May 2009

It's a largely untold story of Apple's popular audio devices. It is not known how many specialized apps are out there, but Apple touts a handful on iTunes, among them ones that help users do American Sign Language and others like Proloquo2Go, which helps the autistic communicate. The app also aids children and adults with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and Lou Gehrig's Disease, or ALS — even stroke patients who have lost the ability to speak, says its co-developer, Penn State doctoral student Samuel Sennott. Using the iPhone and Touch allows developers to democratize a system that has relied on devices that were too expensive or difficult to customize, Sennott says. "I love people being able to get it at Best Buy," he says. "That's just a dream." He also says that for an autistic child, the ability to whip out an iPhone and talk to friends brings "this very hard-to-quantify cool factor."

While cellphones and computers in general have suffered sales setbacks recently, high-end smart phones and low-end netbook computers remain two of the hottest electronic devices on the market. Might the gap between them someday be filled by a device that combines the best of each? In some ways, the two products are already beginning to merge. The cost is becoming similar, with the priciest smart phones now more expensive than the cheapest netbooks (about $300). Wireless carriers are beginning to add netbook plans, plunging the cost of a netbook with a service plan to as low as $50, similar to discounted phones if users sign up for a contract. Manufacturers are beginning to put smart-phone chips and operating systems, such as Google's Android, into netbooks. Meanwhile, netbook manufacturers such as Asustek are planning to make smart phones. Both products are trying to satisfy the same need "to have something small, portable, and inexpensive with you that is always connected" to the Internet, says Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. But a big gap in size remains. Netbooks fit in a large purse or a backpack, but not a pocket. That is leading to speculation that a company such as Apple might step in with a mid-sized "tablet" or "iPod-plus" device as early as next month.

Susan Crawford -- special assistant to the president for science, technology and innovation policy -- is touting the idea of spending tens of billions of dollars in public funds to build a nationwide, state-of-the-art broadband network featuring speeds 100 times faster than today's technology. She noted she's "personally intrigued" by an ambitious plan by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. His plan proposes a public-private partnership that would invest up to $33 billion over eight years to build and operate a fiber-optic broadband network reaching 90 percent of homes and workplaces. Wireless and satellite technology would be used to reach the remaining 10 percent in the outback. Proponents of Australia's program argue that the government-subsidized network promises myriad opportunities for online businesses and enhancements to energy efficiency, media distribution and public safety. A chief concern here is that a public broadband network would be costly -- upward of $430 billion. While consumers would benefit from the increased competition and lower monthly rates, they would foot the bill through tax dollars. As the Federal Communications Commission prepares a national broadband strategy to be presented to Congress by Feb. 17, there's already speculation that the agency -- at the prodding of the White House -- will give serious thought to adapting Australia's model for the United States.

The headline technology winners in the government's economic stimulus package have been electronic health records and smart grids, where computing is front and center. Many billions have been pledged to these obviously high-tech fields. Yet a far larger flow of money into information technology may eventually come from state and local governments as part of a vast array of stimulus-package investment projects, according to Joaquin Gonzalez, director of research for CivicUS, which advises state and local governments. Gonzalez estimates that between $250 billion and $300 billion of the stimulus funding is targeted for state and local government projects intended to modernize and improve the efficiency of public services. This is not money, he says, to plug budget gaps, but for investments designed to make local government work smarter. In doing so, Gonzalez calculates, as much as one-third of that total will be spent on information technology projects, often involving the Web, to streamline and improve the delivery of public services and information to citizens.