If you’re a fan of net neutrality, meet your next enemy. Republican Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who has asked the FCC to stop a planned vote on open Internet rules. PresidentObama has pushed for the change, and it appears as if it will pass, as Chairman [...]
Continue reading...Thursday, October 15, 2009
A report commissioned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) found that open access to broadband infrastructure is a catalyst for competition. I hope that the research will be allowed to stand on its own, and that its effect will not be diluted by telecommunications lobbyists. In the report, the FCC examined global broadband plans and practices [...]
Continue reading...Wednesday, October 14, 2009
IntoMobile is reporting that our friends in Finland will soon get access to broadband Internet access as a basic legal right. Starting next July, a 1-Mbps connection will be mandated; by the end of 2015, a 100-Mbps one will be required. The story doesn’t say whether these connections are guaranteed to be free, or who’s [...]
Continue reading...Monday, September 7, 2009
While I’m a little late to this particular mile high club, I finally experienced the joy of in-flight WiFi last Friday. Unlike Boeing’s now defunct Connexion satellite solution, it appears that most domestic airlines are utilizing Aircell’s Gogo service – essentially 3G EVDO connectivity in the sky. On my cross country [...]
Continue reading...Friday, July 10, 2009
Good news, bad news. First the good: The United States moved up two places in the global broadband speed rankings, according to Akamai’s latest State of the Internet report out today. Bad news: We’re still only 33rd when it comes to percentage of broadband connections above 2Mbps. Switzerland ranked first in terms of top-tier connections, with [...]
Continue reading...Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Remember when 3G was the future of wireless data? It’s not even universally available in the U.S. yet, and the race is already well underway to replace it. WiMAX, the 4G network technology that counts Sprint and Intel among its boosters, has a head start. But it’s losing ground to Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE’s promise [...]
Continue reading...Monday, May 4, 2009
Last week, The Times created a minor panic by reporting that we’re on track to run out of bandwidth by 2012, pointing to a study that blames greater demand than supply. Unfortunately, the story is peppered with inaccuracies and sensationalizes the problem, according to one of the study’s researchers who spoke with me. Let’s start with [...]
Continue reading...Tuesday, April 28, 2009
I want 100-mbps Internet! Cablevision: 100-mbps for $100. Microsoft tests Twitter for emergencies. Survey: iPhones are primarily personal. Google News comes to you? Apple’s doing something with chips. Dell’s touch desktop available stateside. New Firefox 3.5 beta available. New HP laptops for business. How Microsoft should virtualize XP. GE’s 100-DVD disc technology.
Continue reading...Friday, April 10, 2009
Good Friday? This one’s GREAT! CompUSA is back. And better. Twitter as tool for revolution. Getting ready to sell Pres. Microsoft scales back Live Labs. Apple patent: unibody for iPods. Apple discontinues some .Mac tools. I wanna buy this surge protector. Time Warner’s unlimited broadband: $150. Conficker continues to cause trouble. Sad: D&D co-creator passes away. Sony puts features on YouTube.
Continue reading...Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Lotsa news tidbits this Wednesday: Windows 7 users: happy campers. More BlackBerry Storm 2 rumors. Nintendo DS: pocket video player. Apple sued over touch screens. 200 million people use Facebook. Almost all e-mail is spam. More and more Twitterers. Acer unleashes tons of notebooks. Better broadband? FCC’s getting going. Word’s father returns to earth. .
Continue reading...Tuesday, March 31, 2009
This better have nothing to do with April Fools’ Day: American Airlines has announced that it’s going to equip more than 300 planes with in-flight Wi-Fi service, bringing Internet access to most of its domestic flights. The airline will work with Gogo to implement the service. And along with recent announcements by Delta, Virgin, Southwest, [...]
Continue reading...Wednesday, March 11, 2009
While President Obama has made much of his efforts to bring broadband in the US up to par with other countries — his Administration is spending $7.2 billion on it — it appears the initiative is not off to as fast a start as some of Obama’s other programs. The government held a informational meeting at [...]
Continue reading...Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Today’s headlines incline dancing news! Even more Apple netbook rumors. iPhone developers can’t renew contracts. Woz can’t dance, still lovable. Will these ten newspapers die? Cydia’s unauthorized iPhone app store. Craigslist: “erotic services” ads dwindling. YouTube kills British music videos. Palin hacker’s in bigger trouble. Jimmy Fallon! Palm Pre! Together! Broadbrand growth is on decline. Eminem producers: no iTunes goldmine. OLED: victim of crummy economy?
Continue reading...Thursday, February 19, 2009
Just days after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law, today IBM announced that it successfully delivered broadband Internet service to rural areas over power lines. With $7 billion allocated to high speed Internet service, the Recovery Act is a boon for companies like IBM. Big Blue’s timing might be serendipitous, but it [...]
Continue reading...Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Verizon Wireless will likely lead the charge towards LTE, with the company already testing the technology in the Minneapolis, Columbus, Ohio and Northern New Jersey. This would put it roughly a year ahead of its closest competitor — AT&T — which anticipates launching LTE service in 2011. Trials will expand throughout the country later this year, [...]
Continue reading...Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Today, Google is partnering with the New America Foundation (a non profit that is chaired by Google CEO Eric Schmidt) and a group of academics to develop an open platform for creating Internet connection measurement tools. Google says the platform, called Measurement Lab (M-Lab), will help researchers create tools that help determine the root cause of [...]
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009
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