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(continued from previous page)
Ballmer sees Microsoft's unique role as bridging the consumer and business markets to provide a more compelling "experience" for phone buyers. Ballmer sat down with CNET News.com to talk about some of Microsoft's plans, what he likes about the iPhone, and why he thinks Vista is already a success, no matter what you might have heard.
Hooked up with Wi-Fi
The iPhone and other Wi-Fi-enabled handsets coming into the market could boost demand for citywide Wi-Fi networks. As cell phone operators push their 3G data services, new cell phones outfitted with Wi-Fi capability are also being introduced.
Apple's iPhone was one of the first to reach the American market. And so far, the phone has gotten rave reviews for Web surfing when it's on a Wi-Fi network. Conversely, critics have complained about the painfully slow surfing on AT&T's 2.5G cellular network. (The iPhone does not operate on a 3G wireless network, which is considerably faster than a 2.5G network.)
Up until recently, most people using a citywide Wi-Fi network have done so using a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop or PC. But with Wi-Fi-enabled cell phones, users could benefit from true broadband mobile Web surfing, which would likely drive demand for the service.
Meanwhile, cities that commit to using new Wi-Fi networks for their own use could help rescue the ailing citywide Wi-Fi movement. Even though some projects have stalled or failed outright, there have also been several success stories. Cities such as Minneapolis; Houston; Burbank, Calif.; and Tucson, Ariz., are moving forward and seeing early signs of success.
One of the common threads weaved through each of these deployments is that all of these cities have committed to using the Wi-Fi networks for their own purposes, whether it be to provide remote access for mobile city workers, automate meter reading, control traffic congestion or enhance public safety.
Funny how things change. Only a few years ago, AT&T was lobbying in city councils and statehouses around the country, trying to prevent cities from building their own broadband networks. AT&T and other service providers argued that these new networks would compete unfairly with their own broadband services.
But a little over a year ago, the company had a change of heart. And instead of battling local governments in court and in the legislature, AT&T joined forces with them to give them what they all seem to want--low-cost, high-speed Internet access using Wi-Fi.
James Cicconi, senior executive vice president of legislative and external affairs for AT&T, speaking at the MuniWireless conference in Santa Clara, Calif., said AT&T is taking a fresh view of the citywide-Wi-Fi movement.
Cicconi said AT&T's change of heart shouldn't come as a surprise. The company already provides thousands of Wi-Fi hot spots in cafes and other public places around the country. And the company sees Wi-Fi as simply another access technology for connecting users to broadband service.
On the Hill
A new Senate bill would protect more than telephone companies from lawsuits claiming illegal cooperation with the National Security Agency. It would retroactively immunize e-mail providers, search engines, Internet service providers, and instant-messaging services too. The broad language appears in new legislation that a Senate committee approved by a 13-to-2 vote during a meeting closed to the press and public.
After news reports said AT&T and other major telecommunications carriers opened their networks to the NSA after September 11, 2001, dozens of civil lawsuits were filed. A decision on whether the lawsuits will be permitted to proceed is expected from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco at any time.
President Bush has insisted on retroactive legal immunity, and the Justice Department on Friday gave the Senate bill a preliminary thumbs-up, though it said further changes will likely be necessary before it's satisfied.
The possibility of previously forbidden taxes on paid e-mail and other Web services emerged last week, when the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill extending a ban on Internet access taxes.
That's what a Congressional Research Service attorney concluded in a two-page memorandum. The specter of an e-mail tax all comes down to how the bills define what the ban covers. Current law, which is set to expire on November 1, unless Congress acts, defines the term as "a service that enables users to access content, information, electronic mail, or other services offered over the Internet, and may also include access to proprietary content, information, and other services as part of a package of services offered to users."
Meanwhile, America's online-poker enthusiasts descended on Capitol Hill with two messages for Congress: poker's good for the brain, and stop jeopardizing our games. The multiday lobbying visit by members of the Poker Players Alliance, which counts more than 800,000 professional and amateur players on its rolls, arrived about a year after politicians enacted a restrictive anti-Internet gambling law.
The players' goal for the fly-in: to boost support for a couple of bills, which so far enjoy backing from only a handful of politicians, that would roll back a sweeping ban in favor of more tailored regulations. One proposal would expressly carve out poker from any ban on online gambling, placing it in a category with "games of skill" like backgammon, mahjong and bridge.
Also of note
BEA Systems said it's willing to sit at the negotiating table with any potential buyers--if they're open to a price of $21 a share to start acquisition talks...Vonage said it had resolved an ongoing patent dispute with Verizon Communications at a price tag of up to $120 million, ending what has been a mostly gloomy saga for the struggling Internet phone company...Radio scientists at IBM Research and MediaTek are teaming up to develop a wireless transmission protocol that will deliver files more than 100 times faster than Wi-Fi.
See more CNET content tagged:
shipment, Apple iPhone, Week in review, reader, Apple Computer
At this point, I think that the idea of city provided Wi-Fi in the United States must be declared a failure. Most projects never got off the ground. Of those that did, many are inadequate. For example, Metro-Fi's signals are too weak to be useful and often require the purchase of booster antennas costing more than $100 and $20 per month for premium service. That is not free Wi-Fi.
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If that isn?t the most expensive phone in the world and it does
not even appeal to business customers because it doesn?t even
have a keboard, which makes it not a very good e-mail
machine! It may sell well or not, I don?t know, but we have our
plan and I like it very much. We have great windows mobile
devices in the market today. We have the Motorola phone for
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- by geo11101 January 21, 2009 3:00 AM PST
- Eric Schmidt is the biggest Mafia puppet in the US. He is bad news for apple users. http://endmafia.com
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