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Somewhat Frank: WiMAX Reality

Jason Lopez — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:41:22 +0000

It’s been awhile since we first began hearing about WiMAX, and it may have sounded impossible at first. Not to Frank Gruber. He says it was inevitable, that it works, and it’s cool.

Beginning this week, you can think of Baltimore as one big hotspot. The computing potential for a city that’s completely wirelessly connected is huge. No matter where you are, you are connected. Simply put, it is the next generation of mobile broadband access.

Tags: Baltimore, Intel, Somewhat Frank, Sprint, WiMax, Xohm, Frank Gruber

IPTV: More Content, Choice and Flexibility

Brad Baldwin — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:06:53 +0000

As broadband connectivity spreads around the world, IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is beginning to reshape the industry. In 2007, the number of households using telco/IPTV services grew to over 14 million worldwide (Parks Associates, April 2008). That number is expected to grow to more than 80 million households by 2011 (Strategy Analytics, January 2007). Providers who wish to survive must have the ability to deliver compelling IP based content, services, and high definition video.

Broadcast International’s President and CEO Rod Tiede gives a high-level overview of the IPTV market and the opportunity for broadcaster and cable operators, satellite, and even mobile and wireless providers. Broadcast International and its CodecSys compression technology leverages the limited bandwidth typical of the DSL networks many consumers access, and makes it possible to send up to four times the video channels over the same connection, with no loss in video quality.

Tags: Brad Baldwin, Broadcast International, CodecSys, compresssion, IPTV, RockyMountainVoices, Rod Tiede, video

Mobile WiMAX Technology - Intel Chip Chat - Episode 30

editor — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:14:16 +0000

Ubiquitous mobile broadband connectivity is the next revolution in mobile computing. Listen-in as Intel Fellow Siavash Alamouti explains how Mobile WiMAX will make this happen.

Tags: Intel, Siavash Alamouti, WiMAX

Connectivity Is Key To Development

Jason Lopez — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 01:50:50 +0000

Broadband connectivity is rapidly becoming a bottleneck issue for economic development around the world. As nations move into knowledge-based economies, an emphasis on information and communication technologies, or ICTs, is critical to addressing poverty and development concerns ranging from health and education to economic and industrial growth. Knowledge is the driving engine for economic growth, social development, cultural enrichment, and for political empowerment, according to Abdul Waheed Kahn, assistant director-general for communication and information at UNESCO. In this video podcast, he makes the case that enabling a knowledge workforce increasingly requires reliable access to information. As Intel’s John Davies explains, more and more, that means bringing broadband to parts of the world where even basic economic development remains a challenge. IICD Communication Coordinator Hilde Eugelink explains how even simple, relatively small investments in education can have a significant impact on communities and economies.

Hilde Eugelink is communication coordinator with the International Institute for Communication and Development and John Davies is vice president of Intel’s sales and marketing group and the general manager of Intel’s World Ahead initiative.

Tags: Broadband connectivity, economic development, ICTs, Abdul Waheed Kahn, UNESCO, Intel, Hilde Eugelink, Hilde Eugelink, John Davies, World Ahead

Is TV the New TV?

Jason Lopez — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 08:01:06 +0000

What would your response be to this scenario: you’re watching television and you forget that it’s being distributed to you on the Internet. Who won? TV or the Web? James McQuivey covers television and media technologies for Forrester Research. He spoke with PodTech’s Jason Lopez about the current state of affairs for this audio podcast.

Friday’s announcement from Yahoo! Video touted a “wider viewing experience,” in addition to more content, bigger files and more sharing opportunities. And then there are those who ask whether another user-generated video site is what we really need.

Then there’s Apple TV Take Two. Steve Jobs and Apple continue to suggest that integration, convergence and usability might help consumers make the switch from TV as they know it to greater reliance on broadband and computing for downloadable video (including movie rentals).

Regardless of where things will ultimately end up, TV set sales are still big business (you may have seen coverage recently suggesting that men would still make considerable sacrifices in order to get a 50-inch TV display. We might as well ask: what would you be willing to give up for a big TV?

Tags: television, Internet, James McQuivey, Yahoo! Video, user-generated, Apple TV, Take Two, Steve Jobs, convergence

GK3 Video: Alcatel-Lucent and Intel to Collaborate on Developing World Issues

Jason Lopez — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:00:49 +0000

Broadband access for the developing world was a key topic at the Third Global Knowledge Conference, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in December 2007. Attendees there called for action items to to bring underdeveloped nations - including populations sometimes referred to as “the next billion” - into the connected world. Broadband services are an important component in the United Nation’s Millenium Development Goals and have been identified as essential for social and economic development. Without broadband, PCs are useless. Without PCs, broadband is less needed. In this video podcast: broadband provider Alcatel-Lucent and chipmaker Intel forge a partnership at the GK3 Conference to help bring connectivity and PCs to the developing world.

Tags: Broadband access, developing world, Third Global Knowledge Conference, the next billion, Broadband services, Millenium Development Goals, economic development, Alcatel-Lucent, Intel, connectivity

GK3 Malaysia: Connect Now

Jason Lopez — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:02:56 +0000

Broadband connectivity is crucial for emerging communities and markets. Until recently, many governments turned a deaf ear to the calls for infrastructure in many of the world’s poorest cities and in rural areas where outreach was almost non-existent. But the urgency has been made clearer as communities, technology companies and non-governmental organizations have begun partnering in initiatives to bring the Internet and other broadband services to the world’s people. At the Third Global Knowledge Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (December 11-13, 2007), many activists say the effort can’t happen without corporate cooperation. Alcatel Lucent’s Valerie Faudon says such meetings help galvanize projects like Broadband for All (BB4ALL). PodTech’s Jason Lopez filed this podcast from Kuala Lumpur.

Tags: Broadband connectivity, Third Global Knowledge Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Alcatel Lucent, Valerie Faudon, Broadband for All, BB4ALL, PodTech, Jason Lopez

Microsoft’s Ken Pawlak on HSPA or Mobile Broadband PCs Part-2

Kamla Bhatt — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 22:03:50 +0000

Where is the market for the yet to be released HSPA or mobile broadband PCs that GSM and Microsoft are promoting. In Part-2 of our conversation Ken Pawlak of the Unlimited Potential Group of Microsoft talks about where those markets. Unsurprisingly the Asia Pacific region and specifically India provide a huge potential market for mobile broadband PCs. Do you need 3G networks to connect to your mobile broadband laptop? Tune in to find out what Ken has to say.

Tags: HSPA, GSM, Microsoft, India, 3G

Microsoft’s Ken Pawlak on Mobile Broadband Laptops

Kamla Bhatt — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 22:00:35 +0000

How do you make the GSM network relevant to millions of PC users around the world? Simple. Plug in a mobile broadband or High Speed Internet Access (HSPA) chip into the laptop and you are good to surf the internet. What is the target market for these mobile broadband PCs? They are millions of people in the middle and the base of the economic pyramid around the world. Then there is also the fact that over 80-85 percent of mobile phones around the world use GSM standard.

I caught up with Ken Pawlak, Director, Mobile Operator PCs, Unlimited Potential Group of Microsoft at the GSMA Asia Mobile Congress in Macau. In Part-1 of the interview Ken talks about mobile broadband PCs and laptops and shares the market research findings for these PCs. Don’t go out looking for these PCs or laptops since they will be out sometime early next year.

Tags: GSM, HSPA, Unlimited Potential Group, Microsoft

Basic Technologies Matter in Sub-Sahara Africa

Jason Lopez — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:46:14 +0000

Intel Chairman Craig Barrett, fresh from the Connect Africa Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, toured Nigeria’s National Hospital in the country’s capitol of Abuja, as well as a school in the Jabi district of the city. Barrett also serves as chairman of the UN’s Global Alliance for ICT and Development (UN GAID). PodTech’s Jason Lopez followed along and posted this audio podcast.

More about the Connect Africa effort.

Journey to Connect Africa: First Leg, Lagos

Jason Lopez — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 19:08:36 +0000

Intel Chairman Craig Barrett is traveling this week in Africa, as part of an ongoing effort by the United Nations, the International Telecommunication Union and private enterprise to improve Africa’s Information and Communication Technology, or ICT infrastructure. Barrett, who heads up the UN’s Global Alliance for ICT and Development (UN GAID), is accompanied by PodTech’s Jason Lopez, who files this podcast report from Lagos, Nigeria. The digital divide is at the heart of this week’s Connect Africa Summit, but from Lopez’s reporting so far, it’s not just a digital divide.

More about the Connect Africa effort

ICT Access for Africa: Intel, UN and ITU Efforts to Globalize Broadband

Jason Lopez — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:44:35 +0000

Broadband, connectivity, Wi-Fi, accessibility and education efforts are all priorities for the ongoing efforts in developing nations and regions around the globe. Intel, along with the United Nations and International Telecommunication Union (ITU), among others, is participating this month in the Connect Africa Summit, which aims to bring together human, technical and financial resources to speed development and improvement of Africa’s Information and Communication Technology, or ICT infrastructure. Expanding broadband, wireless and mobile access technologies is the current push, after indications that Africa’s general ICT development is lagging behind its unprecedented adoption of mobile phone technology (400 percent in just a few years - well ahead of projections).

Dr. Hamadoun Touré is secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union. His call for what he refers to as a “Marshall Plan for ICT infrastructure development in Africa,” has been heard by the United Nations, and particularly by Intel Chairman Craig Barrett who, leading the UN’s Global Alliance for ICT and Development, or UN GAID, is working to bring the leading ICT companies in Silicon Valley and around the world to the challenges in Africa.

The United Nations’s Millennium Development Goals are driving innovation around the world, as the challenge of reducing global poverty by half by 2015 looms. The Connect Africa effort brings together private enterprise and non-governmental organizations for a two-day summit in Kigali, Rwanda, beginning on October 29, hosted by Rwanda President Paul Kagame and John Kufour, president of Ghana and chairman of the African Union.

Intel’s World Ahead Program, established in May 2006, has already seen the chip maker pledge more than $1 billion over five years to bridge the digital divide and bring full access to technology to the developing world.

Verizon Global Broadband Satellite Access — Delivering Mobility and Portability

Rio Pesino — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:00:46 +0000

Large business and government customers seeking satellite-based broadband access now have a new option from Verizon Business. The company is offering a commercial broadband satellite service — Verizon Global Broadband Satellite Access, powered by Thrane & Thrane. The new service offers mobile and portable broadband access from locations around the world, and also enables enterprise mobility and business continuity applications.

Tags: Verizon Business

WiMAX: Pervasive Connectivity - Intel Chip Chat - Episode 13

editor — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 22:46:57 +0000

Explore how Intel is working to enable new freedoms in mobile information, interaction, user-generated content, and social networking with WiMAX broadband wireless technology.

Explicit - Keen on… : an airport conversation part 2

editor — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 16:30:33 +0000

Is Hillary Clinton Richard Nixon in disguise? And why does everything always come back to 1968? The 2-dollar question of the day: Are we going to get real BROADBAND?!

Alianza’s SaaS-Based VoIP Platform is Partner Friendly

Brad Baldwin — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 19:32:13 +0000

Broadband Service Providers (including WiMax Providers, Cable Operators, ISP’s, Telco’s, Managed Service Providers, Satellite Broadband Operators, etc.) are feeling pressure from customer churn because competitors offer bundled packages that include voice (VoIP) services. Alianza enables these same service providers to deliver commercial, private label VoIP products to business and residential customers in less than 30 days, with no capital expenditures.

Alianza offers the first hosted, fully-integrated IP-based platform for delivering Unified Communications Applications via software as a service (SaaS)s. Value-added applications include VoIP, hosted PBX, IVR, integrated messaging, and conferencing. With business-friendly solutions including a rich help-desk and integrated billing systems, partners can lean on Alianza to drive a new revenue stream from existing customers. Services providers can access Alianza’s partner resources to quickly review the business benefits and ROI models of partner vs. build.

Scott Bell, chief technical office at Alianza, introduces Brad Baldwin to the value proposition and opportunity offered to service partners.

Tags: Scott Bell

Wrap-Up News From IDF: Virtual Worlds and the 3D Internet

Michael Johnson — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 21:44:50 +0000

Users are looking for a richer, more cinematic experience from the Internet, according to Justin Rattner, Intel chief technology officer and director, Corporate Technology Group. Rattner gave the final keynote of the Fall IDF in San Francisco, focusing on virtual worlds, which are evolving into what he referred to as the “3-D Internet,” in a keynote titled, “Research and Development: Virtual Worlds - The Rise of the 3D Internet.”

Rattner, who spoke with PodTech’s Michael Johnson to give a preview of the Fall IDF, wrapped up the annual developer conference by acknowledging Wired Magazine’s prediction that, as social media and user-generated content hit the mainstream at the same time as the rise of broadband and increased connectivity (and mobility), the coming year could see 60 million participants in online virtual worlds.

Rattner was also joined onstage by Greg Nuyens, CEO of Qwaq, who demoed virtual worlds for the enterprise. Outside of business applications, virtual surgery (especially as a training tool) suggests that realistic virtual environments are already a significant force in some communities.

The larger message that Rattner left the crowd with was that the computing power that will be necessary to deliver this rich 3-D experience will have to be substantial, especially given the demand that real time or “frame rate” visual experience for the 3D Web will demand.

Tags: Justin Rattner, Fall IDF, virtual worlds, 3D Internet, social media, user-generated content, Greg Nuyens, Qwaq

Live from IDF: WiMAX and the Future Wireless Broadband Internet

Catherine Girardeau — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 22:00:35 +0000

Keynotes from two Intel executives — David (Dadi) Perlmutter and Anand Chandrasekher — kicked off Day 2 at Intel’s Fall IDF in San Francisco. First up, Dadi Perlmutter, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Mobility Group. He covered the latest trends in mobile computing, touching on the key elements for mobility — performance, battery life, form factor and wireless communications. Mobile WiMAX will play a big role in wireless networking connectivity, as he explains in this keynote podcast.

In other news, Intel will launch Santa Rosa Refresh in January 2008. It’s an update to Intel Centrino processor technology that includes the next-gen 45nm high-k mobile processor (codenamed Penryn).

Perlmutter also showed the next generation Montevina processor technology that is set to roll out in mid-2008, which includes the Penryn mobile processor and the next-generation chipset with DDR3 memory support. This is notable for being Intel’s first Centrino processor for notebooks to offer the option of integrated Wi-Fi, WiMAX wireless technologies for greater wireless broadband access.

Anand Chandrasekher, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Ultra Mobility Group, discussed the personal mobile Internet, and Intel’s “silicon roadmap” that will deliver radical reductions in power requirements and package sizes. He also announced a range of leading industry players working with Intel to establish the MID and ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) categories. In a talk entitled, “Unleashing the Internet Experience,” he also covered the upcoming Intel Menlow platform (including a new processor, codenamed Silverthorne - lots of detail can be found on John Spooner’s blog), and the Intel “Moorestown” platform — System on Chip plus a Communications Hub.

The talk also amounted to a check-in after last April’s announcement at IDF Beijing of the MID Innovation alliance with Asus, BenQ, Compal, Elektrobit, HTC, Inventec and Quanta. Chandrasekher was able to show working prototypes from many of the partner companies, emphasizing the significant progress that’s been made over the past six months.

Also announced were strategic collaborations for MID and UMPC efforts — a step forward for Intel’s “Full Internet in Your Pocket” vision.

And the keynote included what Intel billed as the “world’s first demonstration of Adobe AIR Application on Intel Menlow-based platform” — designed to extend the reach of rich Internet applications.

Go Mobile - Click Here for MIDs and UMPCs

Tags: David (Dadi) Perlmutter, Anand Chandrasekher, Fall IDF, Dadi, mobile computing, WiMAX, networking connectivity, Santa Rosa Refresh, 45nm, mobile processor, Penryn, Montevina processor, Anand Chandrasekher, Ultra Mobility, ultra-mobile PC, UMPC, Intel Menlow, Silverthorne, Moorestown, System on Chip, MID Innovation, Full Internet in Your Pocket

The Deal: Filling in the Internet Cracks with WiMax, BPL, etc.

Jason Lopez — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 06:24:36 +0000

Competition is coming for broadband providers SBC and Comcast. So say the investors in emerging service such as WiMax and BPL. In this podcast, PodTech’s Jason Lopez talks with Patrick Campbell - Partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, who moderated the panel “Desirable and Viable: Broadband Alternatives and the Third Pipe.” It was part of the Convergence 2.0 conference in New York City presented by The Deal.

Tags: SBC, Comcast, WiMax, BPL, Patrick Campbell, Partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, Broadband Alternatives, Third Pipe, Convergence 2.0, The Deal

Tom Ridge on Interoperable Communications Cyber Security

Dan Verton — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 01:04:41 +0000

In the wake of the deaths of two New York City Fire Fighters at an abandoned building near Ground Zero, the issue of interoperable broadband communications for first responders has once again taken center stage. But some are asking why it is still an issue six years later.

To get some perspective on this and other issues, particularly national cyber security, I sat down with former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge near his office a few blocks from the White House.

Tags: first responders, cyber security, Homeland Security, Tom Ridge

Marc Canter gets Social

Robert Scoble — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:01:21 +0000

You might know Marc Canter as the founder of Macromedia but that’s his past. You probably don’t know what he’s thinking about now as head of Broadband Mechanics, which makes social networks. We talk about that and a whole lot more. Oh, and even more fun? Marc has been saying my videos are too long and boring over on his blog for a while now. I get even with him and we go for almost an hour.

Tags: Marc Canter, Macromedia, Broadband Mechanics, social networks

Will the Internet Still Be Here in 20 Years? Part Two

Aron Pruiett — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 05:45:53 +0000

Grieg Coppe (managing partner, Accenture) continues his moderation of the discussion about the future of the Internet with Nick McKeown (professor, Stanford University), Andy Bechtolsheim and Phil McKinney (VP & CTO, Personal Systems Group, HP) during the AlwaysOn Stanford Summit07. In part two, the topics of dark fiber and population compatibility to fixed communication infrastructures are brought forward.

Is regulation of the Internet an upcoming trend and a requirement for economic and infrastructure stability? Where will the funding for improved broadband come from? Will the current market solve the per port costs and will the wireless specs ever compliment population density equally?

Tags: Grieg Coppe, Nick McKeown, Andy Bechtolsheim, Phil McKinney, AlwaysOn, Summit07, dark fiber, population compatibility

Information is power! How the Internet Broadband empowers low income cultures with Rey Ramsey

Jeremiah Owyang — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 07:01:57 +0000

Jeremiah Owyang interviews Rey Ramsey Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the One Economy Corporation multi-national nonprofit organization that brings broadband to the homes of low-income people and provides a multilingual web portal called The Beehive. This interview takes place at the Internet Strategy Forum Summit in Portland in July 2007.

Tags: Rey Ramsey, One Economy Corporation, The Beehive, Internet Strategy Forum

LunchMeet: You Stream, I Stream, We All Stream with Ustream.tv

Eddie Codel — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 01:17:27 +0000

Live webcasting has come a long way since the days of CU-SeeMe. Now, with the proliferation of broadband access, inexpensive data center hosting, and cheap or built-in webcams, live webcasting is making a comeback. Ustream.tv is a Palo Ato-based company that does this well by allowing anyone with a webcam and a broadband connection to reach large live audiences for free. I sat down with John Ham, co-founder of Ustream.tv, who explains and shows how all this works.

Tags: webcasting, CU-SeeMe, webcams, Ustream.tv, John Ham

RAD Radio Broadband

James Gaskin — Fri, 25 May 2007 15:00:31 +0000

Jim Guido of RAD Data Communications explains the point-to-point wireless broadband products on display at the ITEC Houston 2007 conference.

Tags: Jim Guido, RAD Data Communications, ITEC