Sprint recently announced they will, be implementing WiMax technology. WiMax is longer range wireless data tecnology in comparison to WiFi technology found in airports, some cities, colleges, coffee shops and many homes. They are planning on spending billions of dollars and indicate this new service will be designed to accommodate heavy data-usage activities like video streaming without clogging up the cellular network people rely on for phone calls.
Intel and Motorola have both invested in Clearwire. Craig McCall, one of the founders and was a driving force in creating the Cellular Network.
Clearwire uses a wireless modem that can be plugged into a laptop. It works by transmitting signals to and from nearby cellular towers instead of using a traditional phone line. It currently is in a small number of cities in Oregon, California, Texas, North Carolina, etc., but has plans to go national. The current rates are $4.95 per month for the wifi-modem and $15 to $50 per month for the service, depending upon the speed. The system requirements seem minimal, as you only need Windows 98 and Ethernet card or USB port.
As usual Intel is making a big deal about one of their newer CPU chips. If the truth were told most people don't not care, just as they don't care who manufactured the engine in their autombile.
One of their claims for this chip the Internet from anywhere already upon us.
“Centrino” is Intel speak meaning your notebook includes: a Pentium-M, is of the 855 chipset family, and it has a Wi-Fi chipset.
This means you can connect to the Internet without wires. However, this must be from a hot spot. These are not universal and are found today in airports, coffee shops, people have set them up in their homes, universities, etc. It will be years before it is universal.
Centrino also means slimmer, lighter notebooks with longer battery life, which is truly the biggest improvement we will see from this chip.
It delivers better performance at a lower CPU speed and draws less power. Less taxing on power consumption and hence you will get improved charge time from the same battery technology.
Don't despair hotspots are starting to catch on. Here in Mountain View, CA Google has is building a city-wide wifi hot spot for the city. Recently, a group in Silicon Valley has let out a bid for wifi for the entire valley. The say it will be here in a few years. So, eventually this built-in wifi chipset in Centrino will be of benefit to all who happen to live in one of these major metropolitan areas that has wifi.
Third Generation Cellular service is finally becoming available. By the end of 2005, Verison Wireless, the leader in the US in 3G service will have it's 3G network in place in most US cities. Verizon says it expects to spend about $1 billion over two years rolling out the technology. As of January 2006 Verizon had rolled this service out to 171 Major Metropolitan Markets. Cingular, Sprint and Qualcomm are also interested in this marketplace. At the current price of $80 monthly for Verizon's data and Internet for service it is not for the masses. To use the Verizon service you will need to add a PCMCIA card (PC5220) from Sierra Wireless to your laptop at a cost $149 to connect to their Broadband Access Service. Verizon says the main uses are multiplayer gaming, music, and video content and video messaging. Verizon has a new PCMCIA card, PC 5740, at a cost of $99.99 with a 2 year agreement and a $25 activation charge. Cingular offers a similar service and a long list of PCMCIA cards, but it was not obvious by looking at their website the extent of their coverage.
PC World Article Verizon 3G Service
3G Wireless Service Comes to Small Business
So, what does all this mean for you, the consumer? Not much yet, unless you're lucky enough to live or work in one of the cities with 3G and can afford the $60 per month. However, when 3G starts spreading across the country, one day you'll be able to engage in live two-way video calls over your cell phone, browse standard Web pages, and read your office e-mail just as if you were using a wired broad-band connection. Verizon, reduced the monthly cost of their service to $59.99 late in 2005. SBC/ATT is offering what they call FreedomLink, which is a combination of local hot wireless hot spots and a roaming service with Partners and costs between $1.99 and $39.95 per month plus some hardware costs if you do not have a PCMCIA wireless card. Sprint/Nextel don't tell you the extent of their coverage, as you have to put in your zip code to figure out if you can get their service. Sprint PCS Connection Manager Software is needed to access their service. Sprints Wi-Fi Access is designed to work with specific 802.11b wireless PCMCIA cards equipment. Their service is around $50 a month and their on line site does not cleary explain what they are offering. Laptops and wireless for the cellular providers is just beginning and they appear to be a long ways from having cost effective products for the general public.
Another caveat is that if you plan on using the BlueTooth functionality that is included that allows you to transfer files, photos or work as a wireless modem read carefully the fine print, as some of these functions may be disabled. It seeems the cellular providers want to charge extra for photo-sharing or multimedia-messaging service, alas they have disabled the blue tooth features they don't like. Check out the details regarding this in Molly Wood's article at ZDNet.
Of course, as with all these technologies the vendors are also defining the specifications for "Super 3G standard" for 2007 or 2008.
Bluetooth is a short-range (30 feet) wireless-networking protocol designed for personal area networks. This means you would use Bluetooth to create a temporary network to allow your mobile devices to share information.
Bluetooth is often called a USB replacement because its short range allows it to serve the same function as the hodgepodge of connectors—including USB cables—that you’d use to connect your various devices.
You can also use a Bluetooth cell phone to surf the Web on your laptop. You could add a Bluetooth adapter to your laptop, like the one from D-Link or Belkin for around $50. The phone would act as a wireless modem, dialing up your GPRS (short burst 2.5 GHz mobile phone network) account for data to help you stay connected on the road.
You can even print with t0 your Bluetooth enabled laptop with a Bluetooth module attached to your printer. You can output documents without a wire in sight (with the exception of the printer’s power cord). You could buy a Bluetooth module like the Anycom Bluetooth Printer Module to communicate to your old printer. Because this module is designed to plug directly into the parallel port on a printer, it won’t work with the newer printers that offer only USB connections.
A Bluetooth connection is limited to a maximum data transfer rate of just 723.2 Kbps, while 802.11b offers much faster data throughout of about 5 Mbps. Bluetooth might be too slow to use to transfer files between laptops if the files are really large, while it is fine for sending files to a printer or sending small files back and forth between two laptops.
In general, Bluetooth networks are every bit as reliable, although not nearly as fast, as a Wi-Fi network. But speed is not the point. Headsets, GPS modules, cell phones, laptops, and portable printers are best suited for Bluetooth because of how quickly they connect to one another to send small amounts of data.
Everything you wanted to know about Bluetooth can be found at the official Bluetooth website.
