Category: Mobile Computing

Consumer Electronics Show 2011–Part 1

I am reporting on the Consumer Electronics Show 2011 which is currently running in Las Vegas. This year, the show is focused around the connected home and lifestyle and I am intending to run the report as a series due to the many trends occurring at this show.

Mobile Handsets and tablets

Most of the activity this year is centred around the smartphone and the tablet-based multifunction internet device (a.k.a. a tablet computer or “fondle-pad”). Here, the main operating system of choice is Google Android. There are two major versions being promoted at this show – Version 2.3 for the smartphones (and other devices) and Version 3.0 for the tablet devices.

This is also augmented by the fact that the US mobile-phone carriers are rolling out 4G wireless-broadband networks. These are either based on LTE technology or WiMAX technology and offer greater bandwidth than the current 3G technology used to serve the typical smartphone user with Facebook data. This leads to quicker content loading for the phone and access to IP-based multimedia.

Infact the “big call” that is being run by these carriers when promoting their devices is the “4G Android smartphone” as being the preferred device to start a mobile service contract on. This is more noticeable with Sprint who are using the “4G Android Smartphone” in their graphics for their online ads.

The Android handsets are coming thick and fast, especially from Samsung, HTC (Evo Shift 4G / Thunderbolt 4G) and Motorola (Cliq 2). The Motorola is also intended to support “call-via-WiFi” so as to offload call traffic via Wi-Fi networks including T-Mobile’s hotspots. This is achieved through the use of the “Kineto” app.

The HTC Evo Shift and Thunderbolt phones are also known to implement a slider design similar to some Nokia phones and use this design to expose a hard keyboard for text entry.

Samsung are going “tit for tat” with Apple by issuing an Android smartphone, MID or tablet device in response to Apple releasing an iOS device. Their answer to the iPod Touch was a Galaxy Player which is Android powered and uses a Super Clear LCD for its display.

Sony have also come up with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc mobile phone which has a display and experience as good is the iPhone 4 – the phone to be “seen” with.

As far as phones go, there hasn’t been any Windows Phone 7 action through this CES, but there have been some general innovations happening. One is to design a multi-core processor for handsets, tablets and similar devices. This design would have to be focused around power conservation in order to gain longer battery runtime for these devices. This has manifested in three “dual-core” smartphones being released by Motorola.

Similarly, there have been 40-80 of the tablet computer models being launched. This number may not account for different memory sizes for particular models or whether some models will come with wireless broadband or not. This is also the time that Google are putting the “Honeycomb” version of the Android operating system on the map. This version, Android 3.0, is optimised for the tablet user interface and uses more impressive user interfaces than what was used for Android 2.x in the tablet context. It therefore now sets the cat amongst the pigeons when it comes to a showdown concerning the iPad versus the Android 3.0 tablets.

Stay tuned to HomeNetworking01.info for more posts about the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Smartphones and tablets now working with sensors and controllers

Introduction

A trend that we may be seeing with smartphones and similar devices is that they work with various third-party sensor or controlled devices through the use of various apps written by the sensor’s or controlled-device’s vendor. A main driver for this trend has been the “There’s an App for that” mentality that has been established around the Apple iPhone with that smartphone becoming the centrepiece of most people’s lives.

Examples of this include the recently-launched Parrot “ARDrone” remote-control helicopter that uses a dedicated Wi-Fi link to an iOS device running a special app that is its controller; a barbecue thermometer being launched at the Consumer Electronics Show 2011 that uses a Bluetooth link to an iOS device that acts as a remote temperature display. There were even other examples like the Nike running-shoe pedometer that uses a dedicated wireless link to an iPod Nano running an exercise-tracking application.

These applications may be novelty ideas of implementing an iOS or Android smartphone as a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) device but there will be more applications that will become more real in our lives.

Examples application fields will include:

  • Food safety (thermometers that measure temperature for areas where perishable food is stored)
  • Personnel health and wellbeing (blood pressure and heart-rate monitors)
  • Building automation and security (dashboard apps that work with HVAC, security systems, smart meters and the like; garage door openers that work with a touchscreen smartphone)
  • Automotive and marine instrumentation (engine monitoring and diagnostics)

The current situation

The main problem is that whenever an application that works with an outbourd sensor or controlled device is developed, a lot of code is added to the program to work with the sensor or controlled device. This extra “bulk” is written by the app writer usually because the writer is the one who designs the device. The communications between these device and the host smartphone or tablet is typically using USB for wired connections; Bluetooth, dedicated or network-integrated Wi-Fi for wireless connections and the application developer has to work with the link that is appropriate to the device.

If the device designer wants to build a lively application-programming environment around the device, they have to either prepare a software development kit which usually requires the distribution of a runtime module with the application. This can take up memory and can put a strain on the battery life of the device.

What can be done

An improvement to this situation that would improve the lot for device designers and application developers who write SCADA for smartphones and tablets would be to establish a “driver” model for sensor and controlled devices.

Here, the operating system could run a “driver” for the application in a similar vein to how peripherals are managed by desktop operating systems. Here, the operating system can do things like manage the polling cycle for sensors or transmission of events to controlled devices, including responding to sensors that are set to trigger software events for the device class.

This can help with conserving battery power by disconnectiong from a sensor or controlled device if the destination apps aren’t run; or sharing data between two or more apps benefiting from the same sensor data. This could benefit some platforms, most notably Android, where one can write lightweight indicator applications like “widgets”, notification-area icons or active wallpapers which just benefit from sensor data or respond to certain conditions.

The problem is that the smartphone operating systems such as iOS and Android don’t support the same kind of programmatic modularity that desktop computing has permitted due to limitations placed on them by battery-operated handheld device designs with constrained memory and storage size. This issue may have to be examined whenever a subsequent major revision of the smartphone operating system is being worked on; and could include whether a separate “driver store” is maintained at the platform’s “app store” or that drivers are supplied as “apps”. This can then allow the manufacturers to update drivers as necessary, for example to add new functionality.

Conclusion

The idea of controlling or monitoring devices from computers or mobile devices is going to becoming something more mainstream rather than just a novelty and the operating system designers may have to factor this in to their designs.

TwonkyMobile app–another DLNA control point for your Android phone (VIDEO CONTENT)

Twonky Mobile app for your Android phone

 

Click on this link to view the video if it doesn’t show up on your device.

Direct link to the Twonky website

No doubt you may have decided to go towards an Android smartphone or tablet device and it may not have come with an adequate DLNA media app. There is another DLNA so

Judging from this video, I could see that the Twonky Mobile app can do what is expected of a DLNA control point app for a mobile phone or tablet device. It can even link with online content like podcasts or YouTube videos that you pull up through your Internet browsing as well as the content that is in your phone or DLNA media servers.

To get at this software, you would have to go to the Android Market and hunt for “Twonky Mobile” and is currently free for a short time.

PROMISE Technology’s contribution to the DLNA Home Media Network

News Article

PROMISE Technology Announces General Availability of SmartStor Zero and Its Fusion Stream DLNA Digital Media Apps | DMN NewsWire

From the horse’s mouth

SmartStor Fusion Stream

My comments and notes

SmartStor Fusion Stream app

The SmartStor Fusion Stream app is another program that integrates a smartphone or tablet computer based on the iOS or Android platforms in to a standards-based DLNA Home Media Network.

It is capable of what is nowadays expected for a smartphone-based DLNA network media app. That is it can play or show media held anywhere in the DLNA Home Media Network on the device itself or a DLNA Media Renderer device capable of accepting media that is “pushed” to it from a control device.

Another key feature is that it integrates the local storage with the DLNA Home Media Network. Here, you can upload pictures or videos taken with the device’s camera to a DLNA-compliant media server that supports the upload function. It can also download media held in the DLNA Home Media Network to the device’s local storage so it can be enjoyed “on the go”.

The ability to download content held on a DLNA Media Server to the local storage of an iOS or Android device with this software could be handy especially for iOS users who want to add selected pictures to their device without having to perform special sync routines. This is because iTunes doesn’t seem to support “drag-n-drop” syncing of pictures that a user selects to an iOS device – a feature that can come in handy if an iPod Touch or iPad is put in to service as an electronic photo album or digital photo frame.

A main question that I would have at the moment would be whether pictures and videos that come in to a smartphone that runs this software can be shown via a DLNA screen or uploaded to a DLNA Media Server if they came in via email, MMS picture or Bluetooth? Similarly, I would like to be sure that the program doesn’t impair the performance of the smartphone or device; or doesn’t take too long to browse the a DLNA media collection on a server.

This program could raise the bar when it comes to DLNA interface programs for mobile phones and internet tablets.

SmartStor Zero

The SmartStor Zero is another two-bay network-attached storage device which is optimised to work as a media server. As well as serving media to DLNA equipment and iTunes clients, it can accept content that is uploaded from mobile devices that are equipped with DLNA-Upload software like most of the DLNA-integration software for the Android platform and the abovementioned Fusion Stream app for the iPhone.

This device’s Web-based user interface has the ability to become an access point for the media held on the NAS. But it supports the ability to allow one to directly upload selected pictures to Facebook whether to a new album or as extra images for an existing album.

Another bonus is that the Installation software doesn’t add any drivers or other components to allow a computer to gain access to the NAS. Instead, the software works with the host operating system’s network-storage capabilities to “find” the NAS and provide a mount point or mapped drive letter for the storage resources.

One feature that I would like the DLNA software to benefit from is to support the photo tags that are part of iPhoto or Windows Live Photo Gallery. This could even include the People Tags and Geotags that Windows Live Photo Gallery supports so as to allow one to search or browse for people in the photo library using the user interface provided by a DLNA-compliant media player or control point.

What would you choose for your next touchscreen smartphone?

There are now three major touchscreen smartphone platforms that are available for the choosing – what would it be.

Hi everyone!

Your mobile phone contract’s up or you are about to consider moving from prepaid service to a regular mobile phone service. It’s now time to consider one of those new touchscreen smartphones.

Would you go for an iPhone or one of the new platforms – the Android or the Windows Phone 7? Would you also jump carrier if your desired phone platform or handset wasn’t provided by your current carrier?

Please leave a comment on this site about what you would consider choosing for your touchscreen smartphone. If you are following this site through its Facebook page, you can leave a comment on the Wall after the post.

Buyer’s Guide – Buying a laptop or notebook computer

Introduction

I had previously posted a buyer’s guide about notebook and laptop computers but am providing an up-to-date version which reflects my experience with the notebook computers that I have reviewed over the last few months. It also will reflect what is part of the notebook-computer marketplace especially as the technology evolves and the cost of different specifications changes over time.

Notebook Computer Classes

Nowadays, it is becoming harder to place a notebook computer in a distinct class because of the fact that technologies are blurring these lines of division. For example, I am starting to see that most standard notebooks and desktop replacements and even the subnotebooks are appearing with 500Gb on the hard disk and 4Gb on the RAM. As well, I am seeing netbooks start to come with 250Gb on the hard disk through this year.

Netbook

Examples: Dell Inspiron Mini 10, HP Mini series, ASUS Eee series

HP Mini 210 netbook Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook

A netbook typically is of a small form factor, with a 10” widescreen display and works on a very low-end processor. It has a very low-capacity secondary-storage device like up to 160Gb or 250Gb for a hard disk or may use lower capacities with a solid-state storage device. The RAM memory will usually exist at 1GB at the maximum.

These machines are typically pitched as a secondary portable computer for people who do a lot of email or Web browsing “on the go” with a minimum of typing. They are also pitched for use in the home as an auxiliary computer such as in the kitchen or “Facebooking” in front of the TV.

Subnotebook / Ultraportable

Example: Dell Inspiron 13z, Apple MacBook Air series

A subnotebook or ultraportable computer is a larger computer that is typically designed for portable use and has a lot of emphasis on small size, thin profile and low weight. They may be optimised for long battery life.

Here, these computers will typically have a widescreen display of 13 to 14 inches and will have electronics optimised for low voltage operation. A lot of these machines may have a processor that has mainstream performance characteristics and will have a generous amount of primary RAM and secondary storage. The keyboard will still be large enough for you to comfortably type on and you may have a larger touchpad for navigating the screen. Some machines of this class may not have integrated optical drives and may not have high connectivity options such as a large number of USB sockets in order to allow for weight reduction.

Standard Notebook

Examples: Dell Studio 15, HP ProBook 4520, Sony VAIO E-Series, Apple MacBook Pro series

 Sony VAIO E-Series laptop  Dell Studio 15 Multimedia Laptop

The standard notebook computer is typically of large size and has average connectivity options. It will typically have a built-in optical drive, except some units that are built on a “thin-and-light” chassis. The screen will typically be a 15” widescreen type and these units will be built on a mainstream portable-use processor platform like the Intel Core platforms. An increasing number of these machines as well as the desktop replacements will be equipped with a full-width keyboard that has a separate numeric keypad so you can enter figures quickly.

Compaq Presario CQ42

There will be entry-level units like the Compaq Presario CQ42 which may be based on a processor platform like Intel Celeron and will have less memory, hard disk space and graphics performance than most of the standard notebooks. They will be pitched at students buying their first notebook computer or parents buying a notebook for their child who is starting senior school or university.

Desktop Replacement

A desktop-replacement notebook computer will be optimised for its role as an alternative to a desktop computer. It will have a large screen and have its processor, memory and hard disk space optimised for performance. It will rate highly with connectivity but will be very heavy and not rate well for battery runtime. Some machines may not even have a battery pack and will be sold as transportable computers or “desknotes”.

There are machines that will be optimised for multimedia activities like audio, video and photo editing and will have display and sound technology optimised for this activity. On the other hand, there will be gaming notebooks that are optimised for fast-response gaming “on the go”.

Product Positioning

Consumer

Examples: HP Compaq Presario laptops, Sony VAIO E-Series laptops

A laptop positioned at consumers will typically have a design that focuses on beauty and will be optimised for multimedia. They won’t have features that support reliability or security like fingerprint scanners, theft-recovery or data-encryption software or automatic hard-disk damage-limiters. In most cases, these units may be designed in a price-conscious manner because most consumers will end up buying on price alone.

There are exceptions to this rule where some manufacturers may try newer user-interface technologies on these computers or supply computers that are optimised for performance in the gaming or multimedia context.

Business

Examples: HP ProBook laptops, Dell Vostro laptops, Lenovo ThinkPad laptops

HP ProBook 4520 Series laptop

HP ProBook 4520 Series business laptop

Most machines made for this market are typically deployed by businesses, usually large businesses who buy a large fleet of these units for use by their staff during their tenure at the business. They have a different expectation to the consumer who buys a notebook for themselves.

A notebook positioned at the business end of the market will be optimised for reliability and security. For example, there will be various security technologies like fingerprint scanners or facial-recognition scanners built in to these machines. Manufacturers will also implement technologies like “free-fall” sensing on hard disks to safeguard data from being damaged by accident.

In most cases, there will be less emphasis on beauty or multimedia capabilities because the business market tends to adopt a more serious and conservative attitude towards machines that are “for the job”. This is although manufacturers like Dell are offering customisations for their computers that include different colour trims or improved multimedia capabilities.

Premium Models – the “Black-Label” end of the market

Examples: HP Envy series, Acer Ferrari series, ASUS Lamborghini series

HP Envy notebook computer

HP Envy 15 - an example of a premium notebook computer

An increasing number of laptop manufacturers are supplying at least one or more high-end laptop computer models that place emphasis on style and performance. The manufacturers will typically contract with a brand that is well-known for highly-desirable luxury goods to style the computer in the same image as goods associated with that brand, such as a Ferrari or Lamborghini “wet-dream” sports car. In some cases, other manufacturers, particularly those in the premium hi-fi or professional-recording scene, like B&O or Dr Dre’s “Beats” may contribute their technical know-how to a part of the computer’s functional design like its sound-reproduction capabilities.

These special computers will usually be pitched in a similar manner to luxury cars and are either for personal use or business use in a manner similar to how the company-funded executive’s car is used. Some of the machines in this class may not have the manageability and security functionality that a business notebook may have as standard but it may be worth knowing whether these feature are available as an option for that executive notebook that you are looking towards having.

These computers are worth their salt if you are considering using them for a significantly long time for both personal and / or business use but there should be a way of upgrading memory and hard-disk space on them or buying newer and better batteries later on down the track as you use them over the many years.

Questions

Do you intend to travel a lot; and how do you intend to travel?

If you do travel a lot, especially by public transport. you may have to give more focus towards portability. Here, you may have to consider either a netbook, ultraportable / subnotebooki or a “thin-and-light” standard notebook.

A netbook would be appropriate if you use it for ad-hoc emailing and other communications tasks but wouldn’t be suitable for long-term work. You would also gain better value out of it if you were using it as a computer that is supplementary to your main desktop or laptop computer.

An ultraportable or “thin-and-light” standard notebook may be more suitable if you intend to do a lot of work on this machine such as filing reports from the field. If you work with digital photos such as editing them, it may be worth looking towards a “thin-and-light” standard notebook for this work.

It is also worth investigating the possibility of opting-in higher-capacity batteries so you can obtain more run-time on the machine while you travel, especially by public transport. This is because not all public-transport options will provide access to ready power for charging.

Most standard laptops like the Dell Studio 15 may work well for those of you whose main travelling option is to pack the computer in to the boot (trunk) of your car. You won’t have to worry about carrying it around all of the time.

Do you use a desktop computer as your main computer?

You can place a lot of emphasis on portability and get away with lesser processor, RAM and hard-disk specifications if your are running a desktop computer or high-end laptop as your main computer. But you will need to make sure you have good network-connectivity options, preferably Ethernet as well as wireless so you can easily and quickly “check-out” data files from your main computer.

On the other hand, if you intend to use your notebook as your sole computing device, you should look towards performance, screen size, connectivity and hard-disk capacity as key deciding factors for your computer.  This also includes those people who prefer to buy a notebook computer over a desktop for their home computer because they have a small living space, prefer to stow it away when it’s not in use or want to move towards the “new computing environment”.

Application guidelines

These guidelines may sound too “pie in the sky” especially for small-business or consumer buyers who are used to buying the cheapest equipment available. But it is worth paying a bit extra for a machine that will cost less in the long run and have a long service life.

Student’s first notebook

If you are thinking of buying your child who is doing Year 11-12 (senior school / Form 5-6) secondary or tertiary (university, college (US) or TAFE) study their first laptop, you have to be sure not to short-change them. This advice may go against the commonly-accepted thought pattern of buying the cheapest laptop for a student because they may be more likely to damage the computer.

This class of students will use these computers for preparing their coursework that is part of their studies alongside online communications (email, social networks and instant messaging / Skype), games and multimedia such as being a jukebox for parties. They will be taking this machine between home, school / college and friends’ locations either by public transport, your car, a friend’s car or their first car which would most likely be a very old car which is likely to be very worn-out.

The processor, RAM and display subsystem are also of concern for all students, especially those whose work is graphically intensive, such as a design-based course or subjects that make heavy use of graphics or multimedia. This makes the machine more useable by the student because they don’t have to be waiting around for a task to complete on the computer.

The best choice for this class of user would be a standard notebook. Here, I would prefer for them to use a low-end business model, but with the highest-capacity hard disk that you can afford. The reason I would specify this is because the business models are pitched for reliability under the kind of abuse a student might dish at it such as frequent transporting, old cars with half-dead suspensions, perpetual party life and the like. I also specify the highest-capacity hard disk you can afford because there will have to be room for studies, digital pictures, MP3s and the like that will fill up the hard disk very quickly.

If cost is a real issue to you, you may find that refurbished or rebuilt ex-business computers may offer the right kind of value for this class of user. These would be available either online or through independent laptop specialists and these resellers would buy the older computers from large businesses or government departments who are upgrading their computer fleet on a regular basis or buy end-of-lease equipment from computer financiers. Then these dealers refurbish or rebuild the equipment before reselling it. With these deals, it may be worth finding out whether there are newer batteries available for these computers and / or whether they can upsize the hard disks in the computers to larger capacities. Similarly, you may have to raise the issue of whether you can buy an up-to-date version of the operating system and / or office software with the refurbished computer.

Blogger or journalist

This class of user will want to type wherever they are, such as when they are flying. They will also be needing to keep large amounts of data such as manuscripts or, nowadays, photos and video footage. As well, they need to be able to see the screen properly so they can edit their copy easily.

Here, a 13” ultraportable that can fit on the economy-class airline tray table, may work well for these users but they may have to investigate the possibility of buying extra power options like an “extra-power” battery when they do a lot of long-haul flights. In some cases, it may be worth looking towards a business-oriented ultraportable and use the security software on these units if they do a lot of controversial work such as reporting assignments in police states.

Work-home laptop for small business operator

If your laptop is going to be the “work-home”computer for your small business and you don’t have a computer at your small business, I would suggest a standard notebook or desktop-replacement computer. Here, these machines will have the performance that you need for your business life and enough storage capacity for your home and business life. Small-business users shouldn’t pass off the business-class notebooks and may find themselves benefiting from the features offered by this class of computer.

Moving towards the “new computing environment”

If you intend to move your home computing environment away from the desktop computer towards a laptop or notebook computer, it may be worth looking towards a computer which rates well on capacity and performance. This could lead to a mainstream consumer-rated standard notebook or low-end business notebook. Business users should move towards a mainstream business notebook if they want to move to the “new computing environment”.

On the other hand, if you want close-to-desktop functionality, it may be worth looking towards a mainstream business or multimedia notebook. Some of the premium-end computers could also suit this kind of user.

Secondary portable computer for a desktop user or regular notebook user

A 10” netbook could be useful as a secondary portable computer for emailing and other ad-hoc activities. On the other hand, if you do a lot of “typing up” on the go or do value a larger screen, you could go for a 13”-14” ultraportable computer because of its larger screen and keyboard. An alternative option may be a 14″-15″ low-specification standard notebook.  The hard-disk capacity may not matter much to this kind of use because you are likely to transfer the files from the secondary computer to the primary computer whenever you arrive at home or the office or transfer work-in-progress files to the secondary computer so you can work on them.

Here, you would have to make sure your secondary computer does well for connectivity especially as you are likely to connect it to your primary computer in order to transfer files. Here, you may have to make sure you have up-to-date networking requirements and at least a few USB ports so you can use memory keys as a backup measure.

Conclusion

The bottom line that you think of when buying that laptop computer is to factor what you are using it for and how you are using it so you can avoid shortchanging yourself by buying a unit that doesn’t meet your current needs or buying a machine that won’t see you through the long haul.

Increase in competition in the touchscreen smartphone market

Nokia N8

Nokia N8 shipments begin, ushers in Symbian^3 era – Engadget

Nokia N8 shipping – Units mailed out to pre-order customers | RegHardware.co.uk (United KIngdom)

Microsoft Windows Phone 7

Microsoft prepping Windows Phone 7 for an October 21st launch? (update: US on Nov. 8?) | Engadget

Windows Phone 7 sortira bien le 21 octobre | Businessmobile.fr (France – French language)

Microsoft: Windows Phone 7 kommt am 21. Oktober | netzwelt.de (Germany – German language)

Microsoft bestätigt Starttermin von Windows Phone 7 | derStandard.at (Austria – German language)

My comments

Over September and October 2010, there is increased activity concerning competing touchscreen-smartphone platforms. This will definitely make Apple squirm even

The first one will be the Nokia N8 with its Symbian 3 operating system, which will be a way of keeping Nokia users loyal to the Nokia N-Series phones with the Symbian platform. This platform is shipping now and most of the European mobile-phone operators are likely to have the various contracts worked out for these phones by October.

The second one will be the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 which is intended to be launched in the European market by 21 October. At the moment, HTC have worked out various models for this platform

These phones will use a “windowed” UI on their home screen so it is easier to go to particular functions at a touch rather than working with a list or scattered widgets on the home screen as what Android or iOS (iPhone) do.

There is a question that I have yet to hear an answer about with the Symbian 3 or the Windows Phone 7. It is whether developers will have greater freedom to develop apps for these platforms and whether there are many paths available for provisioning the software to the phones. This includes whether the app stores can charge for the software through the mobile-phone provider’s billing system for post-paid services as well as through credit cards or vouchers as is the current practice with the iTunes App Store.

Similarly, there is the issue of whether a person can download an app to a regular computer and upload it to the phone via the local network or through a USB or Bluetooth tethered connection. This practice may be useful for people who are provisioning software to employees for example; or installing / updating a “mobile component” app as part of the installation procedure for a piece of hardware or software.

It will then be interesting in a year to see which of the companies will “own” particular touchscreen-smartphone markets such as the consumer market, small-business-user market and “enterprise / corporate” market.

Vodafone Mobile Wi-Fi R201 “Mi-Fi” wireless-broadband router – raising the bar for this class of device.

Carry an instant Windows 7 hotspot in your pocket | NetworkWorld.com Community

From the horse’s mouth

Vodafone Mobile Wi-Fi R201 – Product page

My comments on this device

I have come across most of the small wireless-broadhand Wi-Fi routers and most of them seem to offer the same functionality – working just as a wireless router for wireless-broadband services. But the Vodafone Mobile Wi-Fi R201 has offered more than the typical device of its class.

This battery-operated device has a built-in microSD card and is able to work as a network-attached storage device as well as a router for wireless broadband. It can present the files via three different protocols – SMB/CIFS, HTTP or UPnP AV / DLNA for media files. The latter function is provided for by TwonkyMedia Server which is being integrated in to many network-attached storage devices.

It can be powered from AC power, USB or integrated rechargeable batteries but, due to its small size, it doesn’t have an Ethernet connector for either LAN or WAN (broadband) connectivity. An Ethernet connector being added to the device could allow the unit to become a NAS / wireless access point for an existing network or it could work with a cable or ADSL modem as a router. As well, it is dependent on the Wi-Fi network as the primary connection method.

The unit can work tightly with Windows 7 or with other operating systems and devices that support WPS, especially the PBC “push-to-connect” method. As well, the PSK passphrase for the WPA2 security setup and the SSID are unique to each unit, which makes for better security.

Another feature is that this particular “Mi-Fi” can work alongside the network-connected computers as an SMS send/receive terminal. This is done using a Web form that is part of the Web management interface for this device.

My comments about this device is that it would work hand in glove with a portable Internet radio like the Pure Evoke Flow that I previously reviewed as long as you have a generous data plan on the SIM card for receiving Internet-radio programs. This is intensified by you putting a microSD card full of music or a SlotMusic card (the microSD equivalent of the pre-recorded Musicassette) in this device and using the radio’s DLNA music-player mode to play the music files from the card.

As well, I would recommend that users who buy this device buy a USB car charger that plugs in to the vehicle’s cigar lighter in order to avoid compromising the device’s battery life when they use it in the car. This charger should have a standard USB socket on itself or a microUSB plug that fits the device.

By the way, it is worth noting that this router is now available in the UK and will be rolled out to countries that Vodafone does business in as a name.

Multiple wireless-broadband devices – could a MiFi, tethered smartphone or similar device be the answer

 Is the MiFi Model the Future of Mobile Broadband?: Tech News «

My comments

The common situation is that most customers will end up buying many wireless-broadband-enabled devices over the years. First they will buy a smartphone, then they will buy a wireless broadband modem for their laptop or upgrade their laptop to a model with an integrated wireless-broadband modem. They will also end up buying an Internet tablet like the Apple iPad which has integrated wireless broadhand. This will become more serious as vehicle builders integrate wireless broadband in order to provide Internet-enabled services like Internet radio or always-live mapping.

Multiple service plans – one service plan for each gadget

Whenever this happens, the user signs up to one service plan per device, typically as part of a subsidised-device contract. Here, they end up with many different plans to take care of, which come with many SIM cards and different included-data allowances to take care of.

The carriers like the idea of signing up a customer to multiple plans no matter whether this yields one account or multiple accounts per user. As well device manufacturers like to integrate wireless-broadband technology in to their devices as a way of differentiating particular models in a device series.

But this can become unwieldy for most users because they have to keep track of their plan allowances and contract-available plans. As well, customers may end up using one device more and “burning up” its plan allowance then are on metered use or reduced bandwidth for that device. This may be OK for fixed locations where different usage patterns may occur. As well, there isn’t an incentive in the industry to allow customers to consolidate data plans for multiple devices into one “super plan” with one large allowance and this can  penalise customers who are loyal to one carrier or want to have “all their eggs in one basket”.

Use of “MiFi” routers or tetherable smartphones across multiple devices

A MiFi (wireless router with integrated wireless-broadband modem), a regular wireless router that has support for a USB wireless-broadhand modem “stick” or a 3G/4G smartphone which supports tethering via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB could allow a user to share one plan across multiple devices that you own. The user could then be given the option to bind these devices to a high-capacity service plan so they could use the wireless-broadband service across many other Internet-enabled devices. Another advantage of these abovementioned devices is that they can provide Internet connection to devices like Internet radios that don’t have their own wireless-broadband technology.

For example, a battery-operated Internet radio like the Pure Evoke Flow that I reviewed previously or the Roberts Stream 202 can he linked up to a battery-operated “MiFi” device that is on a generous plan in order to bring the fun of overseas Internet radio in the same manner as a classic portable radio or boom-box. Similarly, a “MiFi” device can provide Internet connectivity a group of laptop computers used on a remote site.

Moving a SIM card between multiple devices

Another way of achieving this could be to buy wireless-broadband gadgets without being bound to a particular service, so you could move a SIM card between the different devices. This includes buying a prepaid USB modem or similar device on a deal where you can pay to unlock it later, perhaps by paying a modest fee. Then you use the service and unlock the device so you can move a SIM card amongst the different devices.

This practice can limit use of smartphones because the SIM cards in these phones are primarily to “present” the phone to the mobile network and connect it to its number.

Conclusion

This issue of users buying devices like notebook / netbook computers and iPad / tablet computers that are equipped with integrated wireless broadband connectivity will lead to user confusion when it comes to managing data plans and accounts. It will become an issue with wireless-broadband carriers and service providers as users want to consolidate their services in to one plan that they can think of without carrying extra devices or fiddling with tiny SIM cards.

Mobile codes to boost Google account security | Security – CNET News

 

Mobile codes to boost Google account security | Security – CNET News

My comments

Google have worked on a way of improving security for Web-page login experiences because these login experiences are easily vulnerable to phishing attacks.

What is this technology

This method is similar to a hardware security “token” used by some big businesses for data security and increasingly by some banks to protect their customers’ Internet-banking accounts against phising attacks. This is a device that you keep with you in your wallet or on your keyring which shows a random number that you key in to a login screen alongside your user name and password and is based on “what you have” as well as “what you know”.

This time, the function of this “token” is moved to the mobile phone which nearly all of us have on ourselves. It will appear as a smartphone “app” for the Blackberry, Android or iPhone platforms that shows the random code number or will operate in the form of your phone showing an SMS with the token code or you hearing a code number from a call you answer on that phone. Of course, you will register your mobile number with Google to enable this level of security.

The direction for the technology

Google are intending to use it with their application platform which covers GMail, Adsense, Analytics, Picasa and other Google services. Initially it will be tried with selected user groups but will be available to the entire user base.

They will provide an option to avoid the need to use this “Google codes” system on the same computer for a month, which would appeal to users who work with their GMail account from their netbook or desktop PC. They will still need to have this work if they “come in” to their GMail account from another computer and it will work if someone else uses the same PC to check on their GMail.

What I am pleased about with this is that they intend to “open-source” this system so that it can be implemented in to other platforms and applications. Similarly, the “apps” can then be ported to newer smartphone platforms or “baked in” to other PDAs and similar devices. As far as the “apps” are concerned, I would like to allow one piece of code to service multiple service providers rather than loading a smartphone with multiple apps for different providers.

Making the home network secure

I would like to see this technology being tried out as a method of securing devices that use Web-based data-access or management interfaces, similar to D-Link’s use of CAPTCHA for securing their home-network routers’ management login interfaces. This is becoming more so as nearly every home uses a wireless network router as the network-Internet “edge” for their networks. Similarly, there is an increasing tendency to use a network-attached storage for pooling data to be available across the network or as backup storage and most of these units use a Web-based user interface.

Conclusion

One feature that I like about this Google project is that they have applied a security technology normally available to big business and made it available to small business and consumer users.