MuniWireless

Nearly every online tech publication, including this one, has written about the AT&T announcement offering free Wi-Fi access to iPhone users at Starbucks. Unfortunately in at least two Starbucks locations — Bush Street at Grant in San Francisco and California Avenue in Palo Alto — it’s not working. Indeed AT&T’s splash page sends users to T-Mobile!

Here’s a note I received from an iPhone user today:

I went to the Starbucks on California Ave. in Palo Alto. My iPhone shows two SSIDs:…

Glenn Fleishman has written an analysis of municipal wireless networking, tracing its development from large citywide “free” networks (which did not get built out) to smaller, more targeted networks (Minneapolis, Oklahoma City). He focuses much of the article on mesh vendor Meraki’s strategy: unwiring small neighborhoods, apartment complexes and downtown areas. EarthLink’s pullout from the municipal wireless market, the failiure of wireless ISPs such as Kite Networks and MetroFi, and more importantly, the financial crisis which has drained cities and…

AT&T is giving away access to all of its Wi-Fi hotspots in Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, and other locations to iPhone users. I can understand why they’re doing this: they want iPhone owners to use Wi-Fi instead of the 3G network which has suffered a number of outages in recent months in various parts of the US. According to Engadget, there is a hack for people who don’t own iPhones but want to get access to AT&T’s Wi-Fi networks for…

It’s here: the first Android-based phone, the G1, from T-Mobile for $180 with a two-year contract. The phone has a Qwerty keyboard, touch-screen, and uses both 3G and Wi-Fi. Users can also purchase applications from the Android Market (similar to the Apple app store). Go to http://www.T-MobileG1.com for more information.

I am very curious to see how many people buy the G1 given that there’s been a lot of hype about it. The Android operating system is open-source, making it much more…

You can buy the Apple 3G iPhone unlocked from the Apple store in Hongkong. Unfortunately if you try to order and get it delivered outside Hongkong, the Apple HK online store does not allow it. But I am sure there are retailers in Hongkong who would gladly ship it to you. The Apple HK online store says (see screenshot below): “iPhone 3G purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier. Simply insert the SIM from…

T-Mobile rolled out its latest device, the G1 phone which uses Android (Google’s open-source OS for mobile devices). Now that the hype has finally died down, here’s my take on the phone:

it’s rather ugly: cheap plastic keyboard, looks too much like all the other old devices with their cheap plastic keyboards (thinking of the Sidekick) no desktop syncing application no video playback except for YouTube; you need an SD card for music or video playback you can use only one…