The Wireless Report

At a recent SOCALWUG meeting, I was introduced to one of the coolest wireless gadgets on the road: TrafficGauge (see a live feed). This little Palm-Pilot-looking device tells you the traffic conditions for Los Angeles area freeways. They also have one for Seattle. Expect more cities in the future - but not this holiday season.

L.A. is a daunting matrix of interconnected freeways. And yet, if you know of a trouble spot, it's easy to plot your way around it in the car, on the fly, and without missing a beat. The TrafficGauge makes this a cinch showing you the whole city on one screen at a glance. The interface is simple: Clear is fast, Black is slow, and Blinking is stop & go. There's one button and that's to turn on the mediocre, but serviceable, backlight. It runs on two AA batteries that "should last 2-3 months" and you never turn it off.  It just sits there watching. Vigilantly. Unceasingly.

The screen gets automatically updated every few minutes over one of the old wireless paging networks blanketing the city. Reception is great and since the paging network is nationwide, it even worked in Hawaii! (See picture.) Of course, I didn't need to know L.A. traffic while I was on an island 2400 miles away… I'm like that sometimes.

I've been using the TrafficGauge for about a month now and I'm addicted. I don't leave home without it. I even bring it along when friends drive or when I switch cars. I can't stop raving about it. When I showed it to Xeni Jardin (and almost everyone else) at the 35th Anniversary of the Internet in L.A., everyone thought it was worth the $80 plus $7 monthly subscription. Xeni called it one of her favorite picks on the radio show, "Day to Day" in a neat driving segment that you can listen to.

If you live or drive in L.A., this will be your third eye into the tangled web of mystery that is Traffic. Get one of these if only to reduce the ambient level of road rage on L.A. freeways. Please.

Verizon is vying to let off the pressure for Philadelphia's plans on citywide Wi-Fi.  In last minute news before the Governor's deadline to veto or sign the bill (November 30 at midnight) Verizon and city officials are in talks to allow the project to continue.  But the talks may be moot.

Some say Verizon doesn't have the power to grant exceptions to the law, regardless of any deal it cuts with Philadelphia. "Last I heard it was the state that had authority to write law, not Verizon," says James Baller, a telecommunications attorney who represents local governments. "Once this is signed, the language is there, and whatever Verizon thinks the legislation says has no force of law to it."

Unfortunately, if the bill is signed, it would make it law that all cities in Pennsylvania would need permission from area telcos before deploying a municipal broadband solution, including wireless and fiber.  In fact, the wording of House Bill #30 may be interpreted to restrict broadband deployment by any tax-funded agency or "political subdivision", not just cities.  Further, the bill could be a template for other states to follow suit.

This bill is turning out to be a flashpoint between municipalities, broadband users, and existing telecom companies.  Is it possible to create a scenario that's win-win-win for this tangled triad?

The NPR show, All Things Considered, will be covering some of the turmoil surrounding Philadelphia's plans for a wireless city. The show hasn't aired yet, so there is no audio archive available until later tonight - or catch it over the air on your local NPR station.

PHILLY WI-FI — Philadelphia wants to hook up the entire city with high-speed, wireless Internet access in order to spur economic development. But Verizon has successfully backed a state bill that would make it illegal for any government entity in to compete with the telecom company in providing high-speed Internet service. NPR's Larry Abramson reports. (3:30)

Cingular is following through on the obligations to divest assets from the AT&T Wireless acquisition. Continuing from the Alltel announcement, today MetroPCS purchased 10 MHz of wireless spectrum in both citites of Dallas and Detroit for $230 million.

Wireless guru Frank Keeney says, "Some people think wireless antenna towers are unsightly, I think they are beautiful!" and points us to this gallery of radio transmission sites in the U.K.  Find a new background from the desktop wallpaper section.

And on a related note, Engadget points us to a study on the safety of Cellular base stations.

Alltel purchased some of Cingular's recently acquired assets of ATT Wireless for $170 million. The sale is part of Cingular's divestiture obligations imposed by government agencies prior to allowing the $41 billion ATT Wireless acquisition.

Handheld computer site Handtops.com reviews five of the most common Wi-Fi finder/seeker/detectors that sell for under $50.  Detectors like these can help you find a wireless hotspot without having to boot up your laptop or wireless-enabled PDA.

(via /.)

This AP article touches on some of the problems with embedding RFID tags into passports. The ACLU is raising concerns on the privacy implications of having a generic, passively scanned government issued identification document. Briefcase-sized scanners could be used to read a passport on overseas travellers, opening them to risks of identity theft and other harm. How can you protect yourself? Wrap your passport in a tinfoil hat.

One rudimentary way to protect electronic passports from identity thieves is to wrap them in tinfoil, which blocks radio waves. A single size Doritos bag would do the trick.

The list is growing… Telecom carriers that provide DSL and cable access are standing up and taking notice of this whippersnapper upstart that is wireless. Here is a wrapup of the past few day's articles on the subject as it applies to city-funded wireless deployments:

Today's Wall Street Journal article. And the online discussions from WSJ.com readers.

An amazing poll of WSJ.com readers reveals that 49% are in favor of city-run municipal Wi-Fi while 51% prefer private enterprise drive muni wi-fi programs. Wow, another divisive issue for November 2004.

Feedback on the WSJ article from Muniwireless and Wi-Fi Net News

Feedback on the news about Philadelphia State Assembly bill HB30  from Wi-Fi Net News.

Also, read about it from PC World, Wi-Fi Planet, and Infoworld.

Esme Voss of Muniwireless makes the compelling argument that restriction of city-funded wireless networks could hand control back to major telco carriers, "...the pressure on the cable and DSL operators to upgrade their networks, deliver higher bandwidth, lower prices and provide service to low-income neighborhoods."

Representatives of the City of Lompoc stated this directly during the vendor Q&A session for their recently awarded city-wide wireless rollout plans.

The reason, they said, that the city is pushing their own fiber-to-the-home and wireless-everywhere initiative (and the reason for the nearly $US 1.5 million award) was because local broadband cable and DSL carriers would not commit to high-speed service to city residents.  Now, with the added competition, the city fully expects that broadband carriers will step up efforts to bring service above the 128kbps mark for under $50 per month - a win-win-win for city residents & businesses, carriers, and the city itself for acheiving their ultimate goal of bringing world-class internet access to Lompoc.

Win tipper yves, who spotted this on Wireless 3Yen, says, "NTT DoCoMo new FOMA 901i series NEC and Panasonic models will run on Linux. This will be a major push for Linux in the mobile market as Panasonic and NEC are among the most popular brands in Japan." The Finacial Times has more.

As many of you know, I co-founded and run the Southern California Wireless Users Group along with Frank Keeney. We have been running these meetings since early 2002.

Our meetings are held on Thursday's at the end of the month and tonight's the night! (due to Turkey Day we are 1 week early this month.)

After introductions, current events, and some Q&A, we will have one main presentation from IP3 Networks, manufacturer of wireless access control products. Plus some discussion and pictures about my recent trip to Hawaii - including results of my Maui wardrive.

The meeting begins at 7:00 PM Pacific, 10:00 PM Eastern.

If you can't come in person to the Pasadena, California location. Watch it Live over the Internet in streaming video via http://www.socalwug.org. If you missed it, the video will be archived forever on the SOCALWUG site.

At the 2004 TechNet National Innovation Summit held on Monday, industry leaders from a dozen technology companies discussed the future of the internet and the impact that wireless will have on the industry.  The consesus is that wireless services will enable not-yet-imagined ways of communicating. Also, whole new groups of the population will see increasing access through rural outreach. 

Panelists expect that the convergence of information processing devices and highly personalized services along with high-speed wireless access will create new opportunities and growth in the wireless industry.

PBS Host Charlie Rose moderated at the summit and has been airing interviews and segments from the event. Set your Tivo to catch the reruns.

Read the Reuters article
Read the San Jose Mercury News article

Spotted this today: A nice looking chess set made from various types of RF connectors, "White gets nickel or stainless steel and black gets gold top pieces." Put those spare connectors to some good use!

A majority of companies deploying RFID pilot projects are "highly concerned" about data quality and data synchronization according to surveys.  Corporate legacy systems were often the target of concern for not able to handle the "unprecedented amount of information" that RFID tagging and processing creates in a supply chain.

On a related note, Wal-Mart (who has a growing RFID program) harbors twice as much data than exists on the Internet and knows how to use it, according to this NY Times article.
(via wireless.com)