October 2007
October 30, 2007
BSquare Announces Improved SDIO
Wireless to be possible requires middleware infrastructure. BSquare has announced an improved SDIO host controller for wireless support. Component reduction leads to lower costs, hence a cheaper consumer product.
Linky.
Filed under 802.xx, Uncategorized by Dr. Dog
Craig Mathias, of FarPointGroup has an interesting twist on the Cicso-Navini Networks acquisition. Craig considers if a offshore play. That may come to pass, but I have noted in my dealings with Cisco they love to also do the implementation component as well. There is usually a fat support contract in the offing in those kind of deals, ie long term revenue. So I don’t think Cisco would turn down a domestic deal if Sprint asked them to wire up the MidWest for example.
Filed under Uncategorized by Dr. Dog
At least that’s the plan for their new Xohm Wimax offering. There have been some mixed signals by Sprint execs on how open the network would actually be, but currently talking points are clearly declaring it open.
Rick Robinson, VP of products and services of xOhm, told attendees of the Play conference in Berkeley, Calif., that xOhm will tear down the walled gardens and do away with restricted access to the mobile Internet. “Xohm will tear down this wall. We will provide complete access to Internet from a WiMax enabled device,” he said.
Speaking at the CTIA conference in San Francisco last week, xOHM senior vice president, Atish Gude, highlighted the fact that operators deliver a smart network which allows open access to applications. Sprint provides the network elements — location, presence, security, quality of service, and bandwidth. The rest of the magic comes from device companies and app makers. (from Gigaom)
Short sighted investors and fund managers should take note. A national open broadband network could dominate the mobile space in a very short time. Not in weeks or months, but in a very few years.
It’s best for beginners to take a free web hosting service to first launch their website. In this way they can spend more on seo services. Later on, when your home business establishes more, you can afford a well paid hosting server easily. Paid hosting servers, like startlogic hosting servers are somewhat expensive.
Here’s a different take on how wireless companies, with a bit of software could significantly enhance their coverage areas with little or no investment in infrastructure. It isn’t really thinking outside of the box, just opening the gate in the walled garden. It seems that the walled garden also confines its owner. (article on TMCnet)
October 29, 2007
WiMax in a Nutshell
For those who have a inclination for a little more meat in their wireless discussion. May I direct your attention to Back Haul Requriements for Emerging 4G and Wireless Deployments. It’s a nice tight discussion on WiMax and its network support requirements.
Bon Apete.
It seems that the folks at Qualcom and the GSM consortium are not going to concede 4G domination to Wimax without a fight.
While the GSM and CDMA folks are busy pushing their own proprietary standards, the Wimax camp is deploying infrastructure globally with increasing speed. I predict there will be quite a battle, but in the end, open commodity connectivity will prevail. That currently favors Wimax. The other 2 camps are deeply entrenched in pay for play services that will likely emerge as commodity features on Wimax - like voice and video. The next couple of years in the wireless arena should be interesting. (article on Business Week)
In a move that both private NGO’s, Verizon and AT&T favor, the FCC will change the rules that permit a landlord to only permit service for the entire complex to a single provider. This will certainly open up markets:
Commission officials and consumer groups said the new rule could significantly lower cable prices for millions of subscribers who live in apartment buildings and have had no choice in selecting a company for paid television. Government and private studies show that when a second cable company enters a market, prices can drop as much as 30 percent.
I am all for free open competition. However I have a nagging feeling that this ruling will be challenged if for nothing else trampling on contract law. Something that should not be taken lightly.
Filed under Uncategorized by Dr. Dog
From a heyday just 7 years ago Covad now languishes in the $1/share range. The board has accepted a tender offer buyout to take Covad to private equity. The whole deal is pending approval by shareholders:
“Platinum’s approach will bolster the successful execution of Covad’s business strategy while providing the resources and support necessary for sustained growth,” Charles Hoffman, Covad president and CEO, said in a statement. “We believe that the resulting increased market competitiveness, improved capital structure and enhanced product and network capabilities best position our customers, partners and employees for the future.”
In the rough and tumble Telecom world yet another brand disappears. Economy of scale makes it very hard for third tier players to stay in the market.
Bleg: Anyone happen to have a Covad mug they are willing to give away?
Filed under Uncategorized by Dr. Dog
ThirdPipe has been saying for quite a while that Google was going to be a player in the cellular market. Excerpt:
Google, meanwhile, is expected to come out with a new operating system for mobile devices called gPhone to extend its hugely profitable search-and-ads business to the wireless market. As part of this effort, Google is expected to release a software kit to spur development of innovative third-party services and applications that would help lure consumers to gPhone-based handsets [BusinessWeek, 9/6/07].
One expected feature of the gPhone platform, dubbed gPay, would simplify commerce for third-party providers by enabling users to pay for their services via short text messages. Today, carriers force most transactions to flow through a subscriber’s monthly bill, keeping up to half the revenue for serving this role as an unwanted intermediary between developers and consumers. Were Google to introduce an alternative billing system that charges developers lower fees, “we could really flourish,” says mSpot’s Tsui.
Google may also remove obstacles and financial burdens that typically confront developers by offering an alternative wireless network where the selection of applications available to users isn’t tightly controlled by mobile carriers. Google has said it may bid for wireless spectrum licenses in early 2008 to build, possibly with a partner, a new mobile network with no restrictions on what applications customers can use.
Google will transform a good portion of the CPE market. Any maker who does not have a stable of phones that can be supported/enhanced by third party developers will be left in the dust of a rapidly changing marketplace.
Filed under Wireless by Dr. Dog
In what has to be an embarrassing turn of events, the Illinois DOT has let a WiFi bid out for a 2nd time and received no takers.
Filed under 802.xx, Municipalities, States by Dr. Dog
