Aiirmesh Delivers Community-wide Broadband with Wi-Fi

Despite the inrush of DSL and cable modems to the home, there are plenty of areas, not just rural, where wired broadband doesn't reach. Such as the City of Cerritos, California, smack-dab in the middle of the Los Angeles basin. You wouldn't think such a prominently located town of 50,000 people would get left out of the broadband loop, but there are many such pockets around the nation.

Enter Aiirmesh Communications, which aims to be the community wireless broadband provider of choice. Aiirmesh, in cooperation with the city, has created the nation's largest Wi-Fi hotzone covering the entire 8.6 square miles of Cerritos. With the local government as both a partner and Aiirmesh's largest area customer, the company was able to position about 100 access points on light and traffic poles around the city, eliminating the antenna location problem that stymies many cellular providers.

All 8.6 square miles of
Cerritos, CA are now a
Wi-Fi hotzone.

Users can now sign up for hourly, daily or monthly access ($29.99), either directly with Aiirmesh, or via one of the company's roaming partners, such as Boingo and iPass. Now that the basic wireless mess is deployed, Aiirmesh will also be adding transmitters that will allow selected neighborhoods to receive in-house wireless broadband that seamlessly interoperates with the rest of the hotzone.

Aiirmesh lightpole installation

Wi-Fi security is obviously a major issue for such a large network, and Aiirmesh is working on standards-based security protocols that will be transparent to the user. At present, no WEP or WPA encryption is used.

Now that the Cerritos test case is up and running, Aiirmesh has identified about 185 communities nationwide that could benefit from its technology, and is actively negotiating with five. It's also working with the Rural Broadband Coalition in a separate initiative. Once an agreement is reached with a community, the company says it can deploy rapidly, covering about a square mile a day. Funding can be public, private or mixed, depending on the circumstances.

Aiirmesh CEO Stan Hirschman notes, "A sizable part of our mission is to make sure that rural and suburban America does not get left behind by the broadband revolution. We are looking at some 60 million forgotten people who could otherwise be major contributors to our country's productivity."

More Games Coming Soon to a Phone Near You

Bowling on Samsung's
A500 Sprint handset

Leading wireless games developer Jamdat Mobile, which already has deals with Activision, the NBA and The Lord of the Rings producers, as well as most major service providers, hit another one out of the park this week when it inked a publishing agreement with Microsoft for its popular Xbox sports titles Top Spin (tennis), RalliSport Challenge 2 (car racing), and Amped 2 (skiing). Jamdat will bring the games to multiple platforms, including Microsoft's SmartPhone, starting late this spring.

Another major mobile game vendor, Blue Lava Wireless, announced the multi-player Tetris Battle and Dell Magazine's Crosswords, adding to its popular Chess, Mine Hunter and Video Poker titles.

The mobile games category is one of the biggest growth areas for cell phone services, and a very lucrative one where interactivity (such as calling to vote on American Idol contestants, or downloading new video and game scenarios) is involved. The latest handsets, with faster online connections and bigger, more colorful LCD screens, are fueling the trend. Mick Mullagh, president and CEO of Telephia, a wireless industry analysis firm, says that "Mobile teens represent a sweet spot of industry growth, and one of the ways the industry can drive adoption and average revenue per unit within this segment is by focusing on online gaming and other high-growth entertainment applications."

QuickLink Mobile Makes the Cell-Laptop Connection

Smith Micro's QuickLink
Mobile Phonebook

If you connect your cell phone to your laptop or PDA to get online, chances are you're using Smith Micro Software's QuickLink Mobile. It's the most popular data connectivity solution in the industry, and comes in versions for literally scores of cell phones and service providers, on both PC and Mac platforms.

This week the company unveiled a new version that adds support for new handsets and wireless PC cards, such as the Sony Ericcson GC82 EDGE card, as well as a revamped interface that helps with managing multiple accounts and connection options.

QuickLink Mobile makes it possible to access email, surf the Web and log onto corporate intranets using both cellular and Wi-Fi accounts. CDMA, 1xRTT, EV-DO, GSM, GPRS and EDGE networks are all supported, through PC Card, serial, USB, infrared and Bluetooth connections. Just log onto the SmithMicro.com site to see if your particular handset and platform combination is supported. Prices range from $49.95 (Mac) to $59.95 (PC).

The company also demonstrated its QuickLink Mobile Phonebook software for Windows, which lets you archive and edit your mobile phone book on your PC, then upload it back to the same or a different handset. It's a great way to get address books from one phone to another, and also supports data transfers from popular email and contact management software like Outlook, ACT and Goldmine.

CTIA GADGET GALLERY: JiWire's show picks

Motorola V710

Phone of the day: Motorola V710

Never miss an important photo again, just because you left your camera at home! Motorola's latest CDMA handset fuses work and play, featuring both Bluetooth for wireless PC connections, and megapixel photo and video capture. You can capture video clips up to 3 minutes long, and then send them to friends and family. The V710 has 16MB of internal memory, upgradable to 128MB with removable TransFlash modules.

ViewSonic V1250S Tablet PC

ViewSonic V1250S Tablet PC

ViewSonic has been a pioneer in both Tablet PC development and Wi-Fi, and is now shipping the first Wi-Fi G-enabled Tablet, the V1250S. It includes Intel's new battery-saving Pro/Wireless 2200BG Centrino technology, and has a unique swivel top that lets you use the tablet in several orientations. It is available now starting at $1,895.

MicroOptical BV-1

MicroOptical BV-1 Binocular Video Viewer

Need hands-free viewing of what's on your cell or laptop screen? The MicroOptical BV-1 projects quarter-VGA video in front of both eyes at 60 frames per second. It weighs only 58 grams, connects to standard RCA video inputs, and has optional audio speakers. MicroOptical also makes several other video headsets, up to full VGA resolution.