Take Advantage of Optimum WiF, if you are a Cablevision Customer

I noticed Cablevision (Optimum Online)'s free WiFi advertisement on my DVR the other day and just last night, I noticed Optimum WiFi appearing as I was scanning for a wireless hotspot while dinning out.  I decided to look into exactly what it is and how to go about accessing it since it is free to its cable/internet subscribers.  Here is the breakdown for you:

1. You must be a Cablevision/Optimum Online customer with a valid account(number).
2. You must be within the coverage area (map), in the Northeastern region of NY/NJ
3. There appears to be 3 different types WiFi network, indoor hotspot Optimum has arranged at local businesses, outdoor hotspot and partner hotspots
4. You must create an account in order to access the WiFi hotspots, this can be done using your account number (minus the last digit) here and it has a feature that automatically remembers your login and password

I think this is a pretty good solution for those on the go.  Given that iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4G's Facetime requires WiFi, this could be a good solution for those living throughout the NY/NJ region.  For more information, go here.

Intel My WiFi Technology, Very Cool Mobile Experience

One of the features on my new laptop, Toshiba R705-25P, is the Intel My WiFi Technology. It basically turns the laptop itself into a wireless router capable of hooking up with 8 different devices.  There are so many cool applications for this, for example, you are paying for wireless at the airport and a friend/colleague/family member also wants to surf the web, bang, share it! Also this is totally cool for when you are in a hotel room where they only have ethernet connection and you'd like to have your WiFi devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch) connected.  With Intel My WiFi enabled laptops, you can make that happen.

In my scenario, my manager has asked if I can bring in my iPad to work to demonstrate a project we've been working on but it would require internet connection (WiFi in my scenario), since we don't have wireless internet at work, I can bring in my laptop and hookup to the Ethernet, and ensure I get a wireless connection that way. This feature combined with an ultra portable laptop makes for a total, amazing mobile experience.  Imagine the possibilities when the said laptop is tethered to a 4G smart-phone...

Sony Aino, Unlocked, PS3 Connected and Kinda Cool!

Sony Aino is released into the wild today, unlocked at Sonystyle.com for a cool $600. If you study its slick Flash-based user-interface, you'd probably think it looks very familiar to your PS3; that is because this little multimedia powerhouse is intended to stream content right off of your PS3's remote play function and to my understanding it will do so via WiFi and 3G data.

I dare say that this phone is not powered by Windows Mobile and if I have to guess, I'd say its running on some iteration of Symbian OS (much similar to the Nokia N series, possibly 5th edition). It is packed with a meager 55MB internal memory but does include an 8GB microSDHC to compensate that department. Where it more than makes up for is the massive 8MP camera that also supports 30fps video recording over a gorgeous 3" 240x432 touchscreen LCD screen. If that is not enough, this little slider powerhouse has a real keyboard (non-QWERTY) and comes with WiFi, 3G HSDPA, AGPS and FM radio w/ RDS support. The only part that concerns me is the anemic 1000mAh battery which makes me question how long will it support all the hardcore actions this phone will experience (full spec from GSM Arena).

This phone looks pretty amazing from my standpoint, I'll try to arrange a demo to see if it really lives up to its gorgeous image, stay tuned!

Unlocked Nokia E63 Bargain $149 Shipped

What if I told you that for $149, you can have a pretty darn good smartphone w/ 3G US, WiFi and GPS support along with a full QWERTY keyboard. I'll even toss in the good name of Nokia along with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support, quad-band world phone, 18 day standby and has the look to impress in your next boardroom meeting?

Take your pick, $149 after a $50 rebate. Free Shipping included!

Nokia E63 Ruby Red or Nokia E63 Ultra Marine Blue

Skype Domination: Platform Agnostic Style

I never realized this but Skype is everywhere! Regardless if you are a PC, Mac or Linux user, you can grab a version at your convenience. In the smartphone world, Windows Mobile, iPhone/iPod Touch, and Android have their versions of Skype mobile; even non-officially supported phones has a solution. If you are still using your cordless home phone or going with dedicated WiFi or Skype Phone, there is a solution to Skype for you. Lets not forget the Sony PSP and Nokia N800/810 integration.

Now that I've made my point and spent last 15 minutes hyper linking the references above, what I am trying to get at is how easy Skype has made itself to users of all walks. Being that this company has made its service completely platform agnostic, it has tremendous power to reach a wide range of users and become the de facto internet-based communications tool. I can't think of another IM or VOIP application with this broad reach across various hardware and software.

As for my family, Skype has been an indispensable tool when traveling abroad. Given all the available Skype options, we can easily keep in touch so long as internet is available never having to worry about having pre-paid SIM or phone cards.

Skype, in my opinion, may be the best mobile communication provider for a non telecom operator. Of course, with Gmail's Video and VOIP support over browser recently launched, it can pose potential threat to Skype's territory as it would technically be platform agnostic. But until mobile browsers are powerful enough to take advantage, Skype is still much ahead of the game. Way to go Skype!

In-flight Wifi, a reality

American Airline will be testing an in-flight WiFi utilizing AirCell technology tomorrow. For anywhere from $9.95 to $12.95 depending on the duration of the flight, you can now pass the time with the world wide web at 35,000 feet. AA will be the third domestic airline to test onboard WiFi service next to JetBlue and Virgin.

As this technology becomes ready for mainstream, what would our flight experience be like? For starters, business guys can now utilize this downtime to checkup on emails and increase work productivity. Students can rely on the web to finish a school project or elect to waste time via Facebook or whatever Web2.0 hottness at the time. Entertainment is suddenly more available with YouTube, Hulu.com and Sling Media player readily available. Communication using IM, Twitter, and Email will be great to inform friends and family about your real time status.

How to Shop for a Smartphone

We live in an exciting time right now, as we are at the cusp of an explosion of innovative smart phone technologies. Smart phones are finally smart, with less bugs and more functional operating systems as well as applications (or Widgets). But if you are about to buy a smartphone, what should you be looking for. The mobile experience will put some basic rules down for you to avoid any mistakes. Please take a look at our smart phone buyers guide below, 1st edition:

Three Absolute Must: 3G, WiFi and GPS
There are three absolute requirements for any smartphones today. I would personally avoid a phone that is missing any one of the above. Many people would argue that they don’t need all of the above or why have WiFi when you already have 3G support. I don’t really care what they say. Just remember that you are paying for a high price for a mobile device and you better get every mileage out of it; its better to have every important feature and not use it, then not having it when you need it in a hurry. In the event you are traveling to a foreign country, having free WiFi and GPS navigation can be a very nice thing to have. Regarding to 3G, you’ll have to decide between a GSM (AT&T, Tmobile) or CDMA (Verizon, Sprint, Helio, etc.) carrier. Most of the phones sold exclusively through Verizon or Sprint are less confusing, so long as it supports EV-DO Rev A spec, you’ll have a blazing fast 3G connection. If you are buying a GSM network phone, make sure it supports WCDMA 850/1900 to use AT&T’s 3G network or WCDMA 1700 for Tmobile’s latest 3G network coverage.

Niche functionalies: Email, Media, Camera, Touchscreen, Mobile OS etc…

Email: Every smartphone will provide the basic functions of email either via the browser or through built-in mail program; however, non of which can perform like the way BlackBerry(s) do. Their reliability and ease of use trumps everything else. BlackBerry now comes with 3G, WiFi and GPS integrated which makes it a very appealing option for those in the market for a super email communicator. There are other communicators on the market designed to compete with BlackBerry; the Nokia E90 communicator is a great example, however it costs about twice as much and I would still argue it doesn’t really compete with the Push-Email integration BlackBerry offers not to mention it is quite big.

Media: Some smart phones are uber strong media players. iPhone is the epitome of such. When shopping for a smart phone capable of media support, ask yourself what you are looking to do. If you have a huge library of MP3s and Videos, an iPod may be your best choice. If you are looking to stream TV or YouTube, the AT&T LG Vu or Verizon phones supporting V-Cast may be better for you to get content on the go. Nokia’s up and coming N96 will support the new DVB-H broadcast standard. I will briefly touch on Internet as it is assumed that mobile browser is part of the standard package within any smartphone. Some things to keep in mind are: is the browser a full browser like Safari Mobile or Nokia Browser or is it a WAP browser like Mobile Internet Explorer which strips web content down to a minimum? Do the handset/os support 3rd party browsers like TeaShark, Opera Mini or Skyfire? Check the vendor websites first to make sure your phone is supported. To me, mobile internet is the most important element of a smartphone!

Camera: Again, almost every phone today will come with some sort of camera/camcorder function. The minimum standard is 2 megapixel. Some smartphones will go above that with a 5MP camera (ie. Nokia N95, LG Viewty, Sony K850i, LG KG920, etc.). I’ve seen phones go up to 7MP+ (ie. Samsung SCH-V770). Cameras are one of the most under-appreciated functions today because of all the buzz are around “3G”. Ironically it is probably the most functional feature. In a James Bond-like fashion, your camera phone can take snapshots of anything on the go, for research, for documentation and for those special moments in life that are priceless. I would recommend going with at least 3MP on any smartphone and the more manual control the phone offers, the better. I personally prefer to have a phone with a secondary camera on the front of the phone. Its designed for video conferencing if your network carrier supports that function.

Touchscreen: Since the beginning, touchscreen goes hand to hand with PDAs and Smartphones. It gives users an extra level of precise input to command the tiny screens. Some people can’t live without touchscreens. Personally, it took me a while to go from a Windows Mobile OS using touchscreen to Symbian S60 which uses only a D-pad to navigate the phone. The iPhone has one of the best touch screen I’ve ever seen. While we are on the topic of screens, VGA resolution (640x320) and SVGA resolution (800x600) are on the rise. They offer much finer pixel display than the tradition QVGA (320x240) which is popular on most of the phones today. I’ve already decided my next phone will have to be VGA or better, for higher productivity.

Mobile OS: There are currently four major mobile os at play: Windows Mobile, BlackBerry 4.6, Symbian S60 and Apple OS X Mobile. As mentioned by the features above, each OS kind of ties to the unique feature set and user experience. This is why I talk about OS last because going by the functions you want, for example, email, you’ll be forced to live with BlackBerry OS. The only thing to keep in mind is Windows Mobile and BlackBerry are more enterprise/wor- friendly. Whereas Symbian and OS X are more multimedia driven. Of course, both Symbian and Apple are going to work hard to make their OS more enterprise friendly in the upcoming months. Finally, there is the highly anticipated Google Android OS which should show up by end of 2008 on some handsets. It offers true open-source which yields a lot of promises to reshape the entire mobile industry.

AT&T Hotspot Free for Laptop Connect and Smartphone Users

Just got word from Engadget that a rumor spells AT&T Laptop Connect customers will receive free WiFi Hotspot access. They will roll out this feature to all smartphone users later this year.

AT&T Hotspot (Starbucks) Free for iPhone Users

Joy for iPhone (legit) customers. AT&T Hotspot (at Starbucks, Barnes and Nobles) is now free to iPhone users. Just enter your legit phone number and you are on your way to WiFi bliss. Or if you know some friend's iPhone number and is running Firefox on your laptop, you can enjoy the same bliss as well. Cheers!

Mobile Experience Asia: Free WiFi Hotspot Abundant in Jakarta

If I have to pick one technological compliments to make about Jakarta, it would be its abundance of free WiFi hotspots throughout the city. Almost all coffee shops, bakeries, and fastfood places offer 802.11x connection to their customers. As a result, these folks love carrying their laptops all over their city. I feel like there are so many free hotspots that you can almost get away with having a 3G Data package with your mobile carrier here in Jakarta.

PS – If you ever visit, you MUST stop by J.CO donuts. These donuts are so light/fluffy/tasty that it makes Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Cream taste like tree bark. I’ve been keeping count, so far, I munched down a dozen over the past couple of days… :)

Skyhook Wireless Powered iPhone GMAP

This week is the big Search Engines Strategy Conference 2008 here in NYC. I attended its first day today joining a roomful of online marketers trying to keep up to date with everything there is to know about search marketing. I couldn't help but wondered into a session called "Mobile Local Search: Finding the Way". In this session, a panel of four mobile technology firms talked briefly about their services and point-of-view on the mobile experience in local search.

I was surprised to learn about Skyhook Wireless and it's involvement of iPhone's "Locate Me" functionality. For those unfamiliar, iPhone uses one of their hybrid positioning system (XPS) which uses cell-tower IDs and WiFi locations of other iPhone users nearby to triangulate your location with GPS-like accuracy. I had assumed the technology was a by-product of Google-Apple partnership; in the mean while, it was the hard work at Skyhook Wireless deploying 400+ vans covering up to 1.7M miles scanning the streets of America to capture access points. To this date, they have pin-pointed 33M+ WiFi APs in order to give the precision of GPS navigator. They've shown a couple of slides on the APs-mashup over S.F. and Manhattan; basically the entire map is covered by millions of WiFi hotspots. They have plans to expanding this technology to other countries.

Ryan Sarver, Director of Consumer Products, during the conference noted that this technology still has more room to grow and improve. Today, we are able to find our exact location, tomorrow we should expect alerts and notifications for people around us (ie. if you child is wondering off a proximity, you can be notified). Personally, I've seen this technology in action over my iPhone and I think this company is going places!

AT&T Tilt now $49

AT&T Tilt, one of the most competent phones out there is now $49 after rebate on Amazon.com. Here is a phone that will stack up against the N95 at 1/10th the cost. With US 3G support, GPS-integrated, WM6, Wi-Fi and more, I am shocked at this amazing value. Of course, two year contract is required, but this phone will easily eBay for $300 giving you the fund to buy something fancier if you should decide. (Unlock it first for its full potential!)

Previous References.

Sony Ericsson's First Windows Mobile Phone

Has hell frozen over? First we hear rumors about Nokia in talks with Microsoft regarding Windows Mobile. Now I am seeing pictures of the gorgeous Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 which is going to run on Windows Mobile OS. As reported by a couple of sources, this ultra-premium sexy looking phone will debut in second half of 2008. This phone is so feature-rich and supports every band-width known to man. The most amazing feature is the 3" VGA (800x600) resolution. Things will be more interesting with this phone in the market.

BTW, this is also the first time I've even mentioned Sony Ericsson product on my blog. The official site for N. America is here.

Beware of What You Read Online

I ran across an awful article on Wired magazine this morning posted by a gentlemen named Bruce Schneier. Apparently Mr. Schneier is some big wig CTO of a security services firm and author of some book that talks about security. In this article, Bruce is suggesting that your home WiFi network should be open to all and he attempted to talk down the risk by pretty much saying that you have a better chance of denying of any wrong doing by other people who have stolen your bandwidth because it is left "open" and to further support his argument, he claims that current encryption technology has its flaws, therefore its a pointless attempt to setup password encryption.

I am not a network/securities expert but I know that open networks are easy to hack and your identiy, login/password, personal files can easily be stolen. There may not be strangers driving around your house searching for your network to hack, but you never know what that neighbor's curious 12-year old may be up to. On the flip side of the argument, his suggestion of using other people's open network is equally as dangerous; your computer can also be hacked by stealing/jumping on other people's open WiFi.

I am pretty disappointed at Wired and Mr. Schneier at publishing this article and balatently asking folks not to protect their wireless networks. For a magazine of such wide reach and a voice of expertise to say this, its pretty irresponsible. The tone here is re-assuring the public that there is no need to be worried about personal identity over open WiFi... the question is, why take such risk and be concerned after you've been hacked?

See what others' think: 1, 2, 3

JetBlue to offer Email, Wifi Access for BlackBerry

Citigroup reports that JetBlue is testing a WiFi setup on selected Air Bus A320s to allow BlackBerry devices with WiFi capabilities to download their emails. The units available for this test are the 8210, 8820, and 8320 Curve. This is a move which allows business travelers connected to important email messages throughout the flight duration.

A nice move, welcome to the 21st century, finally!

WiFi is nothing new, Air Planes are nothing new, Mobile devices with built-in WiFi is nothing new; so why does it take so long before this is even being considered. Forget the 60+ channels of DirectTV, give us broadband internet access for all mobile devices. Let us decide how we want to spend the minutes on the plane connecting our iPhones or laptops to the onboard WiFi systems. Let us stream YouTube or IM our friends and family quietly on those boring plane rides.

I have longed for mobile devices to have integrated WiFi and lower data plan. This is my official complaint against any commercial establishment that do not offer WiFi internet access. This includes hotels, resorts, trains, buses, etc... We need to be connected, its almost 2008!

WiFi BlackBerry Before Year End?

Rumor has it that BlackBerry will introduce a phone with integrated WiFi before 2007 ends... Click HERE for Article. Its about time, as I have called it out a numerous of times about how most of the "smartphones" out there aren't smart due to the lack of integrated WiFi.

Smartphones Lacking Integrated WiFi

I have always been a big fan of smartphones with WiFi and believed that our progress in mobile internet experience can benefit greatly if all cell phones come with integrated WiFi. But taking a look at the current state of cell phones sold by the big four carriers reflects only a tiny fraction of their product line offers built-in WiFi. I have put together a list below and if you look at the phones carefully, you'll notice that besides the Samsung SCH-i730, the rest are supplied by a Taiwanese vendor HTC:

PPC-6700 (Sprint)
Samsung SCH-i730 (Verizon)
XV6700 (Verizon)
8525 (Cingular)
8125 (Cingular)
SDA (T-Mobile)
Dash (T-Mobile)
MDA (T-Mobile)

So, here is my beef: 1). What is wrong with the manufacturers today? Why are they selling a bunch of smartphones without WiFi? Is HTC the only company in the industry with the common sense? 2). When will the carriers realize that charging $30-$45 per month for their unlimited data package (EDGE or EV-DO) is too much for average cell phone consumers? To reach critical mass, the price of data package should be around $10/mo. Until they lower the monthly rates, give us integrated WiFi!

Cingular's New 3G UMTS Smartphones Debut

Cingular launched two new Windows Mobile Smartphones today. Both phones are very strong contenders in the smart phone market. The Samsung BlackJack is a phone that draws a lot of physical similarities with Motorola Q (thin, full QWERTY keyboard). It is a quad-band GSM phone supporting GPRS/EDGE/UMTS network. With a 2.2" 320x240px LCD screens, this device features Bluetooth 2.0 and MicroSD expansion slot without the much needed integrated WiFi.

The other phone released is Cingular 8525, it is believed to be a rebadged HTC Hermes phone from a popular Taiwanese vendor. Personally, I think this phone is the superior of the two, in fact, it may be the best smartphone on the market today. It features a Samsung (how ironic) 400MHz CPU and integrated WiFi that supports both 802.11 b and g, which makes Skype for Pocket PC an instant possibility. In addition, it also supports GPRS/EDGE/UMTS and supports Bluetooth 2.0. The phone is a slider format which covers the full QWERTY keyboard when not in use. This phone is very hot, and I think Cingular knows that hence the asking price of $399 after a 2-yr contract and $50 rebate.

These phones have been updated in the Windows Mobile Phone entry.
These phones have been updated in the Smartphones & Handhelds Roundup entry.