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SPOTLIGHT: WiFi services to bring in more money
Revenue from wireless networks will rise to $3.46 billion in 2009, up from the $969 million expected in 2005, says a new report from In-Stat. The growth is driven by an increasing number of hot spots, the number of which will double in the next four years from the present 100,000. The pace of growth will drop in the short term as the market begins to mature. The most growth in the sector will come from the cafe segment, which includes coffee shops, fast food, and restaurants: The segment …
ALSO NOTED: First also noted headline; second headline
> Nintendo president unveils plans to bring WiFi gaming to handheld owners. Story
> Siemens Venture Capital, a subsidiary of Siemens AG, has made a "strategic" investment in WiFi mesh-network supplier Tropos Networks. Story
> Hop-On shows a $39 WiFi cell phone at VON Expo. …
FierceWiFi September 14, 2005
- 802.16e to be ratified before end of month
- Cisco challenges Symbol in RFID arena
- Fractus shows fractal UWB antenna
- Ember to ship industry's lowest-power ZigBee platform
- picoChip expands Asian collaboration
- SPOTLIGHT: Strapping WiFi detector
- ALSO NOTED: Airgo samples new chipset; Cedar Rapids, Seattle buses use WiFi; and much more...
802.16e to be ratified before end of month
It is here. The final version of 802.16e will likely be ratified by the end of September, prompting an acceleration of the development of mobile WiMax products and services. Fixed WiMax products, based on 802.16-2004, are already being deployed, and will be launched on a broader scale during the first half of 2006. Interoperability testing has been delayed by several weeks to iron out a few wrinkles, and the commercial launch next year will have the benefit of customers being assured of …
Cisco challenges Symbol in RFID arena
Another front has opened in the competition between Cisco and Symbol -- now in the RFID arena. These two giants of the enterprise WLAN will now compete in a field in which Symbol had made all the early moves, and where RFID readers and related infrastructure are an integral part of its core business.
The immediate challenge will come in the form of the suite of hardware and software Cisco will be offering under the somewhat cumbersome name Intelligent Foundation for Radio …
Fractus shows fractal UWB antenna
Joan Maragall called Barcelona "la gran encisera," and she was right. Now, Barcelona-based Fractus, an antenna technology innovator -- and fractal antennas pioneer -- is showing a UWB antenna for the short-range wireless market. People like it, and some of the leading UWB chip companies have already evaluated the fractal antenna and plan to offer it as an option to their customers. The device is called the UWB Media+ Chip Antenna, and it complies with the requirements of …
Ember to ship industry's lowest-power ZigBee platform
You do not need much power to operate a ZigBee platform, but now you will need even less -- to be precise, 10 times less. Boston-based Ember next month will begin shipping what it claims to be the industry's lowest power ZigBee networking platform, which it had developed jointly with Texas Instruments. ZigBee is used for remote monitoring, control, and sensor network applications at home and in business. A growing market for ZigBee is the homeland security sector. The new platform is now …
picoChip expands Asian collaboration
If you want to have a good grasp of the underlying trends in the industry, you could do worse than keep an eye on picoChip, an innovative wireless solutions provider from Bath, England. I look at them and see three things: WiMax, software-defined radio, and Asia. (I can hear company's officials insisting: "And 3G/UMTS, too.") picoChip has just entered a development partnership with South Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) to work on software-defined radio …
SPOTLIGHT: Strapping WiFi detector
What with all the digital devices one has to carry these days, it is good to come across an idea which makes it possible to lighten the load. It sounds a bit off, but it is eminently doable: embed a passive WiFi detector into the strap of your laptop carrying case or backpack. Discussion
ALSO NOTED: Airgo samples new chipset; Cedar Rapids, Seattle buses use WiFi; and much more...
> WLAN chip startup Airgo is sampling its third-generation chipset, which will reach peak data transfer rates of 240 Mbps and offer average throughput of around 120 Mbps. Release
> Wireless startup Video54 is changing its name to Ruckus Wireless and putting in the bank the $9 million it has just received from VCs. Report
> The …
FierceWiFi September 7, 2005
- Katrina intensifies 700 MHz spectrum debate
- In the wake of a disaster: WiMax to the rescue
- Renewed 802.11n spec tensions
- Trend: WiMax making steady progress in Europe
- Silex USB 2.0 server with WiFi
- SPOTLIGHT: The water in Israel
- ALSO NOTED: U.S. Wireless Online offering free WiFi access in La.; Intel pledges gear for Katrina relief effort; and much more.
Katrina intensifies 700 MHz spectrum debate
Hurricane Katrina destroyed almost everything in its path, including much of the wired and wireless communication infrastructure along the afflicted area of the Gulf Coast. The result was the great difficulty various emergency agencies and first responders encountered when trying to communicate with each other to coordinate rescue operations. This traumatic experience is intensifying an already-acrimonious debate in Congress about how best to deal with the 700 MHz spectrum which will be …
In the wake of a disaster: WiMax to the rescue
Hurricane Katrina left large areas without radio communication, and it is very likely that most, if not all, of the fiber backbones and telephone switches in these areas have been destroyed beyond repair. If so, restoring communication will take many weeks. Relying on satellite communication, such as that offered by Iridium and Globalstar, would help but would be of limited use because it is slow and the handsets are expensive (both companies shipped thousands of their handsets to …
Renewed 802.11n spec tensions
The plot thickens. Two weeks ago it appeared that the 802.11n war was over, with the two major warring coalitions agreeing to submit a joint proposal to the IEEE task group. WLAN chip heavyweights Intel, Broadcom, Atheros, and Marvell have formed an informal alliance to jointly submit to the IEEE an interoperable PHY and MAC layers. Conspicuously absent is Airgo Networks, the current leader in MIMO technology, a technology which will be at the core of 802.11n.
Critics of the new …
Trend: WiMax making steady progress in Europe
WiMax is making steady progress in Europe. A few recent examples:
- French ADSL operator
the Iliad Group is acquiring Altitude Telecom. Altitude, which owns the only license granted by ARCEP (the French national telecommunications regulatory authority) to operate in the 3.5GHz band throughout France, has deployed an 802.16d-compliant BreezeMAX platform from Alvarion. The company has also …
Silex USB 2.0 server with WiFi
Phoenix-based Silex Technology America showed the Silex SX-2000WG, the first USB 2.0 Hi-Speed 802.11g wireless device server. The USB device servers provide network accessibility or sharing of USB products by client PCs on a LAN or WLAN. The SX-2000WG also extends the short USB cable for a single-user application and is compatible with most USB devices such as scanners and printers. It also connects USB 2.0 Hi-Speed devices such as external storage drives. USB 2.0 Hi-Speed is much faster …
SPOTLIGHT: The water in Israel
It must be something in the water in Israel. Alvarion has long been on the forefront of fixed WiMax developments, and now another Israeli company, Runcom Technologies, is moving to capture the pole position in mobile WiMax. The company was founded in 1997 and in 2000 introduced its proprietary OFDMA technology targeting Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB). OFDMA will be at the heart of 802.16e, so perhaps we should not be surprised that Runcom has signed a deal with Samsung to provide …
ALSO NOTED: U.S. Wireless Online offering free WiFi access in La.; Intel pledges gear for Katrina relief effort; and much more.
> Louisville, Kentucky-based U.S. Wireless Online is offering free WiFi access at its Baton Rouge Hot Zone and all hotspots in Louisiana. Story
> Intel pledges 1500 PCs, wireless APs, and technical support for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts. Story
> Brevard County, Florida-based Health First has deployed BlueSecure 5000 …
FierceWiFi August 31, 2005
- Editor's Corner
- Intel big on 802.21
- Trend: Powerline broadband gets second look
- Samsung demonstrates WiBro hand-off at 80mph
- Juniper to use Meru's WiFi voice technology
- Telenor to go all IP
- SPOTLIGHT: RFID legislation on hold for now
- ALSO NOTED: Fortress, AirMagnet sign OEM agreement; Stealing WiFi; and much more...
Editor's Corner
I encourage you to check out FierceMarkets' newest publication: IT-Wireless. It's a weekly newsletter that helps CIOs and IT managers implement wireless and mobile technologies. In it, readers will find "how-to" advice and practical tips for purchasing, using and protecting new technologies. Please sign up at www.it-wireless.com. - Ben
Intel big on 802.21
Where Intel goes, so, in most cases, goes the market. The latest standard behind which Intel is throwing its considerable wight is the 802.21. The IEEE 802.21 committee has been tasked with developing protocols which cover both 802-type wireless networks and mobile telephony. The standard will formulate procedures allowing mobile devices to recognize and analyze the radio environment around them; different layers in the software will then suggest, or even trigger, changes from WiFi …
Trend: Powerline broadband gets second look
Something does not have to be new to be exciting. UWB, current difficulties notwithstanding, is one example. Broadband over powerline (BPL) is another. For a while the technology has suffered from image issues (emphasizing wires in an increasingly wireless world) and some technical glitches. However, as more and more conclude that a wired-wireless convergence is the way to go, and as technical problems are addressed, both government and industry are warming up to this venerable …
Samsung demonstrates WiBro hand-off at 80mph
Talk of separating the chaff from the wheat: At a time when the usual critics of WiMax predictably find grist for their mill in the WiMax Forum's decision to postpone the beginning of interoperability testing, it is good to see that real work on real technological issues in the real world continues apace. Talkers talk, doers do.
Specifically, Samsung Electronics successfully demonstrated WiBro hand-over technology which allows devices seamless connection to Internet servers and …
Juniper to use Meru's WiFi voice technology
A few weeks ago Meru made the headlines for signing the largest contract to date to build a WiFi voice network. The network would link up to 10,000 staff at 50 offices of Osaka Gas, one of Japan's largest utilities. The employees will use converged handsets capable of making mobile calls on the Japanese FOMA system and in-building WiFi calls using SIP. Networking vendor Juniper has adopted Meru's innovative WiFi architecture for voice over WiFi, and perhaps there is a hint here as to …
Telenor to go all IP
First it was BT which announced that it was planning to turn off its PSTN by 2010 and offer only IP-based service. Now Norwegian incumbent Telenor ASA is heading in the same direction. Telenor's Sten Nordell told Unstrung that, "Convergence will have an impact on the architecture of our network. We are a mobile operator and a broadcaster," as well as being a fixed-line service provider, "and we have had to consider all these aspects."
Nordell said Telenor will do things …