Webware

Opera, announced Thursday that it has inked a deal with Skyhook Wireless that will bring geolocation to its browser. According to the company, those who download the geolocation-equipped Opera browser will be able to share their location with any site that supports it and get information about related products and services in their area.

Skyhook played an integral role in making the geolocation possible. The company's Wi-Fi Position System makes it possible for any computer or mobile phone with a wireless adapter to be located.

In conjunction with the release of a new Opera build that supports geolocation, the company also released an API that will allow Web developers to add the Skyhook location platform to their site, so they can interact with Opera browser users. Download the browser here.

AOL might have enjoyed its best days in the late 1990s, but the company is still the most beloved ISP, according to a new study from Forrester Research. Forrester polled nearly 4,600 consumers about their experience dealing with ISPs. AOL topped the list for usefulness and simplicity. Overall, the company's "Customer Experience Index" rating was 71 percent, putting it atop the list of ISPs across the U.S.

Visible Measures, a company that provides video tracking and measurement services, announced Tuesday that it has raised $10 million in a Series C funding round that was led by Northgate Capital. According to the company, it plans to use the funding to expand its operation.

Mortgage search site, Home-Account, announced Thursday that it has raised $1 million in seed funding from Charles River Ventures and other investors. The company will use the funding to invest in its growth for its recently launched site.

(Credit: Eye-Fi)

Eye-Fi's now ready to unleash its next generation of Wi-Fi SD cards on the point-and-shooting public. The Eye-Fi Share Video and Eye-Fi Explore Video cards, first announced at CES, extend the capabilities of their predecessors to support uploading video directly to YouTube and Flickr via Wi-Fi.

While it'd be great if the cards could upload from the increasing number of Flash-based camcorders, they still only work with cameras; according to the company, that's because they only transmit files found in the DCIM directory. Cameras have a single standard directory structures but camcorders don't.

Eye-Fi has to stash the geotagging information generated by the Explore Video card in a sidecar file as well, since video files don't have a standard for storing it.

The geotagging 4GB Eye-Fi Explore Video card will cost $99 when it ships at the end of this month; the 4GB Eye-Fi Share Video will run $79. The company also dropped the price on its 2GB photo-only cards.

At about 18 and a half minutes into a panel I was co-hosting at the Under the Radar: Mobility conference on Wednesday, things began to get ugly. Our panelists on the "No filters: Ask the carriers anything" session were representatives from U.S. wireless carriers Verizon Wireless, Alltell, T-Mobile, and AT&T. We took an audience question from an entrepreneur who was trying to start up an SMS-based business. He was frustrated because he had to jump through hoops to get the carriers to look at his service before he could roll it out. He appeared to reflect a general dissatisfaction that entrepreneurs have with the carriers for all mobile apps: They're gatekeepers.

Rupert Young of AT&T started to answer his query by talking about the value of shielding customers from bad SMS services, and that was bad enough, but he got himself in real trouble when he started to justify the roadblocks the carriers put in front of apps developers who are trying to get their code put onto the wireless networks.

"The thing to remember...is support," he said. People don't get tons of SMS spam in the U.S., because the carriers restrict businesses from accessing consumers directly. "Some would say it's protecting the consumer, some would say it's stifling innovation. The same is true with applications. And the end of the day, today, we take the call. If the customer installs an app on their phone that doesn't work, we take the call, not the app developer."

You could put the support cost back on the developer, as Verizon is doing. He didn't seem ready to adopt that scheme for AT&T, though. As Young said, you can "change the model and be more open to letting more innovative apps on your phone. Other than the fact that you still have to be concerned about...does the app burn the power levels on my phone? Does the app use tons of network and hit my usage caps and I don't know it? We work very closely with developers to make sure the user has a very good experience. That may slow down innovation, but I think it produces a better experience for the customer who has a limited device."

But I found the answer unsatisfying, and I said so. "You're gating innovation," I said. The audience applauded--which I was not expecting. Young, in reaction, said Apple also gated innovation, which is true, but the audience wasn't having it. Young smiled uncomfortably and barely moved his body out of the insouciant slouch that he had adopted at the start of the panel. One got the impression he knew he could not win the argument with entrepreneurs and didn't want to make himself into a target any more than he had to.

Later on in the session, we discussed a potential alternative to the restrictions that the carriers like AT&T put on new mobile apps. We talked about Where.com, an platform masquerading as an application. Developers who want to put quick geo-based apps in front of users can write widgets for the Where.com app. Users then choose those widgets from the Where.com site and their mobile phone gets access to them.

It's a workaround, but it does let developers who want to get on the mobile platform deal with a middleman developer who has already done the hard work of getting carrier approval for installation on phones, instead of having to get approval directly, which is, as Young indicated, not so easy. Plus, you don't have to deal with Young.

For developers, of course, tying one's fortunes to the success of a middleman app is not a strategy for the long term. But it is a decent way to get some exposure and to experiment with features while you wait for the carriers to figure out how to open up their platforms.

And to be fair, Young admitted that as handheld devices become more like "real computers," the support model will change and customers will take to installing and removing their own apps, as they do on the iPhone.

In the meantime, some of the carriers just aren't going to budge. If you want to get your cool new app on all the mainstream phones, there's no easy way. There are, though, other opportunities to work with the mobile carriers, if you're looking for a business to start. Watch the video for some hints.

Skyhook Wireless announced Monday that it is integrating GPS into its geolocation service to get an even more accurate fix for location-based services.

Up until now, Skyhook's geolocation service, which is used on Apple's iPhone, among other services and devices, has used Wi-Fi hot spots to get a fix on location. The service works very well in densely populated areas where there are a lot of Wi-Fi radios transmitting signals. And it's great for locating places indoors or in cities with a lot of tall buildings, all places where satellite-based GPS, or Global Positioning System, technology has difficulty getting a location fix.

But for all of the benefits of Wi-Fi, it doesn't work in rural areas where hot spots are few and far between. This is where the GPS technology comes in.

"Our technology works great in populated areas," said Ted Morgan, co-founder and CEO of Skyhook. "But on the open road it's more difficult. Now with GPS integrated, iPhone users, for example, can get turn-by-turn navigation anywhere they go."

The way the Skyhook service originally worked is that it would triangulate and get a fix on location-based data on known Wi-Fi hot spots. The company has a database of where Wi-Fi hot spots all over the country are located. Specifically, it uses the Mac address, a unique identifier that every piece of hardware on the Internet must have, to identify the router, and it matches that identifier with the location. Using multiple signals in the same geographic location, the Skyhook technology is able to pinpoint a location.

Now Skyhook has integrated GPS into its technology, which it is putting in chipsets that go into mobile phones and other devices that also have GPS recievers. GPS will allow Skyhook to cover more ground with its geolocation technology. The Wi-Fi/GPS technology should also help services that used GPS only to get information about location more quickly. Because GPS uses three or four low-orbiting satellites to pinpoint a location, it can take a few seconds before it's able to calculate a location. Skyhook's Wi-Fi technology can get location information much faster.

So where might we see this new technology? The original Wi-Fi-based Skyhook technology is already on the iPhone. Morgan couldn't say for sure that the new "hybrid" Wi-Fi/GPS technology will be used on the iPhone 3G that comes out next week. But one of the upgrades in the new iPhone 3G is the addition of a GPS chip, so it would make sense that the Skyhook technology would be used on it. Morgan did say that Apple has access to all of its technology.

Conference co-hosts Walt Mossberg (left) and Kara Swisher interview FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam.

(Credit: Ina Fried / CNET News.com)

CARLSBAD, Calif.--The D6 conference wrapped up on Thursday with a session on broadband access: Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher interviewed Lowell McAdam, CEO of Verizon Wireless, and Kevin Martin, chairman of the FCC.

Mossberg started by putting a chart up showing how far behind the U.S. is in broadband access, and how expensive our access is. Martin said you need to look at the unique demographics of the U.S., and if you compare some states, like Massachusetts, to Korea, then they'll hold up better. Of course, providing access to less-advantaged areas is still a challenge.

So why do we pay four times as much per megabit, Mossberg asks? Again, Martin says, it's because of demographics: The average cost considers rural areas, which are more expensive to serve. On the issue of providing service to more communities, Martin wants to get away from providing subsidies to multiple carriers in rural regions, although he recognizes that limited subsidies will lead to the "carrier of last resort" being the provider in each community.

Open access
Mossberg asked about spectrum auctions and the open access provision that go with that spectrum. Will we have an open system?

Martin: "I think it's important. I've heard that from consumers and entrepreneurs. So in the most recent auction we did, we proposed that whoever wins this spectrum has to be willing to be more open." He said, "We're not completely there yet, but every carrier is embracing and talking about how they are going to be more open." He listed T-Mobile, Sprint, Google, and Clearwire as participants in this movement. And, of course, he was sitting onstage next to Verizon Wireless' CEO, which has also announced open access to its network.

"Would you have done this without Google?" Swisher asked Verizon's McAdam, referring to Google's push for open wireless access. "Yes, we launched this before Google. We've seen what open networks can do. We don't ever want to be in the business of excluding business."

Regarding the new "open Verizon" network that's been announced, McAdam said access to it will be at the same rates as it is for Verizon's own hardware, although some value-add services that Verizon handset customers get may not be available, at least not for free, for the non-Verizon customers.

McAdam said he's aiming for service penetration beyond the current 80 percent or so that Verizon Wireless enjoys. He's looking for growth up to "500 percent penetration." How is that possible? By counting access to multiple Verizon services available to each customer, perhaps home network access and other services.

Terminate!
"Let's talk about termination fees," Mossberg said, bringing up a pet bugaboo of his. "How do you justify charging people hundreds of dollars two years after they've bought a phone?"

"We don't do that now," McAdam said. It's been about a year since the charges have been adopted. It costs about $200 to subsidize a smartphone, he said, but "we're going to tier that down...pro-rate it over time, so it makes it easier for the customer to leave if they want."

"If they wanted to pass a law that said no more subsidies, I'd eliminate it tomorrow. None of us (the carriers) would complain."

Martin agreed that termination fees "need to decline over time," and that new customers should have a period of time for a new phone--"14 days or so, after your first bill"--during which they should be able to cancel with no nuisance fee. There are class action lawsuits already under way, he said, which are blocking the FCC from working on this issue proactively.

"This practice is now going on in other industries," he said, and implied that he would like to halt the spread of it.

Access and speed
Martin said that many of the same debates that we have on wireless networks apply to other networks. Access providers cannot limit access to content, he said, but "network management" applications can be appropriate. "I think the commission needs to address that in a constructive way, to reinforce that the consumers have unfettered access to the network without the operator getting in the way."

Mossberg repeated to McAdams an AT&T claim that it can double their wireless access speed this year, triple it next. "And you guys are stuck," Mossberg said. "Is your technology limiting you?"

"There are no miracle technologies. You have to work through it. There's a difference between peak speeds and average throughput in the field. There's a difference in how much spectrum you want to dedicate to it. And the third factor is devices. In the next three or four years, that's a series of interesting financial decisions."

Click here for full coverage of the D: All Things Digital conference.

Skyhook Wireless' geopositioning can be useful, but rarely does it save you from a $400 speeding ticket. A start-up named Trapster is trying to change that.

The company has taken a creative spin on using geopositioning to help lead-footed drivers avoid known and newly discovered speed traps and other police dragnets. By installing the application on your mobile phone you'll get heads up on speed cameras, red-light cameras, hiding places, and live police while out and about. The application uses Skyhook Wireless' Wi-Fi and cell tower location positioning system to keep tabs on where you are while you're driving around. It also blends in GPS to give you more precise positioning on city streets.

The data comes from other tipsters on the Trapster network, and is updated frequently. Creator Pete Tenereillo tells me there only need to be about 10 active users in each city to provide a reasonable amount of coverage for live police and new traps on major thoroughfares, a number which has already been met in places like Rhode Island, Florida, and San Diego.

To keep users tipping, the service uses a karma system and a confidence scale to make sure tips aren't providing useless tips. Users can also create new trap alerts for others right on their phones. Tenereillo says the ratio of people tipping to simple leechers is hovering at about 40 percent. Part of that is because of the simplicity of adding new traps, which is a one button affair if you have the application running on your Nokia or Blackberry smartphone.

Coming in a couple of weeks is an iPhone version of the application which will take advantage of the geopositioning that made its way into the maps application in an earlier software update. iPhone users will get the same audio alerts and live-positioning locating, with less position accuracy because of the lack of GPS, something Tenereillo is hoping will be added in the next hardware revision.

Despite the free price, there are a few hindrances. The stock warning sounds are a little alarming, but you can go in and rename and rerecord the warning with your own voice. You're also missing out on the radar and laser protection you'd get with a real radar detector, which tend to work a little faster than the mobile phone alerts. I'm still in love with the idea though, and for the cheapskate out there with a compatible handset, this is almost as good an alternative as being a safe and responsible driver.

Related: Avoid traffic jams with Commuter Feed

See speed traps and other police gotchas in your area with Trapster. While not as accurate for things like highway speed traps, knowing if you're close to a red light or speed camera could save you from a big ticket if you're a leadfoot driver.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Youth-oriented mobile carrier Helio announced Wednesday that it has launched a bar and restaurant search site through a partnership with Buzzd, which also powers the mobile sites for local events and entertainment services like TimeOut New York, and Flavorpill.

Helio's new service, which is ad-supported, lets people in major U.S. cities search on the mobile Web site--linked from the home page of the carrier's browser--for bars, clubs, and restaurants. Most of the data will be pulled from Buzzd partners like Flavorpill, TimeOut, and the IAC-owned Citysearch. Added on, however, will be "event feeds" with specific pricing and night-specific details as well as short user reviews in real time.

So, theoretically, searching for the downtown New York hotspot Libation on a Saturday night could yield an update from another Buzzd user an hour earlier, saying "Ew, tonight's bouncer's mean and the line takes 30 minutes."

Perhaps more exciting is the fact that Helio is working to pull GPS into the mix. The carrier's current handsets come with the technology already, and a representative told me that the Buzzd service will eventually integrate GPS, so people won't have to say exactly where they are in order to find nearby parties and bars. (Right now they have to provide a location or street intersection.)

The catch is that Helio, which has struggled with growth and profitability, is a small carrier. Generating the critical mass for "real-time" reviews of a particular nightclub on a particular date will be tough, so the service may not turn out to be quite as teeming with up-to-the-minute information as Helio and Buzzd are hoping.

That said, location-based mobile services are revving up, and some will take off as soon as GPS-enabled handsets go into broader use or as soon as people whose devices are equipped with GPS realize that they have it. (I've noticed many people still don't know.)

Competitors in this space include Loopt, which has deals with mobile carriers Sprint and Boost, and Socialight. The latter is currently more like a user-generated version of Gridskipper city maps but has hinted at plans to move into the GPS sector when the technology becomes more widespread.

Google Android

It's been an interesting week for America's second-largest cell phone carrier. First, Verizon Wireless announces it would support unlocked handsets and third-party applications on its CDMA network, and yesterday the company's CEO said the carrier may support Google's new Android platform. "We're planning on using Android," said Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam in an interview with Business Week. "Android is an enabler of what we do."

McAdam didn't say when, or if, Verizon would release handsets that use Android, and a Verizon spokeswoman also declined to elaborate in an e-mail. "We certainly expect some in the development community to embrace the Android platform in the open-access devices and applications they develop," wrote Nancy Stark, the spokeswoman. "We have not yet decided whether we will use Android in any of the devices Verizon Wireless offers." Stark added that the company has yet to decide whether it will join the Google's Open Handset Alliance (OHA), which is developing the Android platform. Though Sprint and T-Mobile are founding members of the OHA, neither carrier has confirmed when they will release Android devices.

Both announcements mark a distinct change in Verizon's practices. The company has a long-standing reputation in the cell phone world for being the most draconian of carriers. Not only did it prohibit the use of unlocked phones on its network, but also it limited Bluetooth use, banned third-party applications, and saddled its handset lineup with an unintuitive and stodgy menu interface.

Verizon Wireless announced plans Tuesday to let any cell phone compatible with its technology run on its network, and to let owners of those devices run any application they desire, by the end of next year.

That would mean that any U.S. customer of Sprint's, which also uses the CDMA (code division multiple access) cellular networking technology, could use his or her phone on Verizon's data network. But the decision to open up the network to outside applications is a clear nod to the growing interest in mobile phones as an application development platform by companies like Google, and a dramatic departure from Verizon's usual practice of locking down its phones.

Even though it hasn't quite satisfied all of its critics on the subject, Verizon in the past few weeks has taken significant steps--including Tuesday's announcement--toward opening its network to devices and software not offered by the company.

As ZDNet's Larry Dignan points out, Verizon is responding to competitive forces such as the iPhone and Google's Open Handset Alliance. And, in fact, the company more than hinted it would be moving in this direction in October, when it filed to dismiss its appeals court petition arguing against Federal Communications Commission open-access rules for the upcoming auction of 700MHz wireless spectrum.

Consumer groups on Tuesday praised Verizon Wireless for the initiative, which will include technical testing and a full rollout in 2008, but noted that it is not fully fleshed out. ""This is surely a step in the right direction, but its shortcomings underscore the need for regulations to guarantee Americans the same rights on wireless networks that they have on landlines. Verizon's plan still doesn't guarantee access for all devices, and it is uncertain how much Verizon may charge customers for the right to use their own equipment," Harold Feld, senior vice president of the Media Access Project, said in a statement.

And Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of consumer group Public Knowledge, said in statement that while Verizon's announcement is cause for "cautious optimism," it also is "very limited. If other carriers don't follow the same model, then consumers will still find their phones tied to a specific technology or wireless company. Until they do, an iPhone will still be useless on any network but AT&T's. In order for an open network to become a reality, all carriers will have to participate."

Verizon has 63.8 million users on its network. That makes it the second-largest carrier in the U.S., behind AT&T and ahead of Sprint and T-Mobile.

CNET News.com's Richard Defendorf contributed to this report.