• TREND # 1: Faster speed through third-generation (3G) broadband networks and new WiMax networks.
  -3G is making progress, but even more exciting is the role out of 3.5G with HSPD technology, making DSL and Cable broadband speeds available over a wireless network.
• TREND # 2: Phones are becoming portable multimedia entertainment centers!
  -We have seen this become reality with camera phones and increasing with digital TV over 3G networks. Providing content for these devices is going to become a big business.
• TREND # 3: Log onto the Web from anywhere with the emergence of citywide Wi-Fi networks.
  -In the US we hear of many big cities rollling out plans for these services, but it is also happening in many small cities in the US and Europe alike. True mobility is on its way!!
• TREND # 4: Wireless gaming among multiple players over a mobile cell network.
  -Mobile gaming generated $203 million in revenue last year. But mobile gaming is expected to generate as much as $1.8 billion dollars by 2009. Mobile gaming will follow the same trend in the gaming industry of movement towards multi player games over the mobile network.
• TREND # 5: Have more fun with increasingly sophisticated downloadable ringtones.
  -The ringtone market is set to double to $6 Billion Dollars worldwide by 2008.

Prudence is required when setting up a corporate wireless network, but the risk can be out weighted by implementing the property security measures. I have recently been involved in setting up a company wide wireless network in which we applied multiple levels of security giving us complete confidence for our data’s security.

The first, and most basic, level of security was password protection. Here we applied the router’s integrated protection using a pre-shared key (WPA-PSL/WPA2-PSK) with data encryption. With the increasingly availablity of tools to hack this level of security we didn’t feel safe stopping here. The second level of security was to disable DHCP and require the proper LAN configuration. Last, but not least, we wanted to push the security to a hardware level by applying MAC address filtering. These layers required additional work from a network administration perspective, but the additional security applied makes it worth it.

Applying these three layers of security we feel more secure in opening our network to wi-fi. My only remaining fear lies in the security of the wireless router as the network is as only secure as the access to the router itself. If you have additional suggestions or comments on securing a wireless network please leave a comment below.

• Certified Wireless USB (WUSB) -? Wireless USB devices are finally expected to hit the market by the end of the year. This technology, offering connectivity speeds matching those of todays wired USB 2.0 at 480 megabits-per-second, brings us closer to the cable-free desktop.
• High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) – Vodafone to sell six HSDPA phones. This technology could help mobile operators offer speeds of 1.8 megabits per second to start with, rising to as much as 14mbps soon, bringing broadband speeds to mobile devices. Existing 3G networks at best offer Internet speeds of about 384 kilobits per second. With this type of wide spreed technology we will begin to see true innovation and extension of the internet.

CNet reports that “Because of their small size and low energy consumption, Wibree radio chips will make it possible and efficient to connect phones and other electronics devices to low-power watches or sports sensors and health monitors.”

Assuming that the transfer rate with Wibree is equivalent to Bluetooth this new technology will improve one of two current shortcoming to Bluetooth. The first being energy consumption and the second is the transfer rate which is still lacking for a wide range of applications. It will be interesting to see if other emerging technologies such as WUSB, that improves the transfer rate, will be able to resolve both issues.

When Michelle Dubé, a golf instructor in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., finishes a lesson, she whips out her BlackBerry wireless device–to schedule the next appointment, sure, but also to swipe the student’s credit card for payment right there on the driving range.

It takes only a few seconds, and it saves Dubé a trip to the bank to deposit a check or a fistful of cash. Plus, her clients like it. “They’re just surprised–they’re like, ‘Wow, you’re a techno-wizard,’ ” she said.

The novelty may soon wear off. Plumbers, limousine drivers, flea market proprietors and merchants of all sizes and stripes are beginning to take credit and debit cards in odd places, often using nothing more than an ordinary cell phone and a card swipe attachment, or a handheld device with a built-in swipe slot. Now that wireless networks span the nation and devices that tap into them are cheap and reliable, expectations for the technology are running high outside these niches.

Already in some restaurants a waiter will swipe a credit card tableside (a practice that is widespread in Europe), and some car rental companies use hand-held devices to check people out when they return cars. A day could soon come when a clerk at a large department store will ask customers in the aisle if they would like to check out there, or a shopping cart at the grocery will have a built-in scanner and card reader.

URL: Wireless moves the cash register where you are

In Boeing’s Connexion system, laptops on a plane connect to two or three WiFi access point on the plane. The access points then connect to an onboard server, which then links to a satellite to get to the Internet. Occasionally, the service drops for a few minutes when the plane is between satellites.

You can also use it to make VoIP calls, said Keith Kressin, director of marketing for Intel?s Mobile Platforms Group. So those that want to aggravate your fellow passengers but don’t want to break the rules surrounding cellular phones on planes, speak away.

Approximately eleven airlines offer Connexion service, including Lufthansa and ANA. The service costs around $15 to $30, depending on the airline and route.

Intel has also started to kick off efforts to verify notebooks with 3G data services and with WiMax, Kressin said.

URL: WiFi and VoIP in the sky