[Hold My Own]

Ok...lord knows I talk about Google on here all the time...I didnt want to add these articles to the Google Cell Phone thread b/c it's not about it...but I figured everything Google can go in here...here's a very interesting article...SLY I think you'll really think this is interesting

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-990174 ... 7-1_3-0-20

Google outlines proposal for 'Wi-Fi on steroids'
Posted by Anne Broache | 7 comments

Google on Monday said it has a plan to have American consumers from Manhattan to rural North Dakota surfing the Web on handheld gadgets at gigabits-per-second speeds by the 2009 holiday season.

The company, joined by other heavyweights like Microsoft and Dell, has long been lobbying for the Federal Communications Commission to free up unused broadcast TV channels known as "white spaces" for unlicensed use by personal devices. That portion of the TV band is highly prized because it can propagate long distances and through obstacles.

It also possesses the bandwidth to support vastly faster data rates than today's standard Internet service offerings--"Wi-Fi on steroids" or "Wi-Fi 2.0," as Richard Whitt, Google's telecommunications counsel, put it in a Monday morning conference call.

In a renewed effort to get the FCC on board with the idea, Google filed a six-page letter late on Friday that attempts to erase lingering concerns from TV broadcasters and microphone manufacturers about harmful interference caused by the entry of new devices.

"We're doing this because we want everybody to be satisfied with this process," Whitt said. "We think it's the right time to put these ideas in the record and see where they go."

Google isn't interested in becoming a wireless service provider or building a network of its own, Whitt said. It does, however, envision the white spaces as a "unique opportunity to provide ubiquitous wireless access for all Americans" and a prime spot for use of mobile handsets running its open-source Android platform. Google hopes to start rolling out Android devices, which are being developed in conjunction with a 34-company consortium, as soon as summer or fall of this year, Whitt said.

Even if the FCC signs off, the offerings wouldn't be immediate. The spectrum won't be ready for use until at least February 2009, when over-the-air broadcasters are required to vacate that band as part of the congressionally mandated shift to all-digital television.

The FCC also isn't expected to issue any rules for use of the spectrum for another several months, Whitt said. Agency engineers are still testing early-stage devices submitted by Microsoft and Phillips for interference issues.

Avoiding interference
In hopes of nudging that process in its favor, Google's new filing describes a multipronged approach aimed at avoiding interference. Building upon suggestions made in a filing by Motorola last fall, it said any new unlicensed TV white-spaces devices would be blocked from transmitting signals unless they had received a sort of "permission to transmit" message. Wireless microphones could also be outfitted with "inexpensive" beacons that would send out a signal to white-spaces devices that says " don't come here," by Whitt's description.

In addition, Google proposes setting up a "safe harbor," between channels 37 and 39, where unlicensed white-space devices would not be allowed to operate, but wireless microphones and other licensed devices would. It also urges the FCC not to discount the promise of "spectrum-sensing" technologies, which, for example, are supported by 802.11a-based Wi-Fi to protect military radars from interference.

Google also offered to provide no-cost "technical support" to third parties hoping to use the white spaces, should they be opened up.

Even if the regulators ultimately approve use of the white spaces, "no product will come to market unless the FCC can verify that the device does not interfere with TV or wireless microphone signals," Whitt said.

Representatives from the National Association of Broadcasters and wireless microphone manufacturers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.

Google's renewed white-spaces push comes just days after the FCC ended an auction of the remaining portion of the 700MHz broadcast TV spectrum that's being vacated for the digital switch next year. The company had been active in the event, lobbying beforehand for "open-access" conditions allowing consumers to attach whatever devices or run whatever applications they please.

The search giant had committed to bidding $4.6 billion for the "open-access" spectrum block, but last week, the FCC announced that it was Verizon Wireless, not Google, that had won those licenses.

Whitt said he couldn't say the proposal had nothing to do with the auction results, but because of FCC rules, he isn't able to comment further on Google's involvement in the auction until the end of next week.

[Sly Fox]

Nothing surprising here. The FCC is being lobbied from all sides for the spectrum access. Although I admit Google's tactics in this process are certainly clever. They have a ton invested in the success of Android.

[Hold My Own]

So let me get this right...I'll be able to buy the "Gphone" and use it on sprint correct?

[Sly Fox]

It is my understanding that will be the case. And as you probably have seen in the ad campaign during the tourney, Spring now has the all-inclusive $99 package that covers unlimited talk and data services. The only negative is Sprint's crappy coverage in most of America and the fact the company is in major financial crisis. This $99 package may pull them out of trouble or it may just be the new standard to which everyone in the industry matches. It won't take long to determine.

[ALUmnus]

I might be totally talking about the wrong thing, because that's usually the case, but didn't the telecomm companies just buy the rights to use this? I thought I just saw on TV last night that the usual suspects, Verizon/ATT/etc, just purchased this.

["R" i "]

which phone companies would be able to offer the "Gphone".

I have intelos..... am i S.O.L. ?

[Hold My Own]

Yeah the reason every company is offering this now is b/c companys like LU are now getting taxed on every minute that their employees use for their unlimited plans...now LU is having to cancel all of their phones and give $$$ to employees to get their own plans


I'm shocked it took the govt this long to realize the amount of money they were losing




EDIT: I'm pretty sure though that Sly is correct and the whole purpose for them to get on this cell phone kick was to open it up for everyone so I can take more phone from sprint and use it at AT&T

["R" i "]

or is it ntelos?

[Sly Fox]

Somewhere El Scorcho is pulling his hair out wishing he could post.

[ALUmnus]

El Sorcho, pm someone so they can post and correct our idiocy.

[LUconn]

Yeah the reason every company is offering this now is b/c companys like LU are now getting taxed on every minute that their employees use for their unlimited plans...now LU is having to cancel all of their phones and give $$$ to employees to get their own plans

Really. I guess that explains why El Scorcho switched to the iPhone

[Sly Fox]

Yeah, that and the fact the mere sight of the Apple logo sends him into ecstacy.

[Hold My Own]

Yeah the reason every company is offering this now is b/c companys like LU are now getting taxed on every minute that their employees use for their unlimited plans...now LU is having to cancel all of their phones and give $$$ to employees to get their own plans

Really. I guess that explains why El Scorcho switched to the iPhone

[LUconn]

Yeah, that and the fact the mere sight of the Apple logo sends him into ecstacy.

true. I guess I should say that's why he WAS ABLE TO switch.

[HenryGale]

Is this only going to be able to be used on mobile devices, or can I buy a wireless card and use it in my desktop as well?

[mrmacphisto]

Is this only going to be able to be used on mobile devices, or can I buy a wireless card and use it in my desktop as well?

I'm not an expert, but I'm guessing this WiFi will be broadcast and made accessible much like existing WiFi is today, just on a larger scale. It's hard to say if it will be compatible with existing WiFi tech, but I'm going to say probably not. What that said, there will probably be a huge market for the new WiFi cards. You should be able to use it on your desktop somehow.

[Hold My Own]

Sure, you can add a USB wireless adapter....there are already some cities that are Wifi accessible...alot of the European cities are (but their internet blows ours out the water) darn comcast

[ALUmnus]

And this is one of the many reasons I don't use google.

http://video1.washingtontimes.com/fishw ... _wi_1.html

[LUconn]

That's a pretty dumb reason. I hope your others are better.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

Agreed.

[JDUB]

so you don't use google because they are helping some tree huggers? big deal, if they want to waste their money on that who cares?
keep on boycotting, i guarantee you whoever you use instead of google has done something stupid similar to this sometime in the past

[Hold My Own]

How does google recruit? Riddles...I found this so funny...and it's a true story!



http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/05/cryp ... board.html

When TIME magazine featured the Google Trio on their cover page, they carried an interesting picture of a billboard put up on Route 101 highway that links the Silicon Valley to San Francisco. The billboard said:

{first 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits of e} .com

The answer to this complex maths equation was 7427466391.com - The select few Silicon Valley drivers who could solve this out and made it to the right website then encountered another riddle. Solving it led to another web page where they were finally invited to submit their curriculum vitae to Google.

There were no logos or taglines but the anonymous advertiser was Google looking to hire smart people.

In the past, Google also has inserted the "Google Labs Aptitude Test" in geeky publications like Linux Journal. It poses 21 questions, ranging from absurdly complex mathematical equations to poetic queries like "What is the most beautiful math equation ever derived?"

[Hold My Own]

Google was ranked the top place to work by Fortune Mag again...you should google the things they wrote about them, a lot of articles and top 10's such as top 10 people that work there, top 10 people who've left and what they are doing now, top 10 things people dont know about life at googleplex such as a movie theater that has several new releases..and this is the real deal not some big room with a few seats...and some say they have some of the best food around, and "nobody should be 40 feet from snacks or a good meal"

but here's another article that's very interesting by one of my favorite sites fastcompany

http://www.fastcompany.com/fast50_08/go ... scoll.html

PERKS FOR GOOGLERS BY GOOGLERS

"The majority of initiatives come from our Google population. We provide an atmosphere that says, 'We're not going to do this for you. Just go do it.' And we encourage whatever special interests, whatever things you want to do. We don't want HR to be seen as something that dictates anything."

DOING WHAT MAKES SENSE

"We do things that make sense for that population. Maybe a dance troupe works out really well in India but doesn't translate to the London office. That's okay. It could be as simple as prayer and meditation rooms, or as ambitious as a companywide volunteer day. Someone had a friend who was an author they thought other Googlers would be interested in. That became the Google author series. We invited all the presidential candidates to speak here in a fireside-chat forum. We've had eight so far."

MAKING LIFE AWAY FROM WORK MORE EFFICIENT

"Some things are no-brainers. We found someone who does oil changes here in the parking lot. That's not something that Google pays for. Employees pay for it. We just offer the space.

Dry cleaning is a similar situation. We contract out to a company that provides that service to employees. These are things that are easy for employers to do, and it makes life easier for their employees. It just takes work to put the program into place and think about what's really going to help. We had a lot of employees who didn't have laundry machines in their homes. That's where the laundry room here came from.

All this goes back to how we look at benefits and perks.

We're trying to make your life outside the office more efficient. We don't want you to spend three hours going to the doctor. Let's have doctors here on site so it'll take 20 minutes. Not because we want you back in your seat doing work. But because we don't want you to have to go home and do extra work because it took so long to go to the doctor."

LEARNING FROM OUTSIDERS

"We run a speaker series where we bring in highly technical people, leaders in their field, who get together with a group of like-minded people to talk about those subjects. It's not a sales presentation. It's a real, meaty technical exchange. It fosters the ongoing learning culture here. What we all want to be able to maintain at Google is this interest in the outward environment. We don't just learn from ourselves.

Our philosophy is providing all the great things you would have in a PhD or graduate program. That's how you're going to attract people who are interested in working in a collaborative environment."

TAKING THE GOOGLE SHUTTLE TO WORK

"Someone thought it's not great for all these Google employees who live in San Francisco to drive 35 miles to work, and that morphed into a transportation network that shuttles 1,200 people a day, which has a huge impact on the environment and on people's lives.

We decided where shuttle stops are by looking at where the Google population is based in San Francisco, the East Bay, the South Bay. I have a stop five minutes from my house.

The buses have wireless access, so I'll run through some email. It's also a time for me to sit and think about how my day is going to be and what I'm going to prioritize or how I think about a particular issue. I might read. That's me. I don't look at it as 100% work time. I look at it as a way of getting back to the city at a reasonable hour while not cutting my day short. I can work a reasonable day, hop on the shuttle, and still follow up on email. I never feel like I shortchanged myself on what I had to do."

[ALUmnus]

How is that a dumb reason when there are hundreds of alternatives out there? The only thing I've ever used google for is for search, and their search capabilities aren't exactly so much better than everyone else's that there's nowhere else you can look. Should I support planned parenthood by overlooking their abortion services? No. If a company does something I strongly disagree with, then I don't give them my business, because honestly that's my only retort. Google does this crap all the time, why should I support that? And yes, there are other reasons.

[LUconn]

So it's true. 1 man really can make a difference.