With the following quote in an article posted at MIT’s Technology Review Ranveer Chandra, a Microsoft engineer, suggests that the current incumbent internet providers could be bypassed

“Imagine the potential if you could connect to your home [Internet] router from up to a mile,”

This can be achieved by the use of the unlicensed spectrum previously used by broadcast television, otherwise known as the white space. To do this Microsoft has been working with researchers at Harvard University to develop the protocols that would be needed to access this white space and apparently they had some serious success.

One of the big obstacles to using this spectrum is that it would have to comply with the FCC’s strict regulations when it comes to the white space. The main part is that use of the white space spectrum cannot interfere with its primary user which is usually a TV broadcaster.

And it’s not easy to predict which part of the spectrum that incumbent is using at any given time. It’s also tricky because wireless microphones, which operate in the same spectrum, can suddenly become active without warning, and even a single-packet transmission can cause audible interference.

Microsoft dealt with this by creating an “adaptive spectrum assignment algorithm” with which devices measure the spectrum around them and work with other gadgets to find available frequencies, much like laptops search for and identify Wi-Fi networks. If interference occurs, the devices move to a backup channel in a different frequency range. In Microsoft’s experiment, its devices would switch to the backup channel within 3 seconds of a wireless microphone being turned on.

Other researchers have already focused on the first step: finding a way to establish a single link between an access point and user device without interference. Microsoft made the next move, designing an entire network with an access point and multiple clients (like Wi-Fi), leaving for another day the task of tackling multiple access points.

Source – GigaOM :: Simon Juran – Microsoft Makes White-Spaces Breakthrough for Rural Broadband

One of the advantages, besides being free, is that this “White-Fi” has a longer range than our current 2.4GHz Wi-Fi which would give it an advantage in rural areas.

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Wi-fi allergy, or “electromagnetic sensitivity,” might keep 2% of the population away from Starbucks and McDonald’s for the foreseeable future.

Steve Miller, a UK DJ who really loves your peaches and wishes to shake your tree, has come forward with the newfangled illness and a tale of woe including having to ditch his work at parties in Ibiza. Now that’s sad. Miller claims he is increasingly trapped in the concrete walled home he purchased to escape the ever-present connection that permeates our lives.

Experts are not impressed by the claims, however, citing a plethora of reasons why the condition can’t exist. A bit in the Telegraph roundly debunks the claims of Miller and others who feel they may be “sensitive” to Wi-fi, positing that the people may just be suffering from pervasive ignorance about science.

Wifi consists of electromagnetic waves, just like light or radio waves, with a frequency of 2.4GHz, giving it a wavelength of around 12.5cm. There is some variation but not enough of a range to make any difference. 2.4GHz is on the long end of microwave, getting close to radio, rather similar to mobile phone signals. It transmits at much lower power than a mobile phone mast, so even if those signals were harmful, Wifi would be less so.

Mr Miller makes no mention of mobile phones, he is only bothered by Wifi. If it is electromagnetic radiation in general he’s sensitive to, he’s in real trouble as radio waves and visible light flood our atmosphere every minute of every day.

Experts don’t think that Miller is faking it per se, though- their diagnosis? Agoraphobia.

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How can you tell when technology has become totally mainstream?

Well when a major marketing campaign centered around something totally different targets the growing  number of people who live online regardless of where they are. The perfect example of this kind of marketing comes to us from Toyota as they launch the 2020 3rd generation Prius in the US.

Rather that paste billboards all over the place and plaster us with all kinds of print advertising Toyota is heading right to the minds – and wallets – of those people who will most likely be their future Prius customers. They’ve done this by planting 18-foot high flower sculptures that are doubling as public comfort zones as well as solar powered wi-fi stations. As well you can also plugin to the portable charging stations that are a part of the ‘green zone’.

You gotta admit it’s a great idea but unfortunately they are only temporary and will soon be moving from their current location in Boston to other temporary homes during the campaign.

hat tip to My Modern Metropolis

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Wayport runs the hotspots at McDonald’s restaurants across America, as well as at several hotels such as selected Wyndham, Marriott Vacation Club, and Four Seasons branches. It also provides Wi-Fi at HealthSouth and Sun Healthcare locations.

The move brings AT&T’s Wi-Fi locations to about 80,000 places around the country, the company says, including all U.S. Starbucks stores. Just last week, the company finally moved forward with opening those hotspots to iPhone users for free (after mistakenly announcing plans to do so twice before and then pulling back).

AT&T predicts the number of Wi-Fi-enabled devices on the market to more than triple by the year 2012. Its new deal is worth $275 million and is expected to be finalized before the end of the year.

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iPass announced it’ll include airborne Wi-Fi provider Aircell in its network of services. Aircell is expected to launch its GoGo in-flight internet access on selected flights later this year, starting with American Airlines and Virgin America. Passengers will have to pay a per-flight charge of about $10 to login.

Anyone with the iPass software, though, will be able to get instant access with a single click, according to the company’s just-released plan.

“Mobile workers have become accustomed to high-speed Internet access at home, in hotels and airports, and even in the car, but when they get on planes they have been unable to communicate,” iPass VP of Business Development Michael Moore stated.

“Our partnership brings together the new Gogo service with iPass’ ability to integrate connectivity with mobility management. Our enterprise customers will be able to keep their employees productive but maintain the necessary policies they need to support their business,” he said.

iPass offers remote access for mobile companies across 160 countries. It provides hotspot points at hotels, airports, and other various locations for a flat monthly fee.

I may not have iPass, but I nevertheless look forward to making my first posts from 35,000 feet in the air. Maybe from the lavatory, just to make it seem more scandalous. Hey, it might not be as cool as the mile-high club, but in-flight blogging’s gotta give you some kind of bragging rights, doesn’t it?

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