Using Open Source development software and a hardware port for Freescale development of Wireless Mesh Networking may just be entering the disruption zone. In one example, the wireless controller for a toy tank was developed in less than 30min. This could be te technical opening to push mesh wireless technology into the datacenter, releiving the necessity for the mish mash of command and control cabling.

(06/24/2008 12:52 PM EDT)

ORLANDO, Fla. — Designing mesh network software for embedded processors using radio-frequency wireless protocol just got easier for original equipment manufacturers, according to Synapse Inc. (Huntsville, Ala.), which said it has re-hosted its Snap Pro 802.15.4 wireless mesh networking protocol for use on any RF module based on microcontrollers from Freescale Semiconductor Inc. (Austin, Texas).

Tapping an embedded virtual machine written in the easy-to-use Python language, Synapse demonstrated that applications could be developed in minutes, instead of weeks, by creating an embedded program during its presentation at the Freescale Technology Forum (FTF), held here June 16-19.

More here.

Sure, there’s nothing wrong with coax. It’s a great way to deliver huge amounts of data unless you want world class broadband over a shared cable that has the vast majority of it’s available bandwidth consumed by legacy RF signals.

A new development in optical may finally end the reign of coax. RFoG or radio frequency over glass promises tons of dedicated RF bandwidth combined with virtually unlimited digital bandwidth capability.

On Monday, Hitachi introduced two “Node+Zero” modules that are compatible with RFoG, a new cable industry initiative that enables cable operators to install FTTP systems that are capable of communicating with the MSO’s existing headend and traditional cable modems and digital set-tops. The SCTE kicked off an RFoG standards-setting project earlier this year. (See Fog Lifting on RFOG.) Several cable operators, including Cox Communications Inc. and WideOpenWest Holdings LLC (WOW) , are taking a more formal look at FTTP technologies, including RFoG, for residential greenfields and in support of business service deployments, (See Cox Flirts With Fiber and WOW! Does GPON.)

The product from Hitachi most closely associated with RFoG is the Node+Zero H-112, a standalone device that handles the optical-to-electrical conversion at the customer premises and passes through traditional RF-based cable services, including Docsis. The vendor’s Node+Zero H-103 model also passes through RF services but works in conjunction with a GPON optical network terminal (ONT) should operators decide to “future-proof” the system with an extra PON wavelength. (See Hitachi Rolls RFOG Gear .)  (Cable Digital News)

Initially, expect to see the ever reluctant to invest infrastructure cable guys deploying FTTH peace meal and sparsely. However, since RFoG enables them to intermix FTTH with their tired old head ends, it’s likely to become mainstream.

The Inquirer has a dilly of a piece on the move by Nokia to take the Symbian handheld OS Open Source. Link here. As the lede intones, I think there are a few hurdles. –
 
 
 

Is this a good move? Well if the Foundation is open to all AND they move eventually to a GPL based licensing I would say yes. Is it a Android killer? Time will tell. Android has not hit the market yet in a physical manifestation. Till we see a head to head comparison in the marketplace all bets are off. But I would offer the following — if Android is even close to Symbian in capability, the advantage is to Google. They have a nest of free development providers and Google Widgets to support warp speed deployment cycles.

But there is one thing I agree with in the Inquirer article — MicroSoft’s Mobile Phone platform is in trouble. No developer is going to pay when they can use a competing tool for free.

Right now US auto sales are flagging with the high cost of fuel. Chrysler is not immune to the effect though they are probably not as impacted as Ford or GM as SUVs, even Jeep, is not a huge segment of their sales. Even so, Chrysler is offering UConnect in future cars.

The concept of UConnect is to provide a ‘wireless’ car which assumes WiFi and Bluetooth enabled assets in the cabin. There are auto uptrippers that do this today installing anything from car pcs to Wifi and 1000w amps.

Washington, June 23 : American automobile manufacturer Chrysler has plans to equip its cars with a system that will enable people to surf the Internet while driving.

The UConnect Web system is what the company says can bring wireless Internet access to cars’ dashboards.

Frank Klegon, the company’s vice-president, says that they wants to gain a reputation for high-tech cars.

“In today’s market, Chrysler’s mission is to bring innovation to market more quickly,” Wired News quoted Klegon as saying.

Here’s an assessment –

Boon

• If there was ever a reason to implement WiMax this is it. Wifi is ok but the ranges are too short in most cases. One ends up with a lot of dead spots or deploys hundreds of AP’s. WiMax with its longer reach reduces both problems.
• Real Time traffic reporting. Done right this could be a fuel saver. If the developers work with the Garmins and TomTom’s of the world alternate routing would help alleviate the effects of traffic. No it won’t eliminate it.
• Knee drivers disappear. You know this type, cell phone in one hand, cup of coffee in the other. Last I heard we haven’t sprouted a third hand so they have to be using their knees.
• This stuff will be cheap. Volume is the name of the game in electronics. A million units spreads R&D. Not only that but what a hacker dream. “Dear I am going to the electronics store…”, which just happens to be Bill’s Wrecker and Salvage.
• Death of “Are we there yet” disease. What better distraction for the kiddies than a live internet connection?
• The third party marketing opportunities I expect to be viewed as endless.

Bane

• Just what we need, another distraction for the driver.
• The automobile as living room experience I have never quite understood. I take a very euro view to driving. Its to get you there, not lull you to sleep.
• First introduction cost will probably be high. Not only that with high fuel costs can one get a full utilization out of the entertainment value of the system.

As usual this development is a two edged sword. With a little common sense applied it can be a great tool to improve fuel efficiency, improve driver performance in strange locations, etc. If it is going to be treated as a gimmick well, that’s a waste.

HT: Big News Network

My last memory of pleasant air travel goes back to the days of Braniff, when I was barely old enough to travel alone. Seats were comfortable and service was offered without malice. Broadband access could make the current cattle maze / cattle car experience more palatable, and could bring the airlines some badly needed cash.

American Airlines has been outfitting its fleet of 15 Boeing 767-200 aircraft with an air-to-ground system by Aircell LLC and has said previously that it expected to allow customers to test it during the first half of this year.

Southwest Airlines is scheduled to begin test a system by Row 44 Inc. on four of its Boeing 737 planes starting in July. A broader test is scheduled for August, and a spokeswoman said Monday that the technology could be rolled out to customers as early as late summer or fall. (Dallas Morning News)

Not to slam our current crop of tech and business reporters, but it’s refreshing to see an interview with a tech CEO done to the point with relevance. Done at the D6 conference, Om Malik Questioned Mr Bezos on how Amazon web services got stated and where it’s going. Om also brought Wall Street’s complete ignorance of the significance of the cloud computing wave into focus.

• How and when Amazon began its cloud computing effort.
• Why Amazon has become an innovator with Amazon Web Services and how it relates to their core business of being an online retailer.
• Whether or not Wall Street recognizes Amazon’s cloud efforts.
• What’s next for Amazon Web Services.
• Whether or not Amazon has plans for a VC fund or for cloud computing startups. (GigaOm)

When it comes to determining who has how much in real terms, not marketing terms, content delivery provider Akamai is in a position to know. A new report that is expected to be revised quarterly shows that a paltry 20% of US connections accessing their servers has a =>5MBPS connection. This is very bad news because a great many of the new applications and services now in the pipeline will simply not worl correctly with the majority of the US connections. Talk about killing the economy! Before you bash Mr. Bush by his lonesome, remember that the other party controls both houses of Congress where laws are actually written of repealed. The entire cast of DC Pols are collectively out to lunch.

Akamai data shows that South Korea is the leader in delivering what the Massachusetts-based CDN provider calls, high broadband. It means connections that connect to Akamai’s at speeds exceeding 5 Megabits per second. Nearly 64% of South Korean connections qualify as high broadband.

US, by that metric is a deplorable, with only 20 percent connections qualifying as high broadband. Interestingly, when you reduce the connection speed to 2 megabits per second, US ranks at #24 with 62% of connections at speeds exceeding 2 Mbps.

In US, the state of Delaware has 60% connections that qualify as “high broadband.” California scores rather poorly and is not even among the top ten. Thanks to Cablevision, Verizon and Time Warner, New York comes in at #3 with 36% of its connections at speeds exceeding 5 Mbps. (Gigaom)

Memo to Pols: Make no new laws unless the said laws end the conditions that created the duopoly and continue to protect it from competition. Laws do not make for improvement in service. An open competitive market does.

Entire new businesses and communities have been built around user generated media. While the devoted amateur could always find a way, the declining cost of good production tools along with the ease of web distribution brought UGM to the masses. The blog you are reading now was enabled by a collection of free and easy to use open source products. As of today, the lines have completely blurred between producer and consumer as so many of us are both.

Applications may be the next wave. Imagine anyone who has learned how to use a few simple tools being able to create the next Digg or Facebook. Unlimited free to cheap utility computing becoming available in the cloud, combined with easy to use tools will supercharge the most devoted non-coder, and inspire many more casual users to create apps for themselves and share them. While the tools that powerful are not here yet, they are progressing in that direction. An open source project called Open Mashups may be on the cusp of that next wave.   If you’d like to automate some of the ways you use the web, or have a glimpse of what the near future holds, Open Mashups is a free download.

While we are still in the process of defining what is Web 2.0, pundits are beginning to postulate what will constitute Web 3.0. A thorough study of the complete article sited below brings us to the unavoidable conclusion that all scenarios postulated require abundant ever expanding bandwidth at low cost.

“In May 2006, Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web stated:

‘People keep asking what Web 3.0 is. I think maybe when you’ve got an overlay of scalable vector graphics - everything rippling and folding and looking misty - on Web 2.0 and access to a semantic Web integrated across a huge space of data, you’ll have access to an unbelievable data resource.’ (Gimme The Scoop)

Of course, the complete post has several more chiming in besides Mr. Berners-Lee. As for the Third Pipe viewpoint, Web 3.0 will not happen without a Third Pipe. With Web 2.0 we are beginning to view the Web as a utility where capacity should grow to meet demand without rationing. In order for Web 3.0 to become possible, we must first have free and open competition with a growing list of access providers instead of the entrenched duopoly that stifles innovation and limits growth.

Yes, like the 1984 flick ‘Runaway’ starring Tom Selleck. The plot for that film was that small industrial ‘bots were running around killing people. Selleck’s character was assigned to a police unit that exterminated such wayward bots. Well folks the plot is coming true. At least the ‘bot piece is.

It may have seemed like just another improbable scene from a Hollywood sci-fi flick – Tom Cruise battling against an army of robotic spiders intent on hunting him down.

But the storyline from Minority Report may not be quite as far fetched as it sounds.

British defence giant BAE Systems is creating a series of tiny electronic spiders, insects and snakes that could become the eyes and ears of soldiers on the battlefield, helping to save thousands of lives.

Now part of the key to this ‘bot army will be wireless technologies — Wifi, UWB and others. The reason being that if you are going to send in a ‘bot you want to see the target and make assessment of next moves. Then possibly having identified the target use the ‘bot as the targeting sensor for an appropriately designed warhead.

The world, when I leave it, will be more like Star Wars than I ever could have imagined..

Linky.