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Carriers not ready??

Are the carriers really not ready for Wireless Portability or is this a decided passive aggressive protest. I’ve seen two reports now – one from cellular news and the other from eWeek suggesting the carriers are not ready.

As you may or not recall, there was little if any penalty for not meeting the e911 deadline which seemed a bit more high priority – considering human safety. Given the lack of penalty from our wondrous FCC, it’s hard to accept that there will be a penalty here if we are met with technical glitches or delays.

Both articles referenced above recommend waiting until March of 2004… a nice full quarter and financial period later than the expected deadline. I’m still planning on making the switch ASAP, as my corporate coverage for Nextel expires this month anyway. Hopefully I’ll really get to keep my number.

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Vegas Airport to roll out RFID tag system

The process starts at the check-in desk, where a baggage tag with an RFID chip and antenna imbedded in it will be printed out and attached to each bag. Each tag will carry a unique identifier and will be read while the bag is transported on conveyors through the appropriate explosive-screening machine and onto the plane. If the bag fails to clear the explosive-screening machine, it will be sent to a special facility to be checked by hand. [ComputerWeekly.com]

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Sun To Open RFID Test Center

“RFID is a game changer for retailers, manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies to name just a few of the impacted industries,” Sun executive vice president Jonathan Schwartz said in a statement. “Sun is committed to providing open, standards-based RFID middleware software that leverages our Sun Java Enterprise System.”

RFID (define) technology allows manufacturers, retailers, logistics providers, and other organizations to “tag” physical goods with tiny radio transponders that can then be used to identify the goods without having to visually inspect them. Applications for the technology include automatic inventory management for retailers and manufacturers, improved supply chain efficiency for logistics companies and their customers, and better tracking of goods to reduce theft and loss. [internetnews.com]

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Teens want phones for Xmas

A survey in the US has found that cell phones are the third most desired present this Christmas for teenagers. While the report found that computers, cd players and games consoles lead the stakes, some 30% of teenagers said that they are looking forward to buying a cell phone.

Computers top the “must-have” holiday wish list for teens this year, according to results of the recent “First Annual Youth Holiday Purchase Patterns” survey conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). This marks the first time teens age 12-17 were surveyed as part of CEA’s annual holiday shopping consumer research.

“The feedback from today’s tech savvy and influential teenagers are important to us and our members,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA. “This survey is one of many initiatives we are using to reach out to teens and reiterate the fun and educational benefits of consumer electronics. As expected, the results reflect how teens are actively embracing a wide array of technology and that they recognize technology influences almost all aspects of their lives.”

In addition, the survey shows that teens plan to purchase portable CD players as a gift to others (49%) this holiday season. Other products targeted for gift giving include game consoles (35%), cell phones (30%), hand-held game systems (28%) and portable MP3 players (27%). Just over half of the teens surveyed (51%) said they were planning to pay for all or most of the gifts with their own money.[Cellular News via textually.org]

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Pocket sized but packs a punch!

Soon anyway. While reading the latest NYT Circuits submission from David Pogue tonight I started thinking about how cool it would be to have one of the cameras he reviewed – the Panasonic D-Snap SV-AV100.

It’s a credit card sized SD based camcorder that can record MPEG-2 quality video. The cards are still too small – only 512 which holds 10 minutes and the unit sells for between 700 and 1000 bucks. That would classify it as very expensive for the how much extra you would have to pay in memory (let alone batteries) to take this on a trip, or for a day out with the family.

It won’t be long though before we get SD cards at 1 and 2 GB if not larger… by then the price on cameras like this should be much less and I am sure they will be even more jam packed with features like multi-megapixel still capabilities.

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If you abolutely, positively can’t wait for the GSM Treo 600

Then get on over to MobileFly where you can purchase a SIM-Unlocked GSM version for the incredibly outrageous price of $729.99 – saving 10 bucks!!

As much as I want one, there is no way I am paying this much for a smartphone – at least not at this time. Perhaps in the future there will be something that warrants such a fee… but for now I’ll just wait it out like everyone else.

I have caught a few threads of people talking about buying the Treo through Cingular and then just swapping their SIM card with a T-Mobile account. In theory, this should work as the two carriers do have a roam/share agreement in place to better their coverage in markets where one has superior or the only coverage.

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Sony PSP Concept revealed…

In a presentation further explaining Sony’s Transformation 60 restructuring plan, Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi today showed one of Sony’s first concept models for the PSP, its upcoming handheld game system. While the model isn’t intended to represent the final product, it does show Sony’s design ideas moving in some interesting directions. [1UP]

You can actually download the complete presentation as a PDF which shows the Sony connected vision – very cool stuff!

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Xbox to Switch to PowerPC

The chip that powers the Macintosh will soon be in Microsoft’s gaming console. That’s good news for IBM and a bad sign for Intel. [Wired News]

Certainly no shortage of news on this one…though the most interesting tidbit I picked up is that it may be the first move by Microsoft in enabling Windows on non-Intel silicon. Apparently they will use the VPC core acquired with Connectix to enable backwards-compatibility with the current x-box system. The device will use (in theory as it is still not confirmed) a chip that will be essentially the same as the current G5 used by Apple.

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Digital Networks: PC to Stereo

A new class of device that transmits music, photo and video files from the computer to home entertainment systems may play an important role as digital music and home networks really take off. [Wired News]

Quick overview on some home media sharing options… leading with the SliMP3, one I have and will continue to recommend.

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CIngular an official Treo 600 Carrier, but….

Just received an email from Handspring which announced that Cingular service available in my area. Checking the site I saw that for some foolish reason they are not offering an unlimited data plan. You can only pay more (24.99) to get get 10 MB/month. On the same page, you can see that Sprint is clearly charging $15 for unlimited data and about $5 more for the same level of voice minutes.

There are other differences in service, like Cingular’s rollover minutes and Sprints desire to charge $.50/min when you roam off their network…

Hopefully AT&T or T-Mobile will have a good deal on this by the time Portability hits.