Glendale, Calif., has decided to use wireless LAN technology to provide high-speed data service to its police, fire and public works departments after determining that cellular mobile data services cost too much and deliver too little.

Scott Harmon, assistant director of information services for the city, which is located in the foothills of the San Bernadino Mountains northwest of Los Angeles, said the Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) services available from cellular carriers provide 19.2K bit/sec. throughput at best. That isn't enough to support high-bandwidth applications, such as the transmission of mug shots to patrol cars.
8:42:36 PM    comment   

Following an FBI terrorism alert issued in January, municipal and publicly owned water systems around the country have started to boost the security of wireless data systems that control their distribution networks.

Utilities, including water systems, use wireless Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) networks to control all aspects of their distribution systems, such as electric transmission lines and substations, water pipelines, storage tanks and pumps. These networks can control myriad pumps, pipelines and reservoirs in a large water distribution system.
8:40:03 PM    comment   

The companies will jointly develop a mini-PCI Card version of Maitland, Fla.-based MeshNetworks' peer-to-peer mobile routing technology for use in ViewSonic's SuperPDA and ViewPad Tablet PC products.

MeshNetworks' technology enables mobile communications devices to act as peer-to-peer routers and repeaters. In contrast, cellular devices communicate with a central controller that requires a number of cell sites to ensure wireless coverage.
8:36:33 PM    comment   

The U.S. Census Bureau plans to conduct its first paperless door-to-door census in 2010, and A. Edward Pike, the bureau's gadget guy, has a potential order for handheld or mobile computers big enough to make any salesman salivate.

Pike, assistant division chief for systems, geography and content programs in the bureau's Decennial Management Division, wants to buy a half-million mobile computing devices to support the door-to-door canvass of 40 million households in 2010. He's evaluating potential mobile computing technologies and hopes to pack whatever device the Census Bureau buys with hardware and software that will allow the 500,000-strong field workforce to function more efficiently and cheaply.

Ideally, the Census Bureau would deploy mobile computers equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, telecommunications capabilities, and map and e-mail software, said Pike, who added that wireless devices are being strongly considered.

However, the bureau has a tough price target -- about $100 per device -- which Pike acknowledged "may be a bit aggressive." But since that works out to a $50 million price tag to equip his door-to-door army, Pike doesn't want to go much higher. With the cost of a laptop computer at $1,000 or more, he has already ruled out that option.
8:30:19 PM    comment   

EFI is establishing a network of "public" printers located in hotels, copy centers and other locations, each identified by a unique identification number (note: not an IP address). "It's like giving phone numbers to printers so you can call them up," says Ofer Tenenbaum, EFI's general manager.
8:28:00 PM    comment   

New chips from Atheros Communications could bring high-speed wireless LAN users more freedom and better security in the months ahead.
6:21:00 PM    comment   

Whizboat.com operates a Massachusetts-based Wi-Fi network designed to provide 11M bit/sec. service to boaters operating 10 to 15 miles off the coast.
6:19:50 PM    comment   

I suspect the vision is that there will eventually be a hub PC (HomeStation) you can put into a closet.  Base stations to recharge the tablets for each user.  Connections to roaming wireless networks for remote access to the home hub.  Convergence with personal storage device technology to add dozens of Gb of portable storage for local playback of multimedia.  Convergence with wireless phone technology so that you could use your hub's contact manager for easy communications management.  Nice. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
5:05:37 PM    comment