DailyDirt: Remember When 'Wireless' Just Meant Radio?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Tue, Jan 11th 2011 5:00pm — Michael Ho

The internets are flooded with iPhone on Verizon commentary -- and the buzz probably won't die down until people actually start using the phones. Until then, we'll be ignoring all the debates over whether or not it's a fatal flaw that CDMA won't let you talk and surf at the same time. As Louis CK says, "Everything is amazing and nobody is happy." Anyway, here are some quick wireless articles that remind us that these radio-powered gadgets always have room for improvement.

Got antenna problems? Perhaps solid-state plasma antennas will be the answer. This kind of antenna definitely won't be exposed on phones -- and it's a bit ominous that this technology is also being developed for "pain beams" by the military. [url]
Verizon's modem hand-offs from 3G to LTE can take two minutes. Clearly, the solution to this problem is to just upgrade everything to LTE. [url]
T-Mobile is trying to get 4G speeds with 3G equipment. Hopefully, the alphabet soup of wireless acronyms will be completely obsolete in a few years. [url]
To actually make reliable calls, perhaps we just need wires still -- and have femtocells to let people go cordless. The femtocell workaround seems like a strange kludge... you really have to love your cellphone to set up a dedicated 5-bar area for it. [url]

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Filed Under: antenna, cdma, femtocell, lte
Companies: t-mobile, verizon

12 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jan 2011 @ 7:26pm

I like how you linked to a youtube video that is complete spam. nice
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jan 2011 @ 8:06pm

'Wireless' still means radio
It's amazing that some people apparently don't realize that cell phones are radio based.
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Pensiune Maramures, 12 Jan 2011 @ 1:06am

Improvements
I think that all the debates about these products are useful for the ones who actually use them :)
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jan 2011 @ 2:09am

Nevelle Ray is the Best!
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Don't take my word for it, check it out here:
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jan 2011 @ 2:13am

Nevelle Ray is the Best!
Here's the amazing link:

http://americas.rcrwireless.com/2011/01/05/t-mobile-usa�s-neville-ray-to-serve-as-4g-americ as�-chairperson/

Alizee: "J'en Ai Marre!"
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Jeremy Lyman (profile), 12 Jan 2011 @ 5:02am

femto user
I don't love my phone that much, but I love not having to buy a land line and answer different lines. I've already got internet, why shouldn't I run my phone service over it?
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- Michael Ho (profile), 12 Jan 2011 @ 9:53am
  
  Re: femto user
  I'm sure there are plenty of people who find value in femtocells, but it still strikes me as an awkward way to get cell coverage where you want it.
  
  I wish more phone services offered the key feature of Google Voice -- multiple phone number ringing. That's how *I* avoid answering different lines and buying a land line.....
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jan 2011 @ 5:56am

Cordless phones already have base stations that hook into a landline. I'm guessing femtocells would do the same thing but for your cell phone, allowing you to take it with you and then have the reliability of landlines when you're in your own home. Seems like a good idea since it'll reduce the number of phones people have. Personally, I get really bad cell phone reception inside my own apartment and I don't have a balcony which means I have to go all the way downstairs and outside in order to make a cell phone call. A femtocell would mean I don't have to keep and pay for a separate landline just for calling inside. Yeah it might be laziness but convenience is a good thing.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jan 2011 @ 5:57am

"But the new antenna, called Plasma Silicon Antenna, or PSiAN, relies on existing low-cost manufacturing techniques developed for silicon chips. It has been developed by Plasma Antennas of Winchester, UK."

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20827904.600-wireless-at-the-speed-of-plasma.html

I 'm actually surprised that this kind of innovation is coming from the U.K. Shows they at least still have some innovative potential. Of course it's not coming out of the U.S. , we're never at cutting edge of technology anymore. Now most of our innovation consists of patents on ideas that were copied from other countries. I was reading about the latest camera pill the other day and guess who developed it? Japan. The only thing the U.S. is at the cutting edge of these days is IP litigation.

The U.S. used to be innovative at one time. but now we're just litigious.
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Arnon, 12 Jan 2011 @ 9:18am

Femtocells are not a kludge
They are a scam.
Let's see how it works.
1. Wireless provider does not build enough infrastructure (i.e. whole towns in the middle of silicone valley with crappy reception due to lack of towers)
2. Very same provider gets you to shell out $100 to get the reception they were supposed to provide in the first place
3. By doing so you end up extending their coverage for a few houses around you on your penny
4. Said provider does not have to carry your traffic as you end up carrying it on your internet connection (oops, you just paid again)
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- BestGames (profile), 16 Jan 2011 @ 1:25pm
  
  Re: Femtocells are not a kludge
  I once worked in a call center as a cell phone customer service person taking calls from people with poor reception, faulty towers and crummy phones. I agree with you - I don't have a lot of respect for the current cell phone setup in the US.
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BestGames (profile), 16 Jan 2011 @ 1:20pm

CDMA is old school and a bad choice for any communication company that expects to succeed over the long term. Wireless traffic cameras, wireless nanny cams and more. I'll wait to but a good smart phone until the US allows real casino games to be played on mobile devices - then you'll see a real explosion of interest (at least on my part).
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