do my job on, all ranging from 1Mbits to 6Mbits, all in key locations such as rep building, hotel, cafe and… parking lot!
Of couse both my N70 and my HSDPA SmartModem from Vodafone could have taken over in case there was no WiFi to grab. But for some reason I love WiFi and simply like to enable the Airport on my Mac and enjoy it from there.
Now missing a more portable device to play with nets for when taking the Macbook out feels cumbersome. I’m considering one of those new HTC touch smartphones. Anyone tried one?
Following on a cool wireless story where Zapp, Romanian CDMA mobile operator, launched a new service that WiFies Bucharest cabs! That’s a really schrewd move for mobility and innovation.
But I wonder what their ROI is. The business model is based on 10 minutes of free access then pre-paid card access. Given one would spend an average of 25 minutes in a cab, why would one buy a 1h card for just 15minutes? Yeah, ok, it’s good to have later on a different location, but…
I would assume it’s just an image push. (it works!).
Nevertheless cost per cab is:
- router – ASUS WL-500G w. USB port ~$40
- Z010 EvDo modem ~$20
- unlimited in-network airtime
ROI is thereafter obtained after selling ~50 $2/1h prepaid cards of roughly 30-40h usage. A week per cab, maybe, presuming clients buy the cheapest value card - http://zapp.ro/offer/data/zoe/zoecard/
Risks: nearby accidental users that would hop on the 10 minute free airtime. Probably 60% of actual usage per mobile hotspot. Not so bad as routers are set for DoD (dial on demand).
Related: I wanted to plant a hotspot in my car (a Smart ForTwo at the time) and brand it “free hotspot in range of this car”. Never took the time to do it. Envious!
Later edit: Virgil of yottablog goes further with the analysis here. Go read with confidence!
There hasn’t been much Fon news or related lately but we couldn’t miss the fact that
- Time Warner opened their doors to broadband sharing in the US and
- The programmers in Spain finally came up with a beta version of the FON Spot Mac / Linux
What this software does is that it turns your Intel-based Mac into a FON hotspot. If you use a 3G or EvDo modem this software will turn your Airport into a Access Point-like WiFi adapter and start sharing your connection around.
It’s not a new concept for Mac users as by default Macs let you share your modem connection in three clicks anyway. But FON saw this was an opportunity that could not be missed to expand their service and brand where conventional hotspots do not protrude. Shrewd!
Screenshot of Mac’s WiFi sharing enabler
Let’s analyze if this would really work in real life past the obvious geeky sexieness.
Having a Fon hotspot ‘built in’ your Mac is neat if you’re a big fan of the service and really want to take it everywhere with you. Maybe you have a flat mobile broadband connection anyway and you don’t mind sharing but you’re missing the credentials for your signal. Or maybe you just don’t mind doing it. Any case you chose it’s fine!
But in all other cases you’d be simply sharing your connection as is or no sharing it at all. Eventually it all comes down to FON’s business model. Share WiFi and get WiFi for free elsewhere in FON hotspots, as a Linus. Or share your WiFi for some money. These cases are based on a permanent presence in a determined location. Usually one would use a fast connection they don’t really mind sharing.
What happens when you share your crawling 3G/EvDO? Those pipes are not that large, your connection is not in a specific connection and does not provide service 24/7. That does not make for a compatible service with FON’s, which anyway is catchy because it brings advantages both ways.
Based on how FON Spot for Mac works the only winner here is.. FON! You would likely not share that limited bandwidth (I’ve done it oh so many times with my EvDo) and not agree FON is using your expensive connection for self-promo and Alien (non-member user that pays premium for access) money milking.
Running c*free, a free hotspot operator, I’ve often used Mac’s WiFi sharing to promote the brand at different events or ingenuous places. Hell, I’ve shared that signal a couple of years ago when I was still using Windows through an Ad-Hoc profile and later using a USB kit called c*free mini.
Yet, I still don’t know how this would go beyond such use!
Most folks who have/use a mobile broadband connection pay a shit load of money on it every month. They are usually business/entrepreneur/SOHO types that
- care for their data and its security
- pay for the 3G / EvDo for a precise purpose
- are time critical
- don’t have time or interest in playing with gizmos and hacks such as FON Spot
- are energy-conscious, meaning they would power their WiFi only when in the range of a signal they would use.
It’s unclear to me how this hack will make it in the real world. It might! But as it stands, incentives - even ones like the principle of sharing in exchange for free connectivity (wait!! Free WiFi? Why, when you already have the darn 3G?) - are low or inexistent!
For the techie ones I opened the installer and below is a screenshot of the package contents. I did not install the hack on my Macbook for it’s still beta and I rely on being able to use my Airport card. Those of you who have the time and curiosity are welcome to post their experiences in the comments section.
Use your mobile setup!
It’s really rare that we get to experience grid failures these days. And so it should! This is 2007!!!
Oddly enough we had such a power outage today and, from what we’ve been told, the grid failed in almost every corner of the city! If your business is in tech and telco you probably rely on more than one computer, a good connection to the Internet and a big load of office gadgetry that is energy-dependant.
In a few seconds I realized that the cable modem and the WiFi router are off so there’s no connectivity. Luckily my setup is mobile so here’s how I got back online in minutes:
- I work on a Macbook and, if unplugged, I get about 3-4h of work time on one charge.
- If WiFi or the ISP fail, there’s a backup connection at hand - a mobile 2.4Mbs EvDo USB modem from Zapp Mobile.
While the outage lasted about 30 minutes and it took the cable company an extra 15minutes to re-broadcast, I should have been offline and out of business for about an hour. Plugging the USB modem and clicking connect was easy. Sure, some have redundant connections and UPS power savers in their offices. Albeit being able to save work and wait for the power to bring back the net is not the way to go.
Both ends meet when I saw that the mobile setup I use when out of the office took over the local setup with flying colours! This is so 2007! :D
Zonk writes on Slashdot that the DoD (US Department of Defense) is planning to launch in the first quarter of 2009 an internet router in space. The project is called IRIS (Internet Routing In Space) and at first it’s supposed to be used solely by the military in their transmissions, for about 3 years, which will serve also as a testing period, but a commercial use is foreseen in the future. Cisco will be developing the software for this router, and I dare to say that they will do a great job as always. I wonder what will be the OSPF here ;-).
Internet Service Providers will be able to use this router, or similar ones, after the three year testing period, to reduce delays in internet communication, and this will probably be the new trend in data transmissions.
Here at WiF:)), having the c*free background, we were thinking about placing a hotspot in space… What do you think about that?
Hello, please direct your mothership to coordinates xxx,yyy right near asteroid 24 for free WiFi in space ;-)
Telecoms Pricing Asia
Le Meridien Hotel, Singapore
28th-31st May 2007
Late May I’ll be in Singapore as a key speaker for IIR’s Telecoms Pricing Asia ‘07. This is the third event organized by the Brits that I’ll attend and deliver to, following Fixed Mobile Convergence ‘06 held in Amsterdam and Telecoms Pricing ‘06 held in Barcelona.
The subject of my upcoming keynote, Establishing a framework for wireless service pricing which reflects the different capital and operational costs of WiMax, wireless local loop and UMTS/HSDPA deployments will revolve around the following draft:
Today’s standards bundle provides great flexibility for network deployment.
While it might look like an easy plan to blueprint a new rollout and provide
a good pricing framework to effectively monetize it, there’s a number
hurdles to overcome:
- determining the right technology (based on the market size, geo,
penetration and lifecycle expectations for backend systems used);
- determining the right mix (WiMax + WiFi? WiMax only? HSDPA+WiFi?);
- outlining the costs and rollout timeframe;
- examining exit strategy and determining fruitful adoption incentives
to generate growth;
- “Will it work?” – cheating the incremental rollout;
- “Keep an eye on net neutrality and disruptive 3rd party add-on
services!” – how can innovation maximize revenue without hindering
sensitive end user alternative choice?
Telecoms Pricing Asia is the world’s premier pricing event focusing on Asian telecoms and talks about maximising profitability and customer retention in Asia’s competitive telecoms markets.
To find out more or register for the event go to IIR’s website: TP Asia
Free Pass!
To get you guys into it, here’s a neat trick! As a speaker at the event I’m entitled to bring along a guest that gets free access to the conference!
A WirelessIsFun.com exclusive, I’ll give out the invitation (valued US$3,800) to one of the WiF:)) friends so he/she can join me in Singapore!
You gotta tell me soon if you’d like to join in so I can announce the event organizers. Unfortunatelly the invitiation does not cover travel or accomodation expenses. I really wish it did.
Scott MCCARTNEY from the Wall Street Journal talks about the adoption of WiFi on US airliners. The story is rather long and intricate, but the bottom line is that in the beginning of 2008 we will be able to use our laptops and WiFi enabled devices during flight. We will be able to stay in touch with our offices or our business partners, and our families.
The costs for refitting an airliner to support this would be around $100,000, would involve about 12 hours of work and about 100 pounds of equipment.
At first, VoiP services will be restricted for passengers and will only be available for pilots, flight attendants and air marshals, but will eventually be available for everyone except during take-off and landing.
The prices announced for the passengers will be around $10/day.
Austria Center, Viena, will host May 29th through May 31st this year a major event: WiMAX World Europe!
We missed last year’s an I will personally miss this year’s also, because I’m a guest speaker at Telecoms Pricing Asia ‘07 that will be held in Singapore roughly in the same period.
Nevertheless, as much as I keep deconstructing the WiMAX (802.16e) hype, there’s good reasons to visit this forum. 2007 is one year closer to the actual rollout of the first commercial networks around Europe.
In Europe, the situation will be particularly interesting, and there are some key events that will help shape the market in this dynamic region over the coming years. Many regulators will make their decisions on how to allocate the important 2.5GHz spectrum, in effect ruling on whether WiMAX will have access to 3G-class frequencies, or will have to focus entirely on 3.5GHz until new spectrum options become available. In the 3.5GHz area, most major economies will have auctioned licenses by the end of 2007, spurring one of the most concentrated build-out programs in the world from the middle of the year, with particular growth opportunities in the eastern part of the continent and the Middle East, the Conference Chairs say.
Get busy to register early as Expo Passes are free of charge if you sign in before 4/13/07!
Bill Gates: “America will find it infinitely more difficult to maintain its technological leadership if it shuts out the very people who are most able to help us compete.”
Marius pointed me to this article in Financial Times the other day. I kept it in a tab and only paid some attention to it this afternoon. I’m sorry I did so.
We pointed to an ever increasing number of non-US internet startups in our previous posts. It didn’t look like much other than usual headlines. Come to think about it now, I realized that the US stopped being the sole fertile ground for disruptive ventures that rock our online lives.
The ‘buzzes and hypes’ are now global and we can finally use the whole map of the world to place hotspots of innovation and leadership. It’s news that emerged in silence and evolved into a shocking reality that the world (and especially the US) will start to grasp in the months to come: the US is about to lose its tech lead!
Sure, there’s still some quiet mourning in our WiF offices about the fact that most of “the net” is nested in a place called Silicon Valley. If anything is about to happen in the tech world it’s now being designed and tested in the Bay Area, in Texas or Nevada, New York and somewhat Chicago (for all-advertising). We’d love to be there too as geeks have their ways of congregating. But the restrictive US immigration policies make us think twice.
Exactly like we are, fellow entrepreneurs and skilled tech gurus now turn their heads to Europe or Asia as good places to start a flourishing internet business. The economical, human and technological gap is narrowing. There’s countries that support innovation by law and political lobby (like Estonia, for example), countries that have a very louring tax environment (like Luxembourg), some that have great infrastructure like Germany and S. Korea, or some that have very very high skilled but cheap workers like Romania.
This is becoming alarmingly real for the US and great for the world as a global trend. Establishing further ‘Silicon Valleys’ in other non-traditional places is bound to happen in the near future and is a good example that innovation and business leadership are not reserved or restricted to a single supplier.
I reckon this trend will gain more momentum as relaxing the US immigration policy it a long and difficult process. How long until Silicon Valley becomes a historical monument, pilgrimage destination for geeks?
Oh boy… everybody’s been blogging like crazy but us! The RSS reader is full but not all that stuff is good. Not much has happened in the wireless world this week. Was it the week for going out of town and getting drunk at a chalet? Mmmmaybe :)
Quiz: Why did Montoya leave Formula One?
He said he got bored of the competition!
How does this apply to a wireless tech blog? Here’s how: sometimes the scene is so boring that a pause or shift is welcome. We did that. It was fun. Now back in biz.
So here’s week’s first story:
Meraki will build a square mile mesh to demo their system.
Nope! Of course it’s not going to happen in your city; they’re doing it in San Francisco, USA. Good times!
15,000 people will be covered in “Mission Dolores Park through the Castro and Duboce Park Neighborhoods and up to Alamo Square Park”, wherever those might be. They say it’s going to be fast too, thanx to the 30 business-class DSL lines from Speakeasy Networks, which wifinetnews.com notes have open approval of broadband service sharing without special arrangements.
Great! We’re going to go there and test it! Or start looking for rent and jobs in SF because if anything happens in the WiFi world, it’s happening there! Vote for WiF to move to the US! Vote for WiF! :))
Feed yourself!
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What happens if you jump from entrepreneurship to full time corporate dude? First, you cease good ol’ habits such as doing email where rubber meets the road in the wireless industry - the WiFi’ed caffe!
Telecoms Pricing Asia