AT&T and ShopAlerts - Confessions of a Geo-Location Shopaholic

Never ask of money spent

Where the splendor thinks it went.

Nobody was ever meant

To remember or invent

What he did with every cent.

Robert Frost, The Hardship of Accounting

The recent news coming out of the Telecom Provider AT&T heralds what is effectively a first anywhere in the world: Geo-Location based advertising, quaintly named ShopAlerts. This wonder of advertising as announced in the articles entitled “AT&T to send text ads to phones based on Location”, published Monday February 28, 2011 2:55 pm ET by PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer, Yahoo! News and repeated in the article “AT&T ShopAlerts texts Location-based promos”, published February 28, 2011 7:09 AM PST by Lance Whitney, Digital Media - CNET News.

Great, cheeky Americans exclaim sarcastically, just what my souped-up dual core smartphone needed: Location-based pop-up ads! John Public, a Jamaican, smiles his wry sneaky smile, knowing full well that the FCC (Federal Communication Commission) is now bundling Geo-Location with 911 Services on mobile phones, whether of not they are GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) capable.

Referred to as Enhanced 911, it allows Law Enforcement agencies to pinpoint the exact Location of callers to the 911 Service should there be a case where speaking would compromise the persons safety.

A service that is US Government sponsored, it thus doesn’t surprise me, therefore, that Telecom Provider AT&T would spin around and try to make revenue via advertising from its Geo-Location enabled Telecoms Database which is already being used to provide this Public Service in the name of Law Enforcement.

Not to mention the fact that it is part of their push to expand their presence in the M2M (Machine-to-Machine Business) as stated in my Geezam Blog article entitled “NFC and M2M - Cashless Society and the Internet of Things” and  neatly summarized in my blog article entitled “AT&T, NFC and M2M  Cashless Society and the Internet of Things”.

Either this is the reason, or Telecom Provider AT&T has, like Carlette Deleon aka the Pet Tales Chick aka “Dilly” of Television Jamaica fame, been sniffing up and about my blog.

Indubitably, they may have stumbled across my blog articles on my unique Mobile Social Network concept powered by Geo-Location named Brown Dawg, so neatly summarized in my blog article entitled “RIM, Telecom Providers and the Rise of Mobile Commerce - Free Willy Blackberry”.

Not to mention a great way to get rid of all those Blackberrys people are throwing away as they step up to a real smartphone, be it the Apple iPhone or something with an Android slant as opined in my blog article entitled “Apple iOS 4 vs Google Android - Blackberry Shot the Sheriff”.

Thus, Simone Clarke-Cooper aka “Tiger-Bone Simone” will not be the only Television Jamaica personality who gets to ill-treat her BB!!! Spotted: Simone “Tiger-Bone” Clarke-Cooper on Smile Jamaica on Television Jamaica up in arms about Bounti Killa "Follow the Arrow" bottle throwing incident at “Follow de Arrow”.

I love YouTube !

Or…..or….maybe Telecom Provider AT&T really had it in mind to purchase FourSquare as slyly suggested by CNET Blogger Matt Asay in his essay entitled “Time for AT&T to buy FourSquare”, published April 26, 2010 9:14 AM PDT by Matt Asay The Open Road - CNET News.

So this new service, ShopAlerts, is Telecom Provider AT&T’s way of throwing their hat into the lucrative Geo-Location advertising market. It is also a thus move away from being a “dumb pipe” carrying data as opposed to making money from Content and Data Hosting services. The true origin of their concept is irrelevant, as the trend that started with FourSquare is now caught on even with a major American Telecom Providers.

After all, FaceBook CEO Mark Zuckerberg saw it as being lucrative enough to throw his hat in the ring, investing heavily in FaceBook Places, which was aimed at Google Latitude and its slew of Location based recommendation services as stated in the article “FaceBook Places take aim at Google”, published August 19, 2010 1:18 PM PDT, by Tom Krazit, Relevant Results - CNET News.

Whatever the reason (I personal think it’s me!!!!), this bodes well for advertising and Telecoms Providers, as if this “clicks” with Americans generally wary of Geo-Location base services, it could mean:

1. Cheaper phones, mainly subsidized by advertising being offered not only by Telecom Providers but even by Third-Party companies branded with their personal advertising. Ahem, oh Google!?
2. Increased profitability for advertisers, as the target market is guaranteed and can be easily identified and is a sure-fire Rewards System to attract customers
3. Better use of the “Like” Button statistics, as it can be used to pitch the phone user deals on products that resonate directly with them.
4. This would be a source of revenue for customers as well and effectively would be paying people to click on advertising on their smartphones as suggested in my blog article entitled “Broadcasting and Facebook - Simon and Simone Pig Farm” and “Broadcasting and Facebook - Where in Jamaica is Regina Beaver”.
5. Television could also benefit, as SMS could be sent to gauge if a user was watching a particular television show at a particular time so as to push advertising to that target demographic as stated in my blog article entitled “Google AI and Broadcasting - Minority Report”.

That last bit is VERY likely, Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) Style. Especially as FaceBook is now monetizing comments via Geo-Location base comments in its FaceBook Places Platform as stated in the article “FaceBook's Next Big Media move: Comments”, published January 31, 2011 12:57 PM PST by Caroline McCarthy, The Social - CNET News.

Local Telecom Big Three (3) Telecoms Providers, Big Three (Broadcasters and Big Three (3) Banks and struggling businesses in Jamaica, where were you caught napping as Geo-Location took hold in the United States of America?

Libyan Freedom, Oil Prices and Alternative Energy - The Pelican Brief

I am not an Athenian nor a Greek, but a citizen of the world

Socrates as quoted by Plutarch, a student

And so am I. It seems that no matter how much we feel that events occurring a world away have no bearing on our lives, the West ends up footing the bill. Like the protests in Egypt that helped to topple the reign of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak thirty (30) year dictatorship as stated in the article “Egypt protests: Three killed in 'day of revolt'”, published 26 January 2011 at 02:09 GMT, BBC News.

Their Economy now had to pick up the pieces – and its own fixer-upper bill. This despite ongoing protests, it’s back to work for the moneychangers of Egypt’s Economy as stated in the article “Egypt’s Stock Market to Resume Trading on March 1 after one-month shutdown”, published February 27, 2011 9:36 AM ET by Ahmed A Namatalla and Abdel Latif Wahba, BloomBerg.

Its success has emboldened yet another Muslim country. Bahrain has caught revolution fever, Che Guevara Style as stated in the video blog “Bahrain troops 'fire on crowds'”, published 18 February 2011 20:11 GMT, BBC News. In their case it is a serious dictatorship with a powerful hold over its people: the Bahrain Royal family, still in power for the last two hundred (200) years – when I was last reincarnated. Good luck with that one. More on this in another blog!

Libya too, has felt the pang of Democracy in its young people’s belly. This puts President-for-Life Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's (“Gadaffi” is spelt with a “Q” in Egypt) in the crosshairs of the people who are tired of the Oil Wealth not been spread equally among the people of the still impoverished Third World Country as stated in the video article entitled “Libya protests: 84 killed in growing unrest, says HRW”, published 19 February 2011 12:22 GMT, BBC News.

And Oil prices are up 13%, skirting the US$100 per barrel, depending on whose news or Stock Market quotations you are inclined to believe as stated in the article “Oil Prices settle higher”, published Sunday, February 27, 2011 Associated Press, The Jamaica Observer.

The “West ends up footing the bill” part is clearly enunciated in the Friday edition of The Jamaica Observer in the article “Mid-East instability and our dependence of Oil”, published Friday, February 25, 2011 The Jamaica Observer and confirmed by the prior article entitled “Libya unrest leads to rise in Oil Price”, published 22 February 2011 at 06:40 GMT, BBC News.

And in both cases, the Internet was shut down as was in the case of Egypt as stated in the article “Egypt's Internet still offline, a Day Later”, published January 27, 2011 10:59 PM PST by Declan McCullagh, Privacy Inc. - CNET News and now in the case of the still ongoing unrest in Libya as stated in the article “Libya's Internet hit with severe disruptions”, published February 22, 2011 4:35 PM PST by Declan McCullagh, Privacy Inc - CNET News.

That, my dear readers, is the Technology connection to my Technology ditty of a blog; otherwise this would have become yet another Technology piece. Ironic, as it is the Internet and Social Networking that started this entire upheaval in the social fabric of society by giving people the tools to organize themselves as slyly and coyly suggested by CNET Blogger Caroline McCarthy  in the article “Egypt, Twitter, and the Rise of the Watchdog crowd”, published February 11, 2011 2:12 PM PST by Caroline McCarthy, The Social - CNET News.

This makes the Government of Jamaica seem almost like a clairvoyant in pushing ahead with an ambitious plan to effectively take all Government of Jamaica Ministries off the grid as stated in the Editorial in The Jamaica Gleaner entitled “Government to start saving energy”, published Sunday February 13, 2011, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Sounds as if Prime Minister of Jamaica Bruce Golding, in his eagerness to cut the Government of Jamaica JA$10 billion Electricity Bill for a spend of US$90 million, must have made another call to President of the USA, Senator Barack Obama via Google Voice as I amusingly suggested in my blog article entitled “Bruce Golding and the JDIP - 2 Fast 2 Furious”.

This is as President of the USA, Senator Barack Obama has made it his duty to have Energy Secretary’s ambitions plan to take State Agencies off the Grid as stated in the article “White House to install rooftop Solar Panels”, published October 5, 2010 5:19 AM PDT by Martin LaMonica, CNET News - Green Tech. Is this a conspiracy The Pelican Brief (1993) style?

This of course being achieved by initially having Solar Panels installed on top of the White House roof as of the Spring of 2011 AD. The history behind this decision has been chronicled in much detail in my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy and the President - Three Days of the Condor”.

Good move Prime Minister of Jamaica Bruce Golding to follow the example of the United States of America, especially now as Oil Prices appear so turbulent! At last! A short blog article from me that states a solution and evidence of a close connection between the Government of Jamaica and the Government of the United States of America in a common shared problem!

MacBook Pro and Intel LightPeak - Thunderbolt and The Fantastic Mr. Fox

I saw the Lightning’s gleaming rod

Reach forth and write upon the sky

The awful autograph of God.

Joaquin Miller, The Ship in the Desert

Thursday February 24 2011AD was indeed a day to remember – and was forecast correctly as per the article “Apple planning Major Product launch next week”, published February 18, 2011 5:23 pm By Jeff Bertolucci, PCWorld.

Thus my apologies to the author for placing his article in the same basket as the so-called journalists at the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Bloomberg and their spiel about a smaller Apple iPhone as dissected in my blog article entitled “Apple and the Cloud Phone - Cheaper by the Dozen and Up in the Air”.

And in reticence, guess you can trust the Mafia …er….I mean the Italian tech blog, iSpazio, who I have never heard of before, save to say they remind me of Marco Polo. Indeed, they may really be working for the Sicilian Mafia based on the Italian last name of the article author, who may just be a Mafia Journalist, La Cosa Nostra style. In that case Viva La Familia!

So it was true! Apple was planning an update of their MacBook Pro line of laptops, now confirmed in the article “Apple updates MacBook Pro line for 2011”, published February 24, 2011 5:53 AM PST by Dan Ackerman, Crave - CNET News, but the devil in this surprise low key launch as of course the details.

Apple and Intel jointly unveiled their latest partnership: MacBook Pros sporting Intel’s Sandy Bridge Processors and a new 10GBps capable Fiber Optic standard called Thunderbolt.

Now those of you who stumble across my blog who are ardent and fire breathing critics of my ramblings (for fans are for keeping you cool!) should recall that I had mentioned Intel and McAfee partnership being committed with the intention to integrate Anti-Virus into their chipsets as per my blog article entitled “Intel and LightPeak - Race towards the Sun”.

Since then of course the US$7.68 billion dollar deal has cleared EU (European Union) regulators as stated in the “Intel takeover of McAfee cleared by EU Regulators”, published 26 January 2011 last updated at 18:45 GMT by BBC News, thus putting clothes on my nubile naked arguments with regards to Intel’s baking of security into their products.

In that same blog article, however, I also pointed out that they would probably partnered with Microsoft to make an all optical motherboard and computer system, as their test for LightPeak, albeit conducted with an Apple Mac, would have a wide market for acceptability among Microsoft Windows users.

A totally new motherboard architecture based on on-board Fiber Optic connectors and LightPeak to replace all external connectors! Boy, do I love to dream: a machine like that would be the equivalent of driving a Bugatti Veyron! Super cool, super fast street legal online game playing brilliance powered by Intel. Everything would be fast, with even the processor being a Fiber-Optic based CPU/GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) hybrid. Oh, if it were real……I do so love to dream!

Snap back to reality folks! Look alive people!

This recent announcement, albeit not the dream I envisioned, is real close. The new Apple MacBook Pro line as laid out like a good poker hand of kings in the article “The New MacBook Pro”, viewed Friday February 25 2011 by Apple, however, still has the following new things worth admiring on their line of Apple MacBook Pros:

1. 13” (US$1199)
2. 15” (US$1799)
3. 17” (US$2499)

First, under the hood.

The Apple MacBook Pro’s are packing Intel Sandy Bridge Processors inside, as stated in the article “Intel's sandy Bridge for laptops tested”, published January 12, 2011 10:03 AM PST by Dan Ackerman, CNET News - Crave, a slick take on their marketing ad campaign of the early decade of the 21^st Century.

This of course, after having the much publicized problems sorted out by using people as guinea pigs to run through the mazes and check them out as stated in the article “Intel finds design Flaw in Sandy Bridge Chipset”, published January 31, 2011 10:13 AM by Agam Shah, IDG News, PCWorld.

The fact that this is a CPU/GPU, with the onboard Graphics being the Intel’s HD 3000 GPU integrated into the chipset, explains the name “Sandy Bridge”: two (2) teams of engineers, one charged with the design of the Intel CPU and the other for the GPU.

Working together to bridge the physical divide between the CPU and GPU, the engineers created this marvelous feat of engineering that considerably improves game playing as well as performances without increasing speed and improve power consumption, as GPU are more efficient than CPU. Sandy Bridge indeed!

FaceTime, which originally debut on the Apple iPhone 4, had now gone HD (High Definition) as per the spec sheet from Apple.

Even AMD is in on the partnership, with an AMD Radeon Graphics Card on the 15” and 17” models. Sweet!

But the best I save for last, being it is based on yet another prediction of mine: the MacBook Pro will come integrated with Intel’s LightPeak as promised and slyly hinted in the article “Intel's Light Peak: One PC cable to rule them all”, published September 23, 2009 12:54 PM PDT by Stephen Shankland, CNET News - Deep Tech.

Intel’s LightPeak has rebranded ThunderBolt, a name implying how the strength and speed will “box yu’ cross yu face” as we Jamaican would say with its breathtaking super-fast 10GPps theoretical bi-directional Data Transfer protocol that is backward compatible with DisplayPort connector and effectively has the potential to replace ALL high speed connectors on you PC.

Yes, you read that right. I did not mis-speak.

All PC’s in the future will have all their connectors replaced by ThunderBolt. Currently, it is now a copper based connector system, oweing to the fact that as is, it has to be backward compatible with the HDMI (High Definition Media Input), USB 3.0, FireWire and Ethernet physical connections and protocol.

But the promise of latency free high speed Data Transfer rates, which currently can only reach 2GBps in real world applications, is still plenty faster than current Data Transfer speeds. So by the year 2015, this connector protocol in its full Fiber Optic glory (can Intel make its cable glow blue while transferring Data?) will be on all PC’s as well.

This based on the support resplendent in the rubbing of shoulders with such heavy hitters in the PC peripheral world, namely DVD-Burner maker LaCie and Harddrive maker Western Digital as stated in the article “Intel unveils Thunderbolt Data Transfer Tech”, published February 24, 2011 8:46 AM PST by Rich Brown, CNET News - Crave.

So expect in short order, the next set of Monitors, Laptops, Macs, Apple iPhones and Apple iPad to sport Thunderbolt. Not new, as Fiber Optic patch cables have been used for years on Telecom Provider Switch equipment. 

Never mind the Telecom Equipment Provider: Ericsson, Nortel and Alcatel-Lucent as I witnessed while working as a Network Maintenance Technician at Telecom Provider C&W (now Telecom Provider LIME!) had Microwave Radios, Telecom Switches and even Mobile Cellular antennas to use Fiber Optic instead of those cumbersome copper waveguides. Fitting, as both are waveguide technology! Even the 120GB Microsoft XBox 360 comes with Fiber Optic support!

In effect, Apple and Intel are actually going back to old haunts, as did the lead character in the movie The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) only to end up helping his fellow animals in his old forest neighborhood: PC Makers.

Even the line of Apple iPod, Apple iPod Nano, Apple iPod Shuffle and Apple iPod Touch will eventually sport the all Fiber Optic version of this rebranded LightPeak this coming refresh. PC users you will have to wait! As of now however, it would be good for ye to bid a fair adieu to proprietary HDMI (High Definition Media Input), USB 3.0, FireWire and Ethernet physical connections and protocol.

Thus my dream might come through, as the internal electronics of PC would slow down the faster ThunderBolt technology, necessitating an upgrade to this all-Fiber Optic design.

Also, by no means will ThunderBolt be the only game changer in the room in 2015. Also to debut in that year: 10GBps capable Wireless Broadband Protocol WiGiG, which is based on Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) and PowerLine Broadband, which is based on the HomePlug AV (IEEE 1901) for Broadband over Power Lines as predicted in my blog article entitled “Wi-Fi, LightPeak and PowerLine Broadband - The Young and the Restless”.

If I am alive in 2015AD, this blog article should confirm my dual prediction: Fiber Optic motherboard architecture and LightPeak aka ThunderBolt, WiGiG and PowerLine physical connectors and protocol ubiquitous on every electronic device.

But as for now, I, like most of the Apple-loving sheep, am giddy with excitement as this may mean that ThunderBolt may debut on the Apple iPad S as stated in the article “Apple issues March 2 invitations”, published February 23, 2011 11:07 AM by Philip Elmer-DeWitt, CNN Money Fortune!!! People, my blue shirt is pressed and ready and the date marked on my calendar.

Apple iPad Day: Wednesday March 2^nd 2011………..

RIM, Telecom Providers and the Rise of Mobile Commerce - Free Willy Blackberry

Not enjoyment, and not for sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each to-morrow

Brings us farther than to-day.

Longfellow, A Psalm for Life

Blackberry should cost no more than a Nokia 1208 “go-go” club phones, as Audia Granston, my deceased cosmetologist girlfriend oft referred to the iconic flashlight phone, which I must admit is great for looking into tight corners. But the Blackberry is a technology throwaway that Telecom Provider have thus far failed to entice people to purchase as asserted neatly in my blog article entitled “Apple iOS 4 vs Google Android - Blackberry Shot the Sheriff”.

Why am I all up in RIM’s business today? On Monday February 21^st 2011 at 15:34, my peace was disturbed when a telemarketer, purportedly from Telecom Provider LIME called me on my Nokia 1208 from a number 1(876)979-8532 to offer me a choice between a Blackberry Curve or some other Nokia 3G phone.

Initially calm, the phone conversation degenerated into a curse-out when I was made to realize that the “free” phone offer mean I had to not only pay JA$3000 per month for a two (2) year subscription, but worse – I would have to travel all the way from May Pen, Clarendon to their Head Office in Kingston in order to get this “free” phone. WTF!!!

The words that left my mouth left many mouths agape in the Amazing PC Store in May Pen, Clarendon where I now work since Monday February 14^th 2011. This is after being initially employed on Tuesday February 1^st 2011 and enduring a grueling two (2) week intensive training at their Hagley Park Branch in Kingston.

Ironically, this required me to travel this distance via public transport, as being that I was out of a job as explained in my blog article entitled “America, Productivity and International Labour - Dream Merchant” I had no money to get my Nissan motor car moving.

Just as well anyway, as I was gaining weight while working at Telecom Provider CLARO (2008 to 2009) and all that walking helped me to lose it all. So this phone call got me all worked up again – and in a mood to put pen to paper and longhand write this article of protest as this not the first time a Telecom Provider has had its silly Telemarketers call people offering their “free” stuff, yet trying to trap them into long term payments.

In that previous instance, it was Telecom Provider Digicel calling at 9:45am on March 29^th 2010 from a number 1(876)619-5000 to offer me a Digicel SIM, despite my insistence that my phone, a Nokia 1208, was incompatible and I was not interested.

At least at that time, the offer Telecom Provider Digicel made me did NOT require that I travel to Kingston, but it included NO phone and worse, it was made in the morning, when I was in the peace and solace of my home in Milk River, Clarendon, enjoying some good oatmeal porridge.

The least they could have offered was a phone with the SIM card; preferably software locked using the SIM IMSI and the phone instrument IMEI such that they could not work with any other phone instrument or SIM respectively.

This much similar encounter, detailed in a letter which I subsequently wrote to Mr. Donovan Whyte, Marketing Manager of Digicel is copied verbatim in my blog article entitled “Mr. Donovan Whyte: Ideas to improve your Marketing as it is, like, so lame!”

I was so upset, that I wrote Mr. Donovan Whyte and his ballsy Mafia cronies a series of letters with my proposal ideas for a Marketing Platform called Brown Dawg, a Mobile Social Network concept akin to Foursquare (also my suggestion!!) but not necessitating that people have phones that have a built in GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) installed based on the technology of a company called GloPos as per my blog article entitled “Mobile Triangulation without GPS - A solution to Crime, Missing persons within five (5) years”.

Brown Dawg was not one proposal but a composite set as detailed in my blog articles entitled “Brown Dawg, a Mobile Social Network based on Mobile phones”, “Brown Dawg and A So di Ting Set - An API tool for User preferences and avoid backlash”, “Brown Dawg and I Spy Rewards - Geo-Location Rewards System for Mobile Social Networking” and “Brown Dawg and Se'et Deh - Behavioral Targeted Marketing Ads”.

Donations via my PayPal Account are acceptable for my above suggestions, which I am sure Google would be interested in as per my blog article entitled “Google Voice and Google Nexus One - All's Well that Ends Well”.

No reply thus far, so via this modern day communication medium I re-post my idea: free Blackberry under the Brown Dawg Mobile Social Network, where the instruments are genuinely free to the customer, save for paying for Pay-As-You Go Credit or a thirty (30) day Data Plan subscription.

After all, this stylish technology throwaway from the Developed World is now the phone to flash among Generation Y as stated in the excellent anecdotal observation by the Brit writing for ZDNET Zack Whittaker in his article “'Phone on the Table' students: Driven by Social Status”, published February 22, 2011, 10:52am PST by  Zack Whittaker, ZDNET. This I have actually observed in the wild!!!

The phone’s cost would be subsidized via advertising, as it would be a Platform that advertisers would be interested in pushing advertising to, oweing to its ubiquitous presence in one’s pocket.

Even Multimedia Jamaica Limited, the adopted child of the RJR Communications Group, was successfully able to get its adopted parent to partner with BlueWave Technologies to offer a Bluetooth advertising solution as per my blog article entitled “Google AI and Broadcasting - Minority Report”.

They too, can pitch in and subsidize directly Blackberrys from the Telecom Providers, so that this “modern” marvel of “smart” phone technology would be affordable to all Jamaicans and a Platform for their brand of advertising, as Blackberrys have Bluetooth built-in.

The Big Three (3) Banks, namely Bank of Nova Scotia (ScotiaBank), National Commercial Bank (NCB) and Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (RBTT), can also subsidize and offer Blackberrys as a part of opening any bank account or a Credit Card or Debit Card as it would aid in pushing e-Commerce via M2M (Machine-to-Machine) transactions as per my Geezam blog article entitled “NFC and M2M - Cashless Society and the Internet of Things” .

This would support the expansion of Mobile Banking, now on the cusp of reality in Jamaica as suggested in the article ‘Drumbeat grows for mobile banking in the Caribbean”, published Friday, February 18, 2011 by AL EDWARDS, The Jamaica Observer (http://www.jamaicaobserver.com).

Not to mention Mobile Gambling or Gaming. Supreme Ventures too, could retail branded Blackberry which would be a shot in the arm for Supreme Ventures as I had suggested in my blog article entitled “Supreme Ventures and Mobile Phone Platform for Gambling”. This is further explained in my blog article entitled “Supreme Ventures and Online Gambling - The Return of the King” and my blog article entitled “MNP, Supreme Ventures Limited, Internet Gambling and the Royal Flush of Smart Phones”.

In summary, there is absolutely no reason why the Telecom Providers and RIM cannot subsidize the Blackberry to be either free or sold for the same price as the Nokia 1208 either via:

1. Sponsored by advertising via a Mobile Social Network based on Geo-location powered by Mobile Triangulation named Brown Dawg as above described
2. Subsidized phones given free to customers in partnership with local Jamaican companies in exchange for the sponsoring company’s branding and advertising on the Blackberry’s screen or as a Platform for their Services, effectively an affiliate program akin to Amazon Affiliates.

RIM, how do you like dem Apples, Free Willy (1993) Style?

Telecom Providers and the Quest for Full-Duplex - Stanford University Drumline

Speak thy speech, I pray you, as I pronounce it to you, trippingly on the tongue

Shakespeare, Hamlet, III, 2

This Sunday, a friend of mine from New York, whom I have not seen for quite a while, spoke via Google Voice with regards to the design of a simple microwave link. A trifling thing any Telecoms Technician would say.

But my female friend, a former colleague of mine from C&W and devout Christian, found out that she had to seriously put her innovation cap on. Note Innovation, not thinking, as designing a Microwave Link using Motorola Motorola PTP 500 Series Point-to-Point Microwave Link  requires little thinking as everything is plug-and-play.

Rather, most of the thinking was reserved for the planning: get that wrong and you costs double when you realize that you equipment is incompatible. K.I.S.S (Keep it simple, Stupid)!

It was during the planning and discussion phase that I began to explain to my white colleague, who is more into the Bible than Engineering, between much cussin’, the nuances of Half-Duple and Full-Duplex. Rightly so, as many times while I worked at Telecom Provider C&W (2001 to 2004) as a Network Maintenance Technician that I discovered that Managers are completely clueless.

In Jamaica, most people in management positions are basically in the position via “frien’ and company” or “links” as we Jamaicans call it or “contacts” as our American counterparts enunciate.

Thus, I was quite shocked when I was once told by a manager at Telecom Provider C&W in 2003 that all communications are Full-Duplex! Full-Duplex communications do not exist, whether in Wired, Wireless or Waveguide. Fact!

Needless to say, I developed a dislike for Management, as to me Engineering and Science are my forte, not politics, debates of which are for the social climbers in society with apparently little in the way of creativity or innovation.

But the why is important. Like a CPU (Computer Processing Unit) in a computer, a communication link can only handle one thing at a time: Transmit or Receive, no matter how complex the Communication System. The oft cited example of CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and WCDMA Networks as being Full-duplex is misguided.

The modulation schema is transmission from Tower to UE (User Equipment) and is what makes CDMA and WCDMA spectrally efficient. However, Transmit and Receive side are still encoded as separate frequencies within the CDMA envelope and are decoded by the communication chipset as separate frequencies for DSP processing inside the customer UE (User Equipment)  and as such, Full-Duplex is still not achieved.

Even some more exotic Fiber Optic Systems, which some foreign contractors used to boast of being able to do multiple transmission and receptions, is actually Half-Duplex, as the Transmit Signal is on a different IR frequency than the Receive Signal.

The nuance of the communication occurring over the same physical link does not make it Full-Duplex, which strictly peaking is simultaneous communications over the same physical link, same channels at exactly the same time!

Self-interference have plagued previous attempts at Full-Duplex, as the Transmitter and Receiver, in any Full-Duplex attempt, have to be physically the same electronics, hence the self interference.

So I was pleasantly surprised to discover that a group of researchers Jung Il Choi, Kannan Srinivasan, Mayank Jain, Philip Levis, and Sachin Katti from Stanford University had apparently made a major breakthrough on this front.

According to the article “Stanford Technology Can Double Wi-Fi Speeds”, published February 17, 2011 1:55PM by Mark Long, NewsFactor, they achieved this feat despite the obvious problem of self interference.

This problem, again is best expressed in a paraphrased quote, this time from Stanford Assistant Professor Philip Levis, one of them members of the research team: “When a radio is transmitting, its signal is millions or even billions of times stronger than anything else it might hear - it's [like] trying to hear a whisper while you yourself are shouting. However, a radio Receiver can now be built that can filter out the substantial noise generated by its associated Transmitter, so you don't hear your own shout and you can hear someone else's whisper”

So what the clever devils did? Solutions which should be familiar to any Telecoms Technician and is elegantly simple save for the requirement of DSP (Digital Signal Processing). Basically, their research, based on Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n), a simple IEEE (Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers), but applicable to Mobile Telecoms, involves, amusingly using off-the-shelf equipment.

They basically sampled the Transmit Signal in real-time and using DSP, subtracted if from the inherently noisy weaker Receive signal. The remaining signal from the subtraction process is then resampled, again in real-time and decoded using standard decoding techniques. Thus the same channel can be reused to both Transmit and Receive on the same antenna. Full-Duplex at last!

So if this was so simple, why was it not done before?

Possibly the inclusion of the additional electronics was expensive and added to the cost of the equipment. Or possibly DSP Processors did not exist that could do the subtraction in real time. Or even better, the Management of most of these Telecoms Providers thought they had Full-Duplex all along, a kind of its-not-broke-so-don’t-fix-it kind of mentality.

Thus, so no-one bothered to do the research and make it possible, muchless make a request for University sponsored research to be done into the issue. Curiously enough, I had long suspected this was possibly a mean or removing noise from a noisy channel.

My solution was to use a summing junction with an inverted sample of the Transmit Signal to squelch out the noise. This DSP based solution is my idea, but with DSP Communication Processors.

But the Telecoms Operators should be interested. Full-Duplex on one single physical link and channel means cost savings on spectrum of 50%, with a 100% increase in efficiency, as only one channel is needed, Drumline (2002).

Coupled with the ongoing development of smaller Node B’s by Alcatel-Lucent as in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers, Alternative Energy and ISO9001 - Alcatel-Lucent, I shrunk the Node B Kids”.

An additional bonus is that this kind of research encourages innovative thinking and partnerships between Telecoms Providers and Local Universities, such as the suggestion by research students at Rice University Researchers Ardalan Amiri Sani, Lin Zhong, and Ashutosh Sabharwal in a paper published in 2010 to use an Omni directional antenna for reception and a directional antenna for transmission as a means of improving antenna efficiency.

Their design, when tested, achieved 85% increase in Receiver Gain, meanwhile reducing the Transmitter power consumption by 51%, which in turn reduces the battery usage as stated in the article “Maybe all the iPhone needs is more Antennas”, published August 13, 2010 06:31 PM ET by John P. Mello Jr., PC World.

This worthy of a separate article and should be of especial interest to Apple Inc, who are looking to making a cheaper Apple iPhone competitive enough to beat Google Android’s pricing as concluded my blog article entitled “Apple and the Cloud Phone - Cheaper by the Dozen and Up in the Air”!

This type of relationship that is sadly lacking in Jamaica between the Telecom Providers LIME, Digicel and CLARO and suggested in my blog article entitled “How UWI can save Money in a Recession”.

Telecom Provider in Jamaica, where are on this point of argument?

Apple and the Cloud Phone - Cheaper by the Dozen and Up in the Air

It will never rain roses: when we want

To have more roses we must plant more trees.

George Elliot, The Spanish Gypsy

Apple is reportedly planning a major launch of its products next week, according to the article “Apple planning Major Product launch next week”, published February 18, 2011 5:23 pm By Jeff Bertolucci, PCWorld, which will of course be the week starting Sunday February 20^th 2011. This purportedly is a refresh of MacBook line, and the apparent reasoning is that a shortfall in stock is prompting enough for such an announcement.

So says their “sources”, who are usually off the mark, considering that no accompanying information as to the issuing of invites was made. You know the drill, people when you see info like this: Caveat Lector

More of this kind of stuff spreading about. You know, news, that that just does not add up. Hence my past few days of reticence in putting pen to paper and posting yet another referenced article.

It’s like, as a blogger, I am stepping through a minefield of “false” articles. If was a more superstitious person, I would wish to declare there was a conspiracy afoot to spread false information and put people in a state of confusion.

Like the story about the purportedly smaller Apple iPhone. Bloomberg are in on this one as stated in the article “Apple is said to work on Cheaper, smaller iPhones”, published February 11, 2011 10:04 AM ET by Peter Burrows and Gregory Bensinger, BloomBerg, (http://www.bloomberg.com).

Ditto the same report by the Wall Street Journal as stated in the article “WSJ: New smaller iPhone real, MobileMe may become free, iTunes music streaming coming soon”, published February 13, 2011 by Andrew Couts, DigitalTrends (http://www.digitaltrends.com)

The New York Times weights in too as stated in the article “Apple is weighting on a cheaper iPhone”, published February 17, 2011 by MIGUEL HELFT and NICK BILTON, The New York Times, but from a different angle, maintaining the size, but finding ways of making the hardware cheaper.

A sound like everyone REALLY wants is for Apple CEO Steve Jobs to cut the cost of the Apple iPhone! You know! So as to introduce this so-called “N97” that is stated to be half the size, still retaining its touch screen.

Purportedly cloud based using thus far unpopular MobileMe Cloud service to store data (stream in the works?). Priced unlocked at a decent US$199?

Journalists, why did you not says so? Time to pull out the sniffer dogs and sniff for clues!!!

So let us Jamaicans apply a bit of logic, after an argument or two. Cutting a smartphone in half is silly and rather unlikely. Developer’s plans would be thrown out of whack, to take on the American penchant for their colourful colloquial English.

Plus it is true that Apple does make smaller or larger versions of its other products from time to time. Notably resplendent examples of which being the Apple iPod and its offspring the Apple iPod Nano and Apple iPod Shuffle!

But these are music players, so it is a relative decision one-two to make, as a different size to play music hurt no Developer and more devices that connected to their million selling ecosystem.

The Apple iPod Touch is the same size as its father but reduced in functionality: no Voice Calling, albeit the latest iteration supports FaceTime Video Calling. It is slimmer and cheaper than the Apple iPhone sans Voice Calling, which the Apple iPhone could not do anyway on Telecom Provider AT&T.

So the journalists are effectively saying that Apple plans to make more Apple iPod Touch? Video Calling? With Cloud based Mobile Me? Because a half of a phone is counter to anecdotally well known demands for more screen real estate by users now spoilt for choice in a smartphone market with the HTC Droid Incredible on Verizon and the first WiMax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.11n) smartphone, the HTC Evo 4G on Sprint’s Network.

The showstoppers from the famous Summer of 2010 as stated in the article “HTC Evo 4G, Incredible shortages make room for Droid X”, published July 12, 2010 7:44 AM by Jared Newman, PC World (http://www.pcworld.com).

Worse, the Apple iPad should be the real concern concern, now stomping the yard with analysts at IDC stating that 87% of the soul in their market swing towards the oddly named Tablet as stated in the article “IDC: Apple iPad secures 87 percent market”, published January 18, 2011 1:50 PM PST by Don Reisinger, CNET - The Digital Home (http://news.cnet.com). For the sake of argument, the Apple iPad is really a bigger Apple iPhone.

Thus the news that should really be of greatest concern is Apple Inc’s hoarding of components to make more of these devices as stated in the article “Apple securing US$7.8 billion worth of Samsung displays, memory”, published February 14, 2011 10:03 AM PST by Erica Ogg, Circuit Breaker - CNET News (http://news.cnet.com).

A possible response to the smartphones running Google Android OS securing second place in the overall ComScore standings that spells good standing for Jamaicans looking to get their hands on a technology throwaway from the US of A as my blog article entitled “Apple iOS 4 vs Google Android - Blackberry Shot the Sheriff”. Throw in a bit of a push for the London 2012 Olympics and news becomes a bit more sanguine.

Everything else about the Apple iPad thus far is rumor so nicely collected in my blog article entitled “Apple iPad S vs Motorola Xoom - Qualcomm Doubles the Fun”.

So folks, sorry to burst your bubble! The real story should be about the Apple iPad and Apple iPhone components being hoarded for a coming onslaught by Google Android OS as stated on the Geezam Blog entitled “Apple iPhone and Google Android - Helms Deep Under Attack”.

The cheaper Apple iPhone is a myth to create a bit of pre-hype, as naturally, with any new refresh, the Apple iPhones of old become cheaper, Cheaper by the Dozen (1950) Style!

Neither the article by the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times or Bloomberg is correct. And neither is their any new Apple Refresh being planned for next week.

This despite 2010 rumours of Apple iPads being launched in February 2011 as speculated in the article “Report: iPad 2 to ship next February”, published Tuesday December 7, 2010 by Steven Musil, Apple - CNET News (http://www.cnet.com). Everything is still not definitive and is

Up in the Air (2009) Style!

Just Bet on my prediction, anyone?

IBM Watson on Jeopardy and AI's Future - The Matrix meets The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes

The greater only great because we are on our knees. Let us rise!

P.J. Proudhon, Revolutions of Paris: Motto

So expressed Conan O’ Brien with a baseball bat after being trounced by the silicon based life form that is now beating humanity on Jeopardy as stated by CNET Blog Network Writer Chris Matyszczyk in the article “IBM's Watson gets smashed on 'Conan'”, published February 16, 2011 11:20 PM PST by Chris Matyszczyk, CNET News - Technically Incorrect.

This much anticipated match, also much storied and anticipated by CNET Blog Network Writer Chris Matyszczyk in his article “IBM supercomputer to appearon 'Jeopardy'”, published June 17, 2010 9:33 AM PDT by Chris Matyszczyk CNET News - Technically Incorrect has come….and left our placid existence disturbed.

At the end of the three (3) day Jeopardy tournament between the supercomputer IBM Watson, (a tip of the hat to IBM’s iconic founder!) Versus jeopardy champions Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings, it is looking bad for us flesh-things. IBM Watson on Jeopardy has not only won, he has trounced mankind. Outright!

I knew IBM scientists and researchers were geniuses from the start as I had noticed their lack of proper recognition of the Watson PhD in my blog article entitled “IBM and research and Development - Cyborg 009”. But this certifies them as bonafide geniuses.

If they could help to make our M2M communications over the Telecom Provider Networks more secure as per my squeaky wheel article on Geezam entitled “NFC and M2M - Cashless Society and the Internet of Things”, more power to IBM!

This as getting a machine, no matter how many reams of information you scan into its database, to answer questions posed in natural language, is nothing short of amazing. Too bad IBM did not do research into a personality chip, as he could have passed for a human genius too. Not that I mind, of course.

Not even losing a single initial match like his grandfather IBM Deep Blue back in 1997 to Gary Kasparov as chronicled in the article “IBM's Deep Blue Beats Garry Kasparov at Chess”, published May 3rd 1997, Computing History.

You know, just to make us feel that we still matter. Or at least reassure us that we have a fighting chance, should they [Machines, AI] eventually decide to take over humanity The Matrix (1999) Style!

IBM Watson romped to an easy somewhat gaffed victory, racking up total earnings of US$77,147, leaving Ken Jennings with US$24,000 and US$21,600 for Brad Rutter, a poor showing for Mankind indeed. Oh the pain hurts so much, it is hard to bear!

At least this is great marketing for AI (Artificial Intelligence), which apparently from its stellar performance on this trivia game, a most human of endeavors as suggested in the article “IBM Watson vanquishes human Jeopardy Foes”, published Thursday February 17 2011 by Joab Jackson, PC World, was not much of a challenge.

Ken Jennings realized what I already know, declaring, quote “I for one welcome our new computer overlords!” as per the article “Machines beat us at our own game: What can we do?”, published Thursday February 17 2011 by SETH BORENSTEIN and JORDAN ROBERTSON, Associated Press.

So do I, as I had already bet on IBM Watson winning at Just Bet as per my blog article on Geezam entitled “IBM and the Watson”, albeit is a sin that Just Bet do not support events betting!

For me personally it should make us a little more concerned about our increasing level of interconnected devices, now set to ramp up to at least ten million (10,000,000) devices on Telecom Provider AT&T as stated in my blog article entitled “AT&T, NFC and M2M - Cashless Society and the Internet of Things” for the doomsday inclined among us.

My concerns are more well expressed in a previous blog article about Google and its AI self driving vehicles as per my blog article entitled “Google and AI - I Robot” as well as my blog article entitled “Google and AI - The matrix and Terminator Rise of the Machines”.

Is this the Skynet in the future, John Public asks? Now is a good time to start building some EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) Weaponry, people.

Stay sharp!! Get your weapons and pick axes ready!!

Telecom Providers, 4G and Wi-Fi Roaming - Ruckus Wireless and the Firestarter

War should be the only study of a Prince. He should consider peace only as a breathing-time, which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes as ability to execute military plans

Macchiavelli, The Prince

Due to the nature of how 3G works, I knew as a RF (Radio Frequency) Technician while employed at Telecom Provider CLARO (2008 to December 2009) that HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) Data Networks, more popularly called 3G Networks, need not sign Roaming Agreements as it relates to the use of 3G Data service while traveling abroad.

Thus Telecom Provider Digicel and Telecom Provider Sprint, a Clearwire investor, had to sign Roaming Agreements as explained in my blog article entitled “Digicel and WiMaX 4G mobile - Sprint, My Brother's Keeper”, as WiMaX 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16.d,e) is not GSMA sanctioned but IEEE sanctioned, effectively politics.

In this same article, I hinted at the possibility that Telecom Provider Digicel could do the same with Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network, now set to spring up like poppies in Jamaica, as there is excess bandwidth still unused from Triple Play Provider FLOW, a wholesaler of T1 connectivity.

This would be a means of staving off competition on for Data customers with Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Networks, that being Wayne Chen and Lee’s family financed Dekal Wireless and Nubian-1 Tech Services Limited, as per my article on the Geezam Blog entitled “Dekal Wireless - Broadband for the Masses” could enter into Roaming Agreements.

I even floated the idea to Telecom Provider Digicel via letter for all three (3) Jamaican-based Telecom Providers Digicel, LIME and CLARO to jointly building out a shared access Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network as a means of staving off being overrun by an ever expanding wave of Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Networks, sure as rain to come, as the T1 capacity provided by Triple Play Provider FLOW is yet to be even fully exhausted.

Thus my elation as to the news of a technological breakthrough by Ruckus Wireless that will allows smartphones customers and eventually other Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) enabled devices to roam from 3G/4G Wireless Data Networks to Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Networks.

This is in much the same way Roaming works in Switched Voice Networks on CDMA and to a lesser extent GSM Networks as announced in the article “Ruckus Gateway adds Wi-Fi to Cell Networks”, published February 14, 2011 4:40 am by Nancy Gohring, CELL PHONES / VOIP, IDG News.

The announcement was made at the just concluded Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where the Telecoms Bigwigs (CEO, Chairman, etc) met to discuss the future of Telecoms – and how to avoid Apple Inc and Google turning them into “dump pipes”, mere conduits of Data as opposed to making money from said app and content streaming/downloaded driven Data, now clogging their Networks with ever increasing Traffic.

Especially as Apple Inc’s magical app’s store has hit the ten billion (100,000,000) apps downloaded mark as stated in the article “Apple App Store reaches 10 billion downloads”, published January 22, 2011 9:29 AM PST by Steven Musil, CNET News - Apple and 2011 is slated to be a bumper crop year for Mobile app downloading.

So says the analyst Gartner as stated in the article “Gartner: Mobile apps to generate US$15 billion in 2011”, published January 26, 2011 11:54 AM PST by Erica Ogg, CNET News - Circuit Breaker.

These Roaming facilities are only applicable, traditionally to Switched Voice, such as on CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) Voice and Data Networks, as common-sense would make the International traveler with a GSM (Global System Mobile) phone just simply buy a SIM card for their phone, assuming it is a Quad-Band and unlocked of course.

Roaming is mediated by the respective Telecom Providers MGW (Media Gateway) that connects both Native Networks i.e. the Telecom Provider’s own Node B’s Switched Voice Network and any Network foreign to the MGW i.e. other Network equipment such as 3G Networks, 4G Networks or other Telecom Provider Networks terminating on their Network!

Smartphones that use GSM, if not unlocked, are most likely because it is on two (2) year contract or just simply not a Quad-Band mobile phones e.g. Blackberry, the GSM customer would have to resort to Roaming and its onerous Roaming charges while traveling Internationally.

For such people, Google comes riding on a Silicon Valley start-up called Ubiquisys, offering a pocket-sized edition of a femtocell called an attocell that plugs up to any broadband Network Internationally.

This allows the International Traveler to make Switched Voice calls as if still in the country of their Host Terrestrial Telecom Network as so beautifully explained in my blog article entitled “When in Roam (ing) carry a attocell - SnapDragon and The Tourist”.

So this means, by logic, the CDMA and by extension the WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) International traveler, if they are a Voice customer, will always have to pay Roaming charges, as one cannot simply change the SIM card when one travels abroad. This is because CDMA and WCDMA do not use the SIM card, a feature of GSM for Switched Voice Networks.

However in the case of Data Network access, SIM cards acts as a reference for billing and authentication purposes for Data Networks via the Switched Voice Network, as each time you log on to the Internet with a 3G Dongle, the Telecom Provider uses the regular Switched Voice Network to identify the customer and set up billing in their AMA (Automated Messaging and Accounting) record tables or databases.

Upon identifying the customer, the Media Gateway (MGW) hands over control to the Data Network, thus enabling the customer to enjoy the delights, sight and sounds of the Internet.

A lot more technical than this, but the internal handover concept within the MSC (Mobile Switching Center) is akin to a security guard allowing you access to a building after signing you name in a paper based logbook, and then issuing you with a Badge Reader that only allows you access via swiping on a badge reader, effectively an internal security handover from one system after the previous older system has identified you as a valid member of the Telecom Provider’s Network.

This is the internal authentication procedure used in such 3G Networks, whose HSDPA Protocol is based on WCDMA Technology, with the modulation schema being IP (Internet Protocol) and Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) based or QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) as commonly referred to by RF Technicians.

It enable real-time authentication by using the Database already available to the Telecom Provider for the customer in their Switched Voice Network to allow access on their WiMaX 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d, e) Data Network! This is because WiMaX 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d, e) is an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) standard!

Throw in the lack of a close relationship with GSMA (Global Systems Mobile Alliance) authors of the 3GPP Protocol that describes the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) certified 3G Networks such as HDSPA and one can see why WiMaX 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d, e) users are subjected to Roaming charges!

Hence, 3G Dongles do not need to have Roaming on their SIM card and but WiMaX 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d, e) Dongles do, such as for use on a Pay-As-You-Go e.g. Day Pass Access Plan, that can be topped up online via a dedicated website.

Effectively, it’s really politics: the GSMA and IEEE do not necessarily see eye-to-eye, as both WiMaX and LTE (Long Term Evolution) are the exact same thing, except that the IEEE is Open Architecture, which the equivalent of Open Source for software, whereas the GSMA is closed Architecture!

Thus one can see a rational, albeit rather silly, for Telecom Provider Digicel and Telecoms Provider Sprint and Clearwire, a major investor in nationwide WiMaX 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d, e) Network Clearwire signing a Roaming Agreement as explained in my blog article entitled “Digicel and WiMaX 4G mobile - Sprint, My Brother's Keeper”.

So the recent announcement of Roaming from 3G/4G Networks supported by the GSMA to Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Networks by Ruckus Wireless, also based on similar protocols but powered by the IEEE, represents, in my mind, a technological solution towards mending fences between the GSMA and the IEEE!

Fits nicely too, with the development of 3G/4G compatible chipsets by Qualcomm in 2009, making smartphones HSDPA+ (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) and LTE (Long Term Evolution capable as stated in the article “Qualcomm readies 3G/4G mobile chipsets”, published November 12, 2009 4:07 PM PST by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - Signal Strength!

Thus, Telecom Provider that currently operate a free Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network as a means of handling excess Data Traffic as well as providing coverage in Data Dead Zone coverage areas as stated in the article “AT&T expands free Wi-Fi Hot Zone Trial”, published July 26, 2010 12:14 PM PDT by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - Signal Strength can now utilize this technology in the future to erect pay walls [American colloquial for billing] around their previously free Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network.

It is also a push towards a future where Voice and Data will all be on the same Data Network, be it LTE or WiMaX as explained in my blog article entitled “Verizon's LTE Network and VoLTE - The Dead Zone meets the Machine Stops”. Seamless Data Transitioning or Roaming to ensure continuous billing should be transparent to the customer, who should not have to toggle between 3G (HSDPA or EV-Do), 4G (LTE or WiMaX) and spectrum-license free Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Networks.

It also enable Telecom Providers to cost effectively extend their 3G/4G Data Networks using Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Networks and make revenue from their extended Networks, carrying Voice and Data at the same time. Soon as “White” Space frequencies are up for auction as stated in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers and White Spaces - A Man for All Seasons and the Big Bang Theory”.

Truly, Ruckus Wireless technological breakthrough, albeit requiring some tweaking to work more seamlessly, is more than a game-changer, Fire Starter (1984) style!