Up to 1,000 taxis in Taiwan will soon offer a range of free Internet services to their passengers, in a groundbreaking application of WiMAX technology, a local telecom operator said Thursday. VMAX Telecom Co. will officially launch the Internet service March 9, the company's spokesman said, adding that more than 500 taxis have already been fitted with the wireless device.
Sony will begin selling 3D TVs in Japan on June 10 and worldwide at about the same time, it said Tuesday. A firmware upgrade to its PlayStation 3 console that adds 3D support and other 3D-compatible home electronics products will also be available to coincide with the television launch. Sony's first two sets, which are 40- and 46-inch models, will come bundled with two pairs of 3D glasses and will cost ¥290,000 (US$3,215) and ¥350,000 respectively. In July it will launch six further sets: 52- and 60-inch models that come with 3D glasses and four "3D-ready" models that have 3D circuitry inside the set but require the purchase of glasses and an infrared transmitter.
On March 9, the Federal Communications Commission and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation discussed strategies that will provide 93 million Americans who have been left behind in the digital age with the tools they need to seek jobs, stay informed and connected, and pursue economic opportunity. America's Digital Inclusion Summit at the Newseum focused on the need to break down barriers to broadband as high-speed Internet service becomes increasingly vital to citizens and the nation.
The draft National Broadband Plan makes a number of recommendations on increasing broadband adoption to FCC, Congress and other branches of government and the private and non-profit sectors. They include:
Show how broadband is relevant:
The Federal Communications Commission is teaming up with the Knight Foundation to reward innovators who design tools that help citizens better access or use government resources. Billed as the "Apps for Inclusion" Challenge, the contest would award about $10,000 in prize money to anyone who devises new mobile, desktop or Web programs that help citizens take advantage of community, state or federal services online. Entries will be judged both by a panel of experts and Web users, who will be able to vote for the best apps online, according to the Knight Foundation.
Federal officials now seem to be considering ways to create "a free, or very low-cost wireless broadband service" for Web users who cannot afford more expensive broadband coverage.
The Federal Communications Commission briefly pitched the idea following this week's Digital Inclusion Summit, a forum that focused on ways to extend broadband coverage to the millions in the United States who still lack it. Ultimately, the FCC provided little details of that ambitious access plan, versions of which some state and local lawmakers have also pitched, and in many cases, have promptly abandoned. But the FCC did note in a statement on Tuesday that it was one of many ideas it has included in its forthcoming National Broadband Plan, due to congressional lawmakers next week.
The FCC also wants to create a digital literacy corps to help boost broadband adoption by training people in low-adoption areas, which include rural and low income communities, and at the same time boost the skills of those doing the training.
[Commentary] Think about what was possible online in 1995. Internet adoption in the United States stood at just over 10 percent, and most surfed the Web over a slow dial-up connection.
Flash forward to today. Adoption now stands at 74 percent, and broadband speeds are slowly improving. Harvard Business School professors John Deighton and John Quelch estimate that the Internet is responsible for 3.1 million American jobs and $300 billion in economic activity spread throughout the United States. Entrepreneurs and small businesses are able to connect with customers worldwide, content creators and developers can reach an audience of billions, and consumers can access unparalleled amounts of information. The burgeoning "app economy," built by small businesses that create applications for smart phones, social networks, and other new platforms, is already a multibillion-dollar industry. Now imagine the possibilities 15 years from now.
The United States does not have a monopoly on innovation. As we fall behind in broadband, we're falling behind in our global competitiveness and our ability to grow our economy. It does not have to be this way.
Here are three things we can do:
On Tuesday, Cisco unveiled a heavy-duty router for managing Internet traffic, as it seeks to regain market share it has lost in the arms race to manage telecommunications networks.
Cisco said Tuesday its new CRS-3 router has 12 times the capacity of rival equipment. For example, executives said the device can handle simultaneous video calls for every person in China. The router, which is used by telecom carriers to power the Internet backbone, replaces the company's aging CRS-1, which was introduced in 2004. Cisco competes in the core router market with Juniper Networks, which has updated its products more recently than Cisco.
Cisco said the CRS-3 can deliver a connection of 1 gigabit per second to nearly every home in San Francisco. Chief Executive John Chambers said the new router provided more than just a boost. The product is supposed to be "smarter" allowing it to direct traffic based on the priority of the data.
Cisco believes that kind of muscle will be necessary to support a dramatic surge in data consumption on fixed-line and mobile networks over the next several years. And the company is betting heavily that both consumer and enterprise video will drive a huge amount of that growth. "Video is not just the killer app," Cisco CEO John Chambers said. "It enables new business models, new health care models, new productivity models." Chambers also said Cisco is expanding beyond its role as "a plumber" to become a business partner and consultant for businesses looking to leverage new technologies. That's a strategy that could pay big dividends as vertical markets such as health care and education increasingly look for ways to use technology to connect with their customers and with each other.
Last year Google launched a public data search feature that allowed users to find statistics within the company's search service. Public data search includes statistics from the World Bank, the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, among others. It's a nice offering, but many users found that it was difficult to comb through so many statistics without an easy way to interpret them. In an attempt to address that issue, Google has launched Public Data Explorer. The service displays statistics taken from the various services currently included in its public data search in line graphs, bar charts or bubble charts. The charts are animated, allowing users to watch as the data points change throughout the years.
The recording industry is the principal investor in musicians' careers, according to a study released Tuesday by IFPI, an international recording industry group, and WIN, a network of independent record labels.
The global study found that about 30 percent of record companies' sales revenue is spent on supporting musical talent, amounting to $5 billion dollars spent on artists' careers every year. The study drew on data from IFPI's member record companies and other case studies.
The findings appear to attempt to refute a public relations challenge that has pestered the recording industry: the notion that labels bankrupt their talent, an allegation AM and FM broadcasters readily assert in their ongoing feud over whether radio stations must begin paying royalties to musicians. Legislation cleared by both Judiciary Committees would require AM and FM radio stations to pay a fee to performers for playing their music on the air. Broadcasters argue the bill would benefit corporate record labels, many of which are foreign owned, more than musicians.
Just days before the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released applications for the $650 million Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund on March 8, education technology researchers and developers expressed some concerns about the i3 program's procedures and requirements.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) set aside $650 million in the i3 fund for three levels of competitive grants that expand the implementation of, and investment in, innovative and evidence-based practices, programs, and strategies in schools. ED officials say these solutions should significantly improve K-12 achievement and close achievement gaps, lower dropout rates, increase high school graduation rates, and improve teacher and school leader effectiveness. James Shelton, assistant deputy secretary for ED's Office of Innovation and Improvement, acknowledged that the innovation pipeline is fractured and there are obstacles making it difficult to get from the research and development phase to taking a product or idea to scale. Specifically, Shelton said he is worried that applicants might have problems providing evidence that is necessary for the grants at the larger award levels.
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