Working Anywhere

Meraki Sponsors WiFi Access At San Francisco City Hall Chambers

In what should NOT be considered "Free" WiFi, Meraki, the makers of a lightweight mesh networking platform, have sponsored the deployment of WiFi inside San Francisco's City Hall, reports MuniWireless.com

To me there is a huge difference between "free" and "sponsored" even if the general public perceives it to be "free." The rationales are quite simple as the sponsored model in this case is the same as a park's beautification being underwritten by a benefactor. If the benefactor says no more, the ongoing beautification of the park stops until a new one can be found.

In the case of San Francisco, the city won't be subsidizing the WiFi anytime soon, so Meraki stepped in and in a very self serving (in a good way) developed a plan to bring greater attention to the merits and benefits of WiFi.

Well done by all, and hat tip to Esme Vos for drawing attention to this.

It's Not So Clear Anymore

The fast pass program known as Clear has had its bubble burst. As Om points out in his post, the service has gone away and in my mind it traveled much the same way as Metricom's Ricochet, a service that was also ahead of its time.

As a true road warrior (I spent less than 50 nights in my own bed in 2008) who has traversed many an airport security line, the "cut in line" offering from Clear was nothing more than a time saver. Unfortunately, for most, that wasn't enough to shell out $120 or so.

I'll miss it, because my time in airports is an extension of my work life. I tend to get to the airport earlier now than before. Not because of lines, but because of airport WiFi or the ability to use a 3G card. Finding a nice place to work, a comfortable chair like what Southwest offers, knowing I'll have in-flight WiFi on a Virgin or American Airlines flight, the use of an airport lounge with Continental, American or Virgin Atlantic or Open Skies are all part of my time planning process.

Working in virtual meet up calls, and knowing I would absolutely be past security, nestled comfortably on a floor somewhere, having a call using client Truphone or Skype or a conference call via client HiDef Conferencing were all more predictable because I could plan the time better to get through the line. What's more, as I pointed out in a comment on Om's blog, I could more easily catch an earlier flight if I arrived earlier, as in many cases SouthWest had flights almost every hour or so to San Diego from San Jose.

At the end of the day, the Clear program benefits to road warriors was clear. It gave us all more time to do more things we need to accomplish, and had greater positive economic impact on airports than the airports or the FAA/TSA could ever see clearly.

My guess is a more government based program, using the same approach won't be far off as the road warrior, frequent flier, is keeping the airports in business, not the once a year flier.

3G GSM MiFi Hits the Retail Channel

I'm a fan of the Novatel Wireless MiFi, but now are even more excited about the possibilities, as the GSM version is now available.

This video shows just what it can do.

With an unlocked one of these and prepaid data, you can wander the world and stay connected.

Technology Observations by One On The Go

Unlike McDonalds in the USA, McDonalds in France offers FREE WiFi.

They also offer better food. Fresher tasting, more garlicky fries and people who even speak English. Yes, the young person behind the counter spoke English as well as any American. That's saying something. At the McDonalds in the USA they have a hard time understanding Philadelphian or even San Diegan.

But back to the WiFi. Easy log on. Dual language navigation, offered in both French and English and a very quick and snappy logon process. Just agree to the terms and conditions and your on.

Then again, the French parking payment machines make the Sacramento Amytrak Station Parking Payment system look like something draconian. Get your ticket on the way in. Insert on the way out. Put in your credit card. Leave. And, you don't even have to read French to follow the instructions.

Bottom line, I'm still finding that while Europe tends to lag behind in when a technology is deployed, they catch up fast and quickly surpass the USA in deployment, ease of use and making something affordable.

P.S. Orange's Internet Everywhere rocks. Rapid connection. Pay as you go. Now if I can only find something like it in Spain where I'll be for the next five days, at Mobile 2.0 and then celebrating what will be the third birthday of the week with a dear friend in Madrid.

Devicescape Makes Printing Easy, Brother

Devicescape, best known for Easy WiFi, the app that makes connecting to multiple hotspot networks including Boingo, T-Mobile and if you can find one, even FON hotspots, has expanded into the connectivity to printers in a deal with Brother.

Voice Tools Summarized by The Wall Street Journal

I'd be remiss if I didn't draw attention to the story in yesterday's Wall Street Journal Online entitled One Home For Your Voice Mail.

The story led off with Google Voice, aka the service formerly knows as GrandCentral started by former clients and very good friends Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet, which remains in a very tightly controlled Google Beta. It also included GotVoice, You Mail and PhoneTag, another company run by a good friend, James Siminoff, which many may know of as Simulscribe as well as UK export, Spinvox.

The key to these services is less clutter and less diffusion with regard to your voice mail, but of the services only Google Voice goes beyond taking and transcribing the message, in really making the attempt to eliminate voice mail all together. The service tries to find you first if you want to be found.

How well does it work? Take this real world example.

I'm in London. Someone calls my USA 858 area code number or my UK number. Both point/are forwarded to Google Voice. One of my destination settings is my USA Truphone number (a 415 area code number). Google Voice routes the call to Truphone which when I'm not on WiFi forwards the call to whichever SIM happens to be inside my Nokia E71 at the time, wherever in the world I may be. Net net, I paid nothing for that international transport of the call.

To be transparent, Google Voice/GrandCentral + Truphone. Both are currently or have been agency clients, and both solve the problem of staying in touch and easily being connected.

Clearwire Gambles on Las Vegas

Mobile WiMax operator Clearwire has quietly begun offering service in Las Vegas.