wireless market

A year-end look at the future of wireless

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 06:59:56 -0500

We've reached the end of 2007, and now it's time to look ahead to what we'll see in the wireless marketplace for the coming year. According to a panel of experts, some of the factors controlling news in 2008 will be:

Google will continue to push into many aspects of wireless communications.
The 700 MHz spectrum auction will open more than just another radio band--it could open an entirely new wireless business model.
The WiMAX build-out will either accelerate or come to a halt. Many experts think that WiMAX faces a narrowing window of opportunity before 4G cellular data arrives--in 2008, we'll know whether the believers are ready to put up towers.
Wireless devices will get faster and more capable as we move into the Wireless 2.0 universe of technology and expectations.

There's much more--you can use the information to plan you year, or to set up an office pool on which technologies will really win in the coming year.

For more on a wireless 2008:
- Read the prognostications at WirelessWeek

Features win in wireless competition

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:59:56 -0500

We've been conditioned to think of wireless market competition as something that takes place between large network carriers, but it's more accurate to think about competition between carriers and mixed product and service vendors like RIM with its Blackberry devices and email network. The success of companies like RIM, Apple, and Palm as they build new features and capabilities into products, are indicative of demands customers continue to place on vendors--and on the success innovative companies are finding in the market.

For more on companies winning in wireless:
- Read the market analysis at WirelessWeek

Google domination designs

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 06:59:56 -0500

It's not that Google wants to put out just another mobile wireless product--the search-engine giant has designs to change the nature of the wireless market. There's a big 700Mhz spectrum auction coming up, and no one knows how that will turn out, but with Android, Google has created a Linux-driven center of gravity for the wireless market to orbit. The operating system, which will power devices that compete with systems running the Symbian, Palm, and Windows Mobile operating systems, is intended to change the way the market functions--regardless of whether the radio in the device runs on 2G, 3G, or 4G.

For more on Google's wireless prospects:
- Read the market analysis at WirelessWeek

Wireless ups and downs

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 06:59:59 -0500

It's a mixed bag of news for wireless proponents this week. On the one hand, CA's move into the wireless management market is great news because it provides a new tool for enterprise IT groups looking for a way to bring a wireless platform under full control. On the other hand, St. Louis joins a growing list of cities that haven't been able to make the dream of municipal WiFi a reality. Even with the current mixed news, though, there's a clear sense of anticipation in the wireless market these days. Google is the source of much anticipation, between the rumors of Google phones and the company's clearly stated ambitions in the 700Mhz space. That 700Mhz spectrum slice (which is, in the final analysis, a rather slim slice of RF territory) is the source of at least as much anticipation and speculation as potential customers and service providers alike try to figure out what open access will mean, and just how many services will be made available when the gavel has rapped down at the auction's end.

These times of anticipation can be valuable if they're used for planning and thinking about what new services and products can mean for an organization's IT infrastructure. Once the products and services are in place, blue-sky brainstorming will be seen differently. Now, when products and services are still on the horizon, IT groups have an excuse to think carefully and plan slowly for the future. It would be a shame to let that sort of excuse and opportunity pass by--they come along even less often than new pieces of RF spectrum. -Curtis

Google has wireless keys

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 06:59:58 -0500

When the same Google that moves media markets says that it's going to move the wireless market, you have to pay attention. Between the company's enormous presence in online search and advertising and a stated desire to be a major player in the unfolding 700Mhz wireless market, there's little doubt that the potential for a huge influence is present. Add in Google's $700+ stock price, and a key mechanism for applying that influence comes into focus. What will Google do with its emerging wireless presence? The market doesn't yet know, but it's obvious that the answers will be coming soon--and coming in a large, unmistakable fashion.

For more on the keys Google holds to the wireless market:
- Read the analysis at WirelessWeek

BREAKING: Google announces Open Handset Alliance. Check DailyTechRag later this afternoon for the full scoop!

Ready for PAN

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 20:01:39 -0400

While the consumer wireless world waits for the iPhone, many sections of the wireless industry aren't waiting for anything. Nokia's Wibree, when considered along with Zigbee and Bluetooth, provides the overall foundation for a real revolution in personal area networks (PANs)--a network that connects all the devices we carry and the accessories that let us use those devices. In the same way that the Department of Energy is using a wireless network to protect a national lab campus, the PAN will enable security and productivity applications that we haven't yet considered. It's an exciting time to be looking at the wireless market--and the perfect time to be making sure that policies and procedures are ready to take the technologies yet to come into account. -Curtis

The Swiss-Army Phone

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:01:39 -0400

The Swiss-Army Phone
Is it simpler or more complicated? Is it more convenient to have a group of simple, single-function devices, or a single, relatively complex tool that does everything? The wireless market has made its choice, and is heading in the direction of the all-in-one wireless platform. There's no question that it's easier to carry a single device than to wrap that stylish, geeky bandoleer of doo-dads across your shoulder and around your chest, but there are limits: customers are already saying that smart phones and handheld wireless devices are too difficult to use. Now comes word that progress has been made on a mobile payment technology plan that will let you make purchases and pay for them right from your phone or wireless PDA. The great news for enterprise customers is that a system sufficiently secure for financial transactions may help increase security for other applications as well. The bad news? That new wallet you just bought may be going into the drawer sooner than you thought. -Curtis

QUICKLINKS: Linux groups push for more open source mobile devices; How municipal WiFi efforts will impact the SMB wireless mark

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 20:00:50 -0400

> Linux groups push for more open source mobile devices. Article

> How municipal WiFi efforts will impact the SMB wireless market. Article

> Call centers are huge VoIP adopters these days. Article

> Military's network project mixes wireless and wired strategies. Article

> IBM's Sametime gets a VoIP infusion. Article

> Laptop theft, data loss more common than most think. Article