NEWS: Motorola ships 10 000th WiMAX access point base site

WiMAX leader’s second WiMAX shipment milestone follows shipment of one millionth CPE device, helping further its efforts to bring broadband everywhere.

Motorola, Inc.’s Home & Networks Mobility business announced that it has shipped its 10 000th 802.16e WiMAX Access Point (WAP) base site. This milestone shipment represents more than a 40% compound annual growth rate since Motorola’s first WiMAX access points were shipped in 2007.

Motorola’s WAP portfolio includes a variety of solutions designed to meet specific needs for coverage and capacity. The 2.3GHz, 2.5GHz, and 3.5GHz models currently shipping include the WAP 400 with 2x2 antenna technology and the WAP 450 - a higher power 2x2 unit. In addition, the WAP 800 in the 3.5GHz has the versatility to support both coverage and capacity models with 4x8 beam-forming antenna technology.

The recently announced 4x4 WAP 650, which is an easy field upgrade from the WAP 450, offers operators 30% reduction in total cost of ownership compared to average 2x2 base stations. Each new generation of the WAP product line is designed with improved energy efficiency to be eco-friendly and reduce operating costs. For example, there is a more than 100% relative energy efficiency improvement from the first to second generation radio frequency (RF) unit.

“This shipment milestone is further evidence of the success we’ve achieved in delivering mobile WiMAX,” said Bruce Brda, senior vice president and general manager of  Motorola Home & Networks Mobility. “Motorola, the No. 1 market share leader in WiMAX, is committed to 802.16e mobile WiMAX and to the future path of WiMAX 802.16m. In fact, Motorola is on the IEEE 802.16m Task Group m leadership board and helped design the 16m standard.”

Motorola has been a pioneer in developing mobile WiMAX since 2005 when it was one of the first companies to declare its support solely behind 802.16e. Motorola now stands poised to help launch the next iteration of this mobile broadband technology, 802.16m - also known as WiMAX Release 2, with continued development of its WiMAX portfolio.

Motorola has more than 35 WiMAX contracts in every region of the world, in 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz, and 3.5 GHz, including the recently announced deal with Imagine in Ireland. Its WiMAX customers, which range from Greenfield to mature operators, are delivering fixed, nomadic, and mobile service to meet their unique market needs and business requirements.

• For updates on Motorola’s WiMAX solutions, visit www.mediaexperiences2go.com

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REVIEW: The Vodafone Mobile Connect USB Stick

Monique Tyrer

ALTHOUGH I missed my monthly phone fix from Vodashop Midlands this month, the outlet provided something different to satisfy my techno cravings that was just as fun to review — the Vodafone Mobile Connect USB Stick.

Slightly longer than your average USB flash drive, this handy Internet stick gives you a mobile Internet connection via your phone’s sim-card for either your laptop or desktop computer, allowing you to work from anywhere through a speedy Internet connection.

The “plug and play” capabilities of this nifty device work on both Windows and Mac computers through three different network connections — HSDPA, 3G and GPRS. The light on the stick also flashes a different colour to let you know which signal you are connected to, although all the connections are faster on average than a normal dial-up.

The installation data is stored on the actual USB stick itself, so there is no need to worry about installing the software with a CD, which means you can take your Vodafone Mobile Connect USB Stick with you anywhere and install it on a number of computers — a truly mobile solution for business and pleasure on the go.

The installation process was painless, and within a few minutes, the stick was ready for use. The stick also doubles as a flash drive to store information, with an additional microSD card slot available that can hold cards of up to 4GB.

Once the programme was installed, Internet browsing was quick and painless, and viewing websites such as YouTube was no problem for this small, but powerful, device. Downloading information was also really fast, and I was impressed with how this broadband USB stick had no problem handling the data.

With the programmes that come with the device, I was able to send and receive smses from my laptop, as well as view information such as signal strength, length of connectivity and the volume of data being received or sent. This is really handy to monitor your usage, as you are charged according to how much data you use.

• Monique Tyrer writes for the Natal Witness newspaper and other publications in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Article supplied by Mall Talk.

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DIGITALLIFE: What to expect...

The DigitalLife Expo – one of South Africa’s largest digital technology expositions, takes place from 27 to 29 March 2009 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. Here a few highlights that you can expect this year.

The Digital Home
Take a walk through the Digital Home, which includes a teenage pad, children’s room, study/home office, home theatre room and entertainment room, and find out how you can integrate these new technologies into your lifestyle.

Each room is packed full of the latest in digital and broadband technology. The idea is to give visitors a sense of the digital home of today and what it might be like living in one. If you do not have the abilities of King Midas you can at least get a feel of what it might be like living the most contemporary digital lifestyle.

Superheroes and cyber-pets
You can meet Vernon Koekemoer in person at the DigitalLife Expo, along with Wowee the Roboquad - a four-legged spider-like robot thingy that has an almost eerie sense of awareness and mobility.

Literally created and launched in cyberspace, Vernon is himself a strapping example of technology in action. He's the apparent product of a viral campaign called “Let’s make Vernon famous”, and people everywhere have taken to “the Koek” like a toothpick to biltong.

Free workshops
If you’ve got the latest digital gear, but do you know your way around it, take advantage of free workshops and become a pro. Step into the future of mapping technology, learn more about digital photography, digital content, home entertainment, smartphone tools and broadband connectivity.

Six workshops will be held daily that will not only teach enthusiasts how to use new digital technologies, but also offer tips and tricks on how to integrate existing ones into their lifestyles. DigitalLife is offering free entrance to the expo to anyone who pre-registers online for any of the workshops.

Win big!
Visitors to the DigitalLife Expo stand the chance of winning digital products and technologies on display in the DigitalLife Expo’s walk-through Digital Home to the value of R250 000 including security systems, a media centre, a home theatre system, digital camera, mobile phones and more.

Top brands on display
Explore the cream of the digital crop. Get to grips with the latest technology from mobile phones to notebooks, multimedia players and home entertainment systems, home-automation and digital security systems - all under one roof.

Click here for a full list of exhibitors that you can expect to see this year.

Exclusive Windows 7 promotion
See it, experience it and stand a chance to win it. The first 250 people to visit the expo each day will receive a pre-release version of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system (believed to be the bee's knees).

New product launches
Loads of hot-off-the-press digital technology products will be launched at the DigitalLife Expo, including iriver digital media players, the new T3 SecurityKey, Asus PCs and netbooks, Iomega network storage drives and Tesla’s latest home automation imports.

DionWired
DionWired, the consumer electronics and appliances concept store, is the expo’s official Digital Retail Store sponsor. The store will showcase its complete range of digital products and consumer-oriented services.

DionWired has also developed a long list of fantastic packages and special offers available exclusively to DigitalLife Expo visitors, so be sure to visit their stand.

Win shopping vouchers
Shopping vouchers are up for grabs every day at the DigitalLife Expo. To kick-start your digital shopping experience, ‘do Broadband’, powered by Telkom, will be giving away R5 000 shopping vouchers to visitors every day at the expo.

To enter, complete the entry form to be found at the entrance to the expo and drop it off at the ‘do Broadband’ stand.

DigitalLife ticket prices

• Adults R20,00
• Student Ages (13-18) and college students R8,00
• Pensioner Ages (60+) R8,00

You can buy your DigitalLife tickets online here.

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SLINGBOX: Embracing broadband and digital media

PAGING through an old GQ the other day I came across a gadget that struck a new interest. The “Slingbox” (weird name) is a TV streaming device that allows you to remotely view your home cable, satellite, or personal video recorder (PVR) programming using a device with a broadband Internet connection.

It connects to the back of your TV and works by redirecting or “placeshifting” up to four live audio/video signals to your personal computer, laptop, or internet-enabled mobile device whether you’re touring China or are in London on a business trip. And there’s no anxiety of having yet another gadget to clutter up your home – once your Slingbox is installed you never have to see it again.

Sling Media has also released a Windows Mobile version of their player which allows users to stream their video over a Pocket PC or Windows Mobile Smartphones, or any web-enabled, Windows mobile-powered cellphone. This is useful for practical reasons as a cellphone is easier to stuff into your duffle bag when traveling to the most remote locations.

The Slingbox also allows you to program your home recording device remotely, which means that you can command your device to record programs from anywhere. So no more having to phone the kids at home to ask them to record Prison Break for you, or having to rely on an unreliable in-law.

Yet, like Manto Tshabalala, the Slingbox isn't perfect. The system is not yet reliable or broadband enough to handle live remote broadcasts, and is not yet available for Linux or other opensource systems. It also requires a fair amount of techno savvy to set up, which can be a bit of a schlep, yet there is decent customer support available. SlingCommunity, for example, is an interactive online community dedicated solely to Sling Media's Slingbox.

Slingbox  cons
It is, however, important to bear in mind that the viewing quality is that of web video (i.e. 320x240pixels). Consequently you basically need to have twenty-twenty vision to be able to view everything properly on the small video-viewer screen. This renders on-screen text such as sports scores, news reels, and the fine-print print in bank adverts as unreadable.

The Slingbox is also only as good as its device support and relies on your primary video device being compatible. So just like upgrading a PC, you might have to buy more than you initially bargained for.

In terms of future developments, it was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show that Sling Media plans to release a future feature known as Clip+Sling. This will allow users to share clips of their favorite TV shows (or videos that they have produced themselves) with each other through a hosted web service.

Sling has also pledged that its software will work on the forthcoming Origami Ultramobile PCs (you can read more about this nifty gadget here).

The Slingbox is currently going for $200 (roughly R1400) and appears to be a useful gadget to add to ones collection. Let’s just hope that true broadband hits SA soon so we can play too.

Slingbox links
Slingbox Homepage
Other Sling Media Products
CNET's exclusive First Look video using Sling software.
Related blog post: Welcome to your future

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