Gadzooki

3 Benefits of Offering Free Wi-Fi

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Is your business thinking about offering free Wi-Fi to your customers (or even to anyone who’s passing by)? It might seem like a thankless and exhausting offering, but the reality is you’ll be getting something out of it. Some people say that anything free isn’t valued, but that isn’t necessarily true. It might be just what your business needs to not just attract more (paying) customers, but also seriously give your reputation a boost.

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There are some cities with an abundance of free Wi-Fi on offer, such as Colorado Springs. It might be a tiny reason why Millennials are flocking there. After all, with scores of locations around the city dishing complimentary Wi-Fi up like Halloween candy, that’s hard for the share-based economy to pass up. However, if you’re a business owner sitting on the fence, take a closer look at these potential upsides to free Wi-Fi: [Read more…]

Europe’s Time Online

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According to the BBC, Europe is online 24 hours a month. A report by tracking firm comScore confirms that more than 122m of us aged 15 plus uses the Internet each day from home or at work.

Whilst the UK is average in terms of net penetration/access (62%), Russia is languishing in last place with only 11% of the population having access. However, the UK has the most active net population with users spending closer to 35 hours online.

Bob Irvins, manger of comScore Europe, offers “Is someone online when they are watching tv over the Internet?”. I guess it depends on your definition, but I’d say definitely yes. The reason for the yes is that the user may have a messaging client running or even be looking at a website whilst watching tv.

The net, tv, music and games are all converging slowly but surely. Most, if not all household devices will end up online to some degree. I’m not sure if we’ll ever see the self-cleaning, self sufficient house of the future but convergence is a trend that is set to continue.

Some issues however remain. These include green concerns, problems of cost and a view of society being segmented by wealth even further. As long as these issues are considered then there should be no reason why we shouldn’t journey apace further with our virtual lives.

What Does the Web Mean to You?

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I’m not going to bore you with the specifics and history of the Internet here, but I will say that the web is now a ubiquitous part of modern technology. In a subtle irony it is at the centre of our digital universe, as well as BEING our digital universe. There is not an industry that continues today that has not been touched by this new part of the world (I was loathe to write tool given that it can be so much more) in the modern world at least. So how has it touched you?

I guess more than anything this is a personal history of how the Web has affected my life, given that my generation (twenty somethings now) are really the first to have grown up with it. I got my first computer on a sunny but cold day (I think I was about twelve), and not too long after that I was astounded when we got dialup Internet access. The wealth of information was incredible. So lets take a look at what I did.

Communication
I used the web at first as a communication tool. I sent emails, I went on IRC and I had some experience of Usenet groups. I was very young back then but I immediately realised the possibilities as well as the fun that could be had. Along with the mindless chatter that kids have on the net I was telling stories with others – we were, without realising, sitting around a virtual campfire.

Looking back, they were some pretty fun times. I’m sure there were ‘bad’ people out there, early adopters looking to take advantage of the technology and kids. Maybe it’s just the press, I don’t know, but it sure seems a much more fraught place now than it was. Anyway, even back then with the most basic of graphical interfaces, things worked and people had fun online together (long before WOW and Second Life).

Research
I never did cheat, ever. I was always too moral for that, and I still am. On the other hand, using the net if you’re studying as a research tool should be completely encouraged. Whatever subject you are interested in (literally anything) someone, somewhere will know something about it. Whether it’s fly-fishing or Dominic Diamond, someone will have something to say about it. Of course, the one downside of using the net is that sometimes the author’s credentials can be brought into question. That’s really the only consideration on the net when researching, well there’s bias too but you get that in any media.

Gaming
Playing games on the net was never really developed back in the early days, but it seemed to develop as I got older. I remember a good few games of Quake played over a slow connection and yet fun it still was. Of course, things have gone so much further these days, with ‘friends lists’ and whole virtual worlds to discover. This has also created new industries, as mining or playing games for people to give them a better Gamerscore. It’s all pretty heady stuff. It also makes no sense when you look at the history of where it came from, as I had the opportunity to do. Or maybe it does make sense, and its just part of the net growing up?

Making Friends
One of the great things about the web is that it can bring people together. Whether it is a collaborative project or an online game, friends can be made. Not only that, but even lovers. There’s more than a few stories doing the rounds of people getting married after playing in WOW, but expanding this to the net as a whole you have the Internet dating scene. This is the new bar for the busy folk who are wrapped up in work and… well… using the net I suppose!

So Where Are We Going?
I’m not sure if anyone can answer where the Web is going, what with Web 2.0, memes and various other buzz-phrases coming in and out of fashion quicker than anyone can blink. Newsnight on the BBC has touched on something interesting though, and that is the net is becoming almost like a religion. Bringing people together, putting them in touch with themselves and I guess the Internet acting as the Church or doorway to it all. For me though, one thing is sure. The net is going to continue apace as more get connected. I for one cannot wait to see what the new developments are going to be.

Top 10 Gadgets I Actually Use

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I know. I know. This is a gadget site. We’re supposed to be all about the wanting, the salivating, the dreaming…

But I thought it would be fun to step out of fantasy land for a second and consider the top 10 gadgets that I actually use on a daily and/or weekly basis. Maybe this will give you a glimpse into the inner depths of my life…or maybe not.

1. My Old School Nokia Cell Phone

What can I say. I’ve got a RAZR, but that’s mostly for fun. When it comes to the daily grind, I still find myself preferring the simple, big-buttoned, hard to lose, big bodied Nokia from three years ago to the sleek, thin pretty flip-phones of today. Maybe that makes me uncool. But in this post, I’m all about telling it as it is. 4 hours a day with this baby.

2. My 2 Year Old Gateway Laptop

Sure, I can’t play Pirates or Empire Earth 2 on it, but I spend at least six hours a day on this sucker. Type, type, typing away. It does plays Empire Earth 1 though! And it does some mean web browsing, email checking and word processing. Hey, I use it and that’s all that matters in this post.

3. My Old School Nintendo DS

Well, it isn’t really old-old. But it isn’t the new Lite either. Big and bulky, I play Mario Kart or Advanced Wars every night as a bedtime story.

4. The five year old AC in my window

This summer has been hot, and a day doesn’t go by without churning on the ol’ window AC. Hey, my wife wanted “and old house with character” and that’s what we got: a house with lots of demands. Ever wonder why the men always say they want the newer homes on all those home shopping shows on HGTV (look, my wife makes me watch it!)

5. The Good Ol’ Coffee Pot

Eight cups a day for three years and still chugging. Simple yet effective. I just wish they’d make it fool proof for those times when I forget to slide the pot under the filter and the coffee runs all over the counter.

6. The Hyundai Tucson

Sure, I’d love the electric Tesla or a hybrid or a Ford Mustang, but for $17,000 I just bought a brand new Hyundai Tucson that’s actually fun to drive and has plenty of room for hauling. I just wish I could find some places on the East Coast to do some mild off-roading. Every time I get in this sucker I want to drive up on the curbs.

7. The Trusty Toaster Over

Hey, I’m no cook. But I also don’t like my stuff soggy. So instead of the microwave, I usually throw my food into the Toaster Oven to get a quick but golden brown meal. (I like my marshmallows burnt!)

8. My Dell Axim x50

He’s getting old, but when I’m on the road, my Dell Axim gives me the flexibility I need to track down free WiFi…and that’s all that matters, right? It’s like a treasure hunt, and once I’ve found free WiFi, my heart skips a couple beats before I fetch the laptop and hunker down for an internet feast.

9. My 8th grade Texas Instruments TI-81

Want to figure out how old I am? Figure out which year the TI-81 first came out, then figure that I was in 8th grade at the time. You know what. This calculator has balls of endurance. It graphs, it charts, it makes entering calculations a breeze (you can screw up and edit your numbers without having to type everything else in again). Hey, I’m still using it almost everyday, 15 years later with the original batteries (kudos to Duracell too).

10. My $35 DVD player that we bought on a whim for our bedroom

Now that my wife and I do Blockbuster through the mail, we have a steady stream of DVDs flying to our house each week. The DVD player which was sort of bought for “emergency” cases of boredom, has turned into a nightly event. Ali G, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and all the movies you can shake your fist at (though many of them turn out to be duds, like last nights movie…which I hated…Flightplan).

Google Officially Opens City WiFi

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Today Google officially unleashes its free city wide WiFi network in Mountain View California.

Powered by 380 radio antennae, the Mountain View network is supposed to surf the Web at speeds comparable to the Internet connections delivered by digital subscriber, or DSL lines. It will be slightly slower than a high-speed cable connection.

Interestingly, users are forced to login. So much for nice gestures. Google wants YOUR eyeballs. That’s what this is all about. Once they get your eyeballs, they’ll get more advertising dollars.

But hey, what can I say, I’d still use the service. In some queer way, Google has made it ok to get stuff for free, in exchange for a little ad-love.

Google WiFi – I Want One!

Dell Announces 802.11n Cards for Laptops

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dellroundlogo.jpgDell has really jumped the gun this time by announcing the incusion of Broadcom 802.11n cards in its XPS and Inspiron line of laptops. 802.11 is WiFi, right? And WiFi should be standard on all laptops, you say? Well, this particular WiFi flavor has an extension, which is the letter “n”. And it’s not really good to consider this standard for now, since the governing body that standardizes WiFi technologies, the IEEE, has not yet approved the “N” standard.

From Engadget,

Like many consumers, Dell is getting a little sick of waiting around for the IEEE’s Task Group N to pull it together and roll out a final version of the next-gen WiFi standard, so the company has decided to start offering its own draft-802.11n card in all XPS and select Inspiron laptops. As you’re probably already aware, 802.11n will be a wireless networking protocol that uses MIMO technology to offer greater range and speed than traditional 802.11a/b/g networks, but has been famously bogged down by delays and questions of interoperability.

What’s with WiFi N anyway? Why are people getting so excited and skeptical at the same time?

Remember the difference between WiFi B and G? Aside from the marginal range increase of WiFi G over B, there’s the speed increase. G can run on 54 Mbps, while B maxes out at 11 Mbps. Guess how fast WiFi N is supposed to go–it maxes out at 270 Mbps (or even supposedly 300 Mbps), and has a range twice the distance of WiFi B ranges.

That’s surely a big increase and people with networks that have nodes spaced far apart or in between thick walls are sure to benefit from the range increase. However, the issue is that the IEEE has not yet approved the spec, so device manufacturers have to do with the “draft” spec for now. And when the time comes that the spec is already approved, the “draft” devices might not work perfectly in conjunction with those that use the final spec, unless firmware updates are installed.

So is it all right to buy those Dell computers? Probably so, because the company promises backward-compatibility with B and G WiFi networks. However, remember that increased speeds and range would only work in conjunction with N-draft-spec routers that support the Intensi-Fi implementation of WiFi N (notably the Netgear WNR834B). Also, remember that your Internet connection would still be limited by the actual speed of your broadband connection (DSL, cable, etc.). This would definitely be below 270 Mbps, or even below the usual 11 Mbps offered by WiFi B. So any speed increase would only be noticeable when transferring files within the network.

[tags]dell 802.11n,dell draft n,dell laptop mimo,mimo wifi,dell xps mimo[/tags]

Daily Review in Tech

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The coolest cool things in tech:

We think they’re jumping the gun a bit, but Newsweek is running a story on how Nintendo is primed for a comeback with the Wii. Their main argument of course boils down to the e3 response coupled with an attractive price point. Oh, and while we’re on the subject of video games, there is more evidence that gaming is good for children. Told you so mom!

Hey, good news for all you WiFi anywhere freaks. M2Z Networks, fronted by former FCC official John Muleta, is looking to provide free WiFi across the USA. Ad supported of course. Now the fun will be seeing who can win the race and roll out free WiFi first. My bet is on Google…. Speaking of WiFi, looks like the geeks at IEEE can’t make their minds up about Wireless N standards. Sure, we’ve got the N draft models coming out already from Linksys, et al. But true Mimo Meshing will need to wait a while.

So, can’t make up your mind between Mac, Linux and MSoft? Why not buy a MacBook and use all three. While you’re at the software modifications game, why not try your hand at some DS Lite Brew. MmmmmMmmmmGooood!

Update: TechCrunch has an informative write-up on our current options for downloading TV shows off the internet. Neil Kjeldsen covers the current offerings from the major networks, the major platforms (iTunes, etc.) and the possible contenders. He also offers some speculation on how overlooked shows might benefit from internet distribution.

Nokia 770 Internet Tablet & Google Talk

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Nokia is releasing an OS2006 upgrade for its 770 Tablets that will include a Linux distribution as well as Google Talk for added communication capacities. The upgrade is the realization of a partnership between Google and Nokia that is expected to boost sales of Nokia’s line of Internet devices.

Nokia 770 Tablet

According to Nokia, one of the most requested features from consumers was VoIP capabilities. They’ve added VoIP in the latest upgrade along with a whole host of other features that are all about one thing: streamlined mobility. Nokia is betting on the fact that internet use will become fully mobile just like phone use has. We sure hope so!

You can begin to see a glimpse of Google’s overall strategy in this relationship from comments that some of its employees have made. In particular, Google has made clear on numerous occasions that company growth is going to be correlated to growth in web usage and information retrieval. One obvious way to grow web usage is to get people to use the net even when they aren’t at home.

Take a look. In the article at Linux Devices, Jim Holden indicates as much when he say that Google’s strategy is to make organized information more accessible:

We put services out that we think users want to see. Then we watch how they use it. Our mission is to organize the information of the world and make it accessible. The 770 plays into the ‘accessibility’ part of the mission.

And, reading between the lines of Deep Nishar’s comments gives us all the information we need to infer that the Nokia relationship is clearly about getting people to use Google search more frequently, so there is more opportunity for them to click on contextual ads:

Because Nokia has made it even easier to access Google search, users will be able to get the information they need, when they need it, and regardless of where they are.

It looks like Google’s strategy going forward is all about getting more eyeballs, more of the time, clicking on more advertisements, so that they get more money. That’s business, folks.

Linksys Wireless-G VoIP WiFi Phones – I Want One!

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WIP300.jpgLinksys has released two VoIP phones for use over WiFi connections. Both phones allow users to choose which VoIP carrier they use (e.g. Vonage, BroadVoice, etc.). One of the interesting things about these Linksys’ VoIP phone offerings is the fact that they have packaged many of the features one normally finds in a cell phone, such as a phone book, customizable ringtones and wallpaper.

The entry-level phone is model WIP300 which features a 1.8-inch color LCD display and has a retail price of $219.99. The WIP300 opeartes in the 2.4Ghz band and is 802.11b/g compatibile. WIP330.jpgSome of its features include caller ID, call forwarding, call transfer, SIP v2 support, WiFi survey tool, backlit keypad, signal strength and battery level indication, and a USB charger interface. It also allows you to customize your phone by selecting from a large variety of ringtones and different wallpaper images. One of the downsides of the WIP300 is the fact that it isn’t prepared to work at hotspots that require credentials.

The higher-end phone model WIP330 is thinner and sleeker than its entry-level cousin yet features a larger 2.2-inch color LCD display. It retails at $369.99. In addition to the features in WIP300, the WIP330 adds a web browser, Quality of Service support, and access to hotspots (so you can literally connect anywhere you can find a hotspot connection). You can also do 3-way conferencing and use call hold and resume. The browser support allows for users to connect to the web to check email or even watch video.

Tarun Loomba director of product management at Linksys had this to say about the company’s first entry into the WiFi VoIP phone market:

Voice over IP has clearly emerged as the future of telephone communication and Linksys is leading the way. With the launch of our family of WiFi phones, we can take the technology to a whole new level.

Looks like Linksys has two nice products on their hands here, and so far as the WIP 330 is concerned, I Want One (Badly!).

Prospects of 3rd Party Firmware for Wireless N

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linksys WRT300NLinux Devices reports that the first wireless 802.11n draft-compliant systems run Linux. This is good news for those who follow the 3rd Party firmware industry and employ one of the many feature rich solutions from companies like Sveasoft, DD-WRT, etc.

In fact, the first commercial Draft N product off the shelves from Linksys, the WRT300N seems to use a lot of open source code, which is easily available to be modified (hacked) and added enhanced. Unless Linksys pulls another WRT54G v5 bomb, draft N looks like it will be amenable to such amenities as doubling as a webserver, VPN server, operate in client mode, use WDS etc.

Anyone who wants to get a head start on the project need only wade through the 178MB GPL source code. Sounds like another one of those 11pm – 3am while the wife’s in bed projects 😉