For those of the geeky variety, and not so, starting today McDonalds open up its WiFi to all comers. Free. With some catches.

Access is free. So general surfing will be available. According to McD’s web page (here) certain services and particular access needs may still require paying for the privilege. But I am fine with that. It is a step in the right direction.

McD’s being altruistic? Not totally. Their heart is in the right place, but their core reason is profit of course. You see McD’s has been in a battle Royale with StarBucks in the morning fast food segment going on 5 years now. Both players have toyed with the idea of going free on WiFi. Fact in some segments I believe StarBucks has already done so. Why do it? Draw customers in. Once they have you inside you might just buy a cup of coffee at a minimum or pop for a whole meal in the best of cases. Least thats the thinking.

This won’t go unnoticed of course. Figure StarBucks to counter across the board very quickly.

The real question becomes does WiFi stay viable for very long? In a strong parallel, WiFi hotspots are the 21st Century equivalent of the pay phone. Useful sure. But you are ‘parked’ till you finish your communications. Yet the growth of smartphones are anathema to that model as the CPE are tied to metrowide cellular/3g/4g services unrelated to specific locale. So WiFi services that McD’s is providing will fade just like the wall payphone at the local tavern did.

Well you don’t have to as long as you don’t mind paying a minimal fee for the privilege. The product is call 3jam and is very similar to GV in features —

Google Voice has been making a lot of headlines lately, but not for the reasons you’d hope. The service is already running into frustrating opposition from Apple and possibly AT&T (depending on who you believe). Today, it’s getting opposition of a different kind: 3jam, a company that until now has primarily offered services that revolve around SMS messaging, is expanding to offer telephony services that will be going head to head against Google Voice.

3jam offers many of the same core features offered by Google Voice, including the ability to have one phone number ring multiple phones, as well as an online interface for managing voicemail and text messages, though there are some more advanced features that it lacks (more on that later). But it does have a few features that Google Voice doesn’t, like the ability to receive calls on Skype, AOL, and Yahoo Messenger (why waste minutes when you’re sitting in front your your computer anyway?)

Considering the nature of the service I don’t think GV will remain free on certain aspects forever either. So if you have to have it NOW then consider this alternative.

Linky.

In an interesting move the Skype folks are releasing the SILK codec that is part of their new 4.0 platform. Now we know why that is, encourge all those third parties to write code to it. –

The wideband codec recently debuted as part of Skype 4.0 for Windows (with a Mac version coming in April.) With a claimed 400 million Skype users registered worldwide, the VoIP provider is apparently none too concerned about handing the competition keys to the kingdom without the usual charges.

Skype says it’s offering the licenses gratis to “establish a new industry-wide standard in speech processing,” ranging from web developers to chip manufacturers to mobile device makers.

SILK transfers audio between 8kHz to 12kHz - at least, that’s what Skype said, but we assumed it means 8Hz; thanks to all the readers who spotted the inconsistent numbers - compared with the 300Hz to 3.4kHz signals from most telephone companies. That means the conversation will sound clearer and more life-like, assuming both ends are using the codec.

Requiring SILK at both ends (and in between) will probably be the first hurdle for it to catch on with hardware manufacturers. If there’s a link in the communication chain not supporting wideband telephone, both sides get the same old lacking quality. But as Skype notes in the company blog, if you want to establish a new industry-wide standard, removing the cost is certainly a good start.

For Skype it is a good move. Now how about a new Linux upgrade while you are at it??

Linky.

As part of the stimulus package, there are provisions for tax abatements for rural wireless broadband deploys. Now we have been saying here for years now that rural was ripe for wireless broadband. In fact so that they really don’t need the stimulus to make it. Anyhow here are some particulars –

The Senate Finance Committee later today is expected to make tax credits available to wireless carriers and others in the telecom industry that expand broadband networks to rural and low-income urban areas with little or no high-speed Internet access.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), a senior member of the finance panel and chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, plans to offer an amendment this afternoon that provides a 10% tax credit to service providers that invest in current generation broadband (defined as at least 5 Mbps downlink and 1Mbps uplink) infrastructure in unserved and underserved portions of the country A 20% tax credit would be available to carriers that bring next-generation broadband (100 Mbps downlink and 20 Mbps uplink) networks to those areas. However, commercial mobile wireless carriers would be eligible for the 20% tax credit if they offer broadband service at speeds of at least 3 Mbps downlink and 768 Kbps unlink in unserved and underserved locales.

The irony for somebody like Verizon is that they have been selling off anything that even smells ‘rural’. So some WISPs might have a shot at this. Fact Clearwire ought to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of this largess.

More here.

I ask that question because there is a move afoot by the Commerce Committee under Rockefeller to push the DTV rollout to sometime in June. Now think how stupid this idea is. -

• We are less than 3 weeks away from a cut over. If a TV station intended to stay on the air, operating, they would have already made the capital investments to go digital. So the delay does not buy the stations anything financially.
• For the consumer, well yeah they get a reprieve. But it does not accomplish anything. Human nature, if the consumer has not bought a converter by now they are blissfully unaware or like many just won’t do anything till the screen goes to snow. Delaying will not alter that behavior.
• Heck even for the Telcos want to see a delay to avoid spending money right now on 700mhz, 6 months does not do much for them. For them better the delay is 1 year or better yet 2. All this does is give a little more breathing room for planning.

So the nanny state Pols yet again meddle in affairs wringing their hands over ‘concerns for the poor’. Hmm can’t afford $10? ($50 converter - $40 Fed coupon) Rockefeller is a bigger fool that I imagined.

Linky.

Update: Just announced on Fox News, 6:54pm CT. It is a done deal. The DTV transition is to be delayed for 4 months. Ok where do I go to pick up my Karnack outfit??? Johnnnyyyyy!!

Do you work for one of the Fortune 10,000? You know they are cutting back. But that does not mean that you can’t leverage them to get additional savings for yourself. Most of the majors have a employee discount benefits dept, usually run by HR. Under the scheme you can get insurance, autoglass, car purchases etc at discounted rates. Well the same goes for cell service. –

Wanna save on your Tmobile bill? Ask your company’s partnership rep if they have an employer discount available. Then you can call Tmobile Corporate Migrations at 877-453-8824 and claim your discount. In fact, if you Google that number, you can find the names of a number of companies and organizations that give their members Tmobile discounts. Perhaps you belong to one of them. (Thanks to Romeo!) (Photo: Ed Yourdon)

[Consumerist tip]

Now their suggestion is applicable to T-Mobile. But all the majors have an employee discounting program. So even if T-Mobile does not service your area does not mean that Verizon or AT&T does not and offers this service. Call your HR dept and ask. In these times, 10% off is money in the bank.

Linky.

I read this article over at Wired and just shook my head. It will probably be a smash hit of course. Such is the public’s conditioning on taking a contract deal for cellphones. –

How’s this for some technological wizardry? Take a $350 netbook and turn it into a $1,500 device without changing anything inside.

That’s exactly what Acer, RadioShack and AT&T have done with their latest netbook offer. On Friday, the trio said they will offer a netbook for $100 upfront — but with a $60 per month, two-year data contract on AT&T. Over the two years of the contract, that adds up to a total of $1,540, or more than four times the list price of the netbook alone.

With the move Acer became the first company to bring a netbook on contract to the U.S. The offer is modeled on how most cellphones are currently sold, and follows similar netbooks-on-contract offers overseas.

“It is interesting move,” says Bob O’Donnell, a vice president with research firm IDC, “but it won’t make a huge dent in the marketplace right away. “The price points they are available today are way too high for most people.”

Netbooks are lightweight notebooks that have limited processor power but offer the promise of easy internet connectivity, portability and low prices (generally under $400). By tying them to contracts, netbook manufacturers hope to drive the purchase price even lower, perhaps even to zero. But will consumers take the bait?

The question that needs to be begged is — What’s the value of the underlying data contract? Well AT&T’s cheapest EVDO data plan starts at $20. Its current PDA+2 year plan starts at a little under $60. $40 spread. $960 difference for the life of the contract. So lets say half of that is going to the nettop maker. You end up paying $580 (or more) for a $350 product with $0 residual value at the end of the deal. You would be better off waiting a bit saving the $60 for a couple of months then buy the nettop outright and going with a separate plan.

Please. Be smarter than this.

Linky

Well now looks like T-Mobile has started something that can’t be ignored. Verizon Wireless is going to start offering a month to month (MTM) plan for those that want it. You pay the full boat price for the phone and get to go MTM on the service. –

• Available to Consumer, Corporate Liable, and Employee Liable customers (excludes Federal Government customers)
• Any current voice &/or data calling plan and equipment available
• Customer credit checks apply.
• Device Initiation Fee and/or Activation Fee must be charged (no exceptions)
• MTM customers are eligible to accept any applicable promotional offering but must agree with the contract term associated with the offer (i.e. they will no longer be a MTM customer)
• Customers are not eligible for equipment discounts if they do not agree to a one or two-year minimum term
• Corporate and employee liable customers are eligible to receive accessory discounts on month to month agreements
• MTM customers can terminate their service at any time (effective on their next bill cycle date) without incurring an early termination fee
• New Customers: Use Month to Month as the contract term
• Existing Customers: Use Upgrade Reason Code UN only

Well this is great news for a couple of reasons:

1. You pay for the phone at its true cost. TP has been advocating this as if there is mass adoption it will drive down the true cost of the devices.
2. It eliminates contracts. That is beneficial to both parties. You don’t pay your bill you don’t have service. If you can’t follow that then you don’t deserve a cell phone.
3. Eventually if there are enough MTM customers with all the carriers a battle royale will ensue on the transport costs. We could see savage pricing like we do in the wholesale VoIP space.

What I don’t understand is why a credit check on MTM? If the customer uses a credit card to buy the phone and signs up the same account for the monthly billing why does the wireless carrier care? It drives up their costs actually.

We would like to thank The Boy Genius blog for this information.

Well it looks like Google Androids will be in the public venue come September. T-Mobile is rumored to be the first carrier to carry an Android enabled phoneset. –

We’re hearing rumor after rumor that Android has been delayed, and pushed back to 2009. Well TmoNews is jumping into the pool or rumors, calling BS on those other rumors, and putting in our vote of confidence on a presale of the Android phone on September 16th, 2008. This information, coming from a trusted source, prices the Android phone, also known as the G1 (Codename or real name, we’re not sure) at $399.

Full invoice that is.

Scare you? Good, well during the presale of the G1, T-mobile customers can pick up the phone for $150. This is where it gets interesting, we’re not seeing any prices for new activations during the presale, so this could mean that only current T-mobile customers can pick up the G1 during the presale. Other customers interested in the G1 may have to wait until beginning/mid October before a national public launch.

$400 for an advanced phone. Scary? Not one bit in my view. This is the price we should be paying for an advanced phone of this type SO LONG as the carrier is reducing their usage rate on the backend. What is this years $400 wonder is next years $100 commodity. That is the way it is in tech. The early adopters always pay the R&D. The price you pay is dependent on patience. I am fine with that. You should be too.

What is most surprising is that T-Mobile has in a very short period of time gone from a follower to a leader. They dumped ETF’s . They are now going to be the first to introduce Andoid. I wonder what else they have up their sleeves?

Linky.

Well if you own an iPhone you can, at least for the battery. First thing go buy this kit for $8 then stash it away. When you iPhone battery gives up the ghost whip this sucker out and have at it. Considering that its $90 for Apple to do the same thing that is $82 in savings.

One caveat. If your iPhone is still under warranty when the battery dies then send it in. Using this kit will most likely void the warranty in their eyes. Once the warranty period expires its fair game.

HT: Coolest Gadgets.