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Microsoft will deliver low-cost broadband to 500,000 rural Indian villages
A major partnership with Google putting free Wi-Fi in 400 train stations wasn't the only major network news coming from India today. The Indian government also announced on Monday that it will pair with Microsoft to bring low-cost broadband connectivity to half a million villages throughout the subcontinent. That should help at least some of the estimated 4 million people that go without internet connectivity every year
Microsoft technology gives Seattle 5,000 times faster public WiFi
Techie culture-vultures aren't likely to encounter Vine upload fails anymore at Seattle's home to arts, culture and the Space Needle thanks to Microsoft. The city's biggest patron has installed a new WiFi service at the Seattle Center that uses new technology to blow away the previous system's speed and capacity. The installation is a pilot program for Microsoft Research's white space tech that harnesses long-range, wall-penetrating TV signals. Along with quadruple the access points, the tech gives the Seattle Center public WiFi speeds up to 5,000 times faster, letting you Skype, Vine and Meerkat to your heart's content.
Ofcom declares unused TV spectrum open for business
The switchover to digital delivery of terrestrial TV completed in the UK several years ago, but even before analogue signals were put fully to rest, airwaves regulator Ofcom was thinking about potential uses for these newly liberated slices of spectrum, known as TV white spaces. Ofcom and partners have been conducting tech trials ever since, the most recent of which hooked a few of London Zoo's cutest attractions up with webcams that broadcast over white space frequencies (the streams are still live, by the way). And, with lessons learnt and successes counted, Ofcom has today formally approved TV white space technologies for use. That's not to say Ofcom's done playing its part, though, as it now has the job of managing the airwaves and telling devices how to behave. Regulators gotta regulate, you know?
London Zoo's otters now livestreaming to YouTube using leftover TV signals
Like most residents of The Smoke, you probably don't visit tourist attractions like London Zoo unless out-of-towners (or your sprogs) require entertaining. Now, though, you don't even need make the trip to Regent's Park to gawk at some of the zoo's cutest critters, with new livestreams that send footage from several enclosures straight to the screen in your bleak office cubicle. The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has teamed up with Google to make this so, in a two-month trial that's testing video broadcasting over TV white spaces (vacant frequencies in the TV spectrum). Live footage from the meerkat, otter and Galapagos tortoise enclosures is being sent over these idle frequencies to a central location, which forwards them on to YouTube (streams embedded after the break). This isn't just so you've got something to stare at during your 15-minute sandwich break, though, as the main aim of the trial is to figure out how white space transmissions could be used by conservationists out in the field.
UK Prime Minister wants a 'permanent technological revolution'... and movies downloaded in a second
David Cameron outlined his Spectrum Strategy for the UK's digital future, touching on 5G mobile broadband, better use of existing wireless frequencies and (as we keep hearing) the internet of things. In a speech at CeBIT 2014 in Hanover, he said: "This is a world on fast forward, a world of permanent technological revolution. Countries like the UK and Germany will only succeed if we have a relentless drive for new ideas and innovations." The government plans to stake £45 million (around $75 million) on research into that pesky internet of things, with the Prime Minister reckoning that improved spectrum use will lead to economic benefits of around £100 billion by 2025 -- and probably less spinning wheel of death.
British highway to become internet-connected 'network of sensors' over 50-mile stretch
In a team-up between the UK's Department of Transport, BT and Cambridge start-up Neul, the A14 (which connects Felixstowe to Birmingham) will be transformed into the country's first internet-connected road, with the aim of preparing the country for future tech from wireless toll chargers to automated cars. The smart road will include a network of sensors across a 50-mile segment, with data transmission delivered over white space. Ofcom approved the project yesterday, alongside its plans for the rest of the spectrum space. According to the regulator, "sensors in cars and on the roads monitor the build-up of congestions and wirelessly send this information to a central traffic control system, which automatically imposes variable speed limits that smooth the flow of traffic," Ofcom said. "This system could also communicate directly with cars, directing them along diverted routes to avoid the congestion and even managing their speed." Initial plans for the A14 aren't focused on these borderline zealous goals just yet. Instead, the project aims to gather information on the cars that use the A14, before focusing on heavy goods vehicles, feeding back to a database that the government's Department for Transport will be able to access. As The Guardian notes, the project would offer a cheaper method for data connectivity and gathering traffic information compared to the mobile network techniques used by companies like TomTom. Instead of connecting to pricey mobile masts, the project will tap into small base stations attached to street lamps or BT exchanges, many of which already exist along the hectic A-road. (Image credit: Martin Pettitt, Flickr)
UK regulator names Microsoft, Google and others for white space wireless trials
Though rural dwellers are often broadband-poor, there seems to be plenty of companies lining up to serve them in the UK. Regulator Ofcom just announced participants for its "white space" or unused spectrum trials, including Microsoft, Google, Click4Internet and British Telecom. Redmond's going to test WiFi-like services to underserved Glasgow, while Click4internet will assess rural broadband in remote or tricky locations. Google has signed on as a potential database provider, and other use cases like traffic management will be tested by BT and others. Ofcom wants to launch such services by next year and released a blueprint detailing how existing mobile and digital terrestrial TV spectrums could be divvied up. To see all the companies and what each plans to do, check the source.
FCC approves Google's white space wireless database
Google may have been on pins and needles while the FCC scrutinized its white space wireless database over the spring, but it can relax this summer -- the FCC has given the database the all-clear. The approval lets Google serve as one of ten go-to sources for white space devices needing safe frequencies in the US. It also lets those with interference-prone devices, such as wireless microphone users, register the airwaves they consider off-limits to white space technology. The clearance won't have much immediate effect when very few Americans are using the spectrum, but it's a step forward for rural broadband rollouts and other situations where long-range, unlicensed wireless comes in handy.
Google reportedly pursuing 'multipronged effort' to build wireless networks in emerging markets
Google has been busy pushing ahead with plans to be a wired internet provider in the US with Google Fiber, and it looks like it's intent on being a major player in the wireless network business elsewhere in the world as well. According to a report out today from The Wall Street Journal, Google is currently in the midst of a "mutipronged effort" that would "fund, build and help run wireless networks in emerging markets such as sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia." That effort would reportedly involve partnerships with local companies, and an emphasis on delivering wireless access to residents outside major cities, where wired internet remains unavailable -- Google, and Eric Schmidt in particular, have repeatedly talked about reaching the next five billion people. According to the WSJ, Google would provide its own "recently developed wireless technologies" for at least some of the networks, some of which are said to involve TV whitespace technology. For its part, Google is remaining mum on the matter, and it's not clear when we can expect the networks to actually roll out.
Microsoft bringing white space internet, Windows 8 hardware to Tanzania
It's not just Bill Gates who has a benevolent eye turned towards Africa, as Microsoft has launched the second stage of its 4Afrika initiative in Tanzania. Redmond has teamed up with local provider UhuruOne to roll out white space broadband to the University of Dar es Salaam and is working with banks to help students get loans to buy Windows 8 hardware. Microsoft will also employ some students as on-campus support staff, offering training and qualifications to help them in the future. While the press release doesn't mention the discounted Huawei W1 that Microsoft is offering in Kenya, we can only assume Tanzanians will get the same offer -- fair's fair, after all. [Original image credit: Alexander Landfair / Wikimedia Commons]
UK regulator wants white space wireless service in 2014, starts trials this fall
While there have been white space test runs in the UK, these were private trials that weren't going to get the ball rolling without government help. Thankfully, local regulator Ofcom is of a like mind. It now plans a trial for data on the in-between frequencies this fall, with full-fledged service going live as soon as 2014. The agency expects to settle on the final locations for the pilot after it chooses partners. No, Ofcom can't guarantee that all the stars will align for rural broadband or other long-range wireless projects -- but its involvement at least means those stars are within reach.
Google starts a TV white space trial in South Africa to wirelessly link schools
Google has been a strong advocate of white space wireless as democratizing broadband access: its long-range nature can bring people online when the local internet framework isn't always reliable, if it exists at all. The company is about to illustrate that potential through a new trial in South Africa. A trio of base stations at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town will supply ten nearby primary and secondary schools with internet access to prove that white space access can work without affecting TV signals. To make sure it won't, Google is picking the safest frequencies from a database and is measuring the results for the sake of both nervous broadcasters and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa. If all goes well, it (and similar efforts from Microsoft) should make a case for full approval of white space use across the country and deliver internet access to remote areas that risk being left by the technological wayside.
Google to monitor unused white space across the US, take us one step closer to spectrum sharing
One of the biggest hold-ups in the global deployment of LTE and long-range WiFi is a lack of available spectrum. Even when a particular frequency is free and usable for mobile broadband, it's often officially reserved for some other purpose. Google's charitable wing, Google.org, has long claimed that as much as 6 MHz of white space kept aside for TV channels in the US is actually untapped, and now it's going to get a chance to prove the point. The FCC has just granted it a 45-day window in which to run a trial public database (linked below) to keep track of exactly which bits of spectrum are free in which parts of the country. If all goes well, Google should find itself among up to ten other organizations that are allowed to supervise spectrum sharing -- in other words, allowing mobile devices to temporarily exploit available TV spectrum that isn't being used by the primary holder. Google's ultimate aim, we're told, is simply to "improve connectivity" at a global level. As to whether the other nine names on the FCC's list -- like Microsoft and Ericsson-owned Telcordia -- are equally altruistic, we have absolutely no idea.
Microsoft launches 4Afrika initiative with Huawei W1 variant, TV white space broadband project
Following the lead of co-founder Bill Gates Microsoft is taking more interest in Africa, announcing its 4Afrika Initiative with a stated aim of improving the continent's global competitiveness. There are several plans under way as a part of the project, with one of the first being a new Windows Phone 8 device from Microsoft and Huawei. Pictured above, the Huawei 4Afrika phone is a specially tailored version of the existing Ascend W1 meant as an affordable option (no price announced yet) for first time smartphone buyers that also comes preloaded with apps created by African developers for African consumers, and a subsection of the existing Windows Phone Store that will continue to focus on "locally-relevant" apps and content. It will be available in blue, red, black and white when it launches later this month in Angola, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa. Another part of the push is a pilot project Microsoft is working on with the Kenyan government and Indigo Telecom which combines solar powered base stations using TV white space technology to offer affordable wireless internet access. Meant to bring broadband to places that currently lack even electricity, the deployment is called Mawingu, connecting a healthcare clinic and several schools in its initial test. After several years of pushing the tech, which takes advantage of unused TV broadcast spectrum, Microsoft hopes to convince other nations to make the legal/regulatory changes to start using it as well. There's a press release after the break with more details, as well as a video and more information available beyond the source links.
'First' prototype hardware built for broadband over IEEE's white space standard
If you hadn't realized already, spectrum is quite the hot commodity, and any unused slice is a potential data highway just begging to be cruised. One mostly vacant stretch is the eerie white space -- megahertz left empty when TV broadcasts move from analog to digital frequencies. The IEEE published its 802.22 standard for white space broadband 18 months ago, and now a group comprising the NICT, ISB Corp and Hitachi Kokusai Electric (not to be confused with the other Hitachi) have built the "first" prototype hardware to make use of it. White space spectrum in the 470 to 710MHz range is expected to provide wireless internet to "underserved areas" and act as an emergency backup for downed systems, when infrastructure is finally up and running. Given we're only at the prototype stage following the inception of the 802.22 standard in 2011, out-of-towners will probably be waiting a while longer before having the option to stream entertainment over those dead TV airwaves. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.
ARM forms UK group to foster an Internet of Things, put 50 billion devices online by 2020
ARM isn't content with dominating the mobile space. It's been by the far the most vocal about an Internet of Things where everything is connected -- and to make that happen, it just established an industry forum in the UK that it hopes will establish common ground for all those internet-linked light bulbs, refrigerators and thermostats. Home energy firm Alertme, cloud-aware sensing outfit AquaMW, lighting maker EnLight and white space wireless guru Neul will start meeting with ARM from August 24th onwards to hash out our automated, eco-friendly future. There's a certain urgency in this for the chip designer: it expects 50 billion devices on the grid by 2020. With IDC estimating a billion new connected devices just in 2011, the clock on that connected device transition is ticking very loudly.
The Unfinished Swan is 'Whitespace' with more color, swans and wonder
Like thatgamecompany before it, The Unfinished Swan dev team is being pseudo internalized by Sony in order to complete a PSN game exclusively. In so many words, the folks at Giant Sparrow got set up with "office space, equipment, and advice," in exchange for creating a PS3-exclusive title – the title in question being The Unfinished Swan.But wait, haven't we seen a first-person painting game before? Why yes, yes we have ... way back in 2008 when it was still named "Whitespace." Holy moly! Giant Sparrow apparently signed a deal with Sony some time in the past few years and have been plugging away on The Unfinished Swan ever since. The team's first goal: establishing a story for their neat tech demo."The idea of painting a white world is pretty abstract. You could make all kinds of different games about that," creative director Ian Dallas admits on the PlayStation blog. What his team found most interesting, however, was crafting a tale around the "sense of wonder" the world gave them. "After splatting stuff for a few months we realized what we liked most about it was the sense of wonder it created. We liked not knowing what was out there." As such, The Unfinished Swan now follows the tale of "a boy named Monroe who's chasing after a swan ... the swan stepped out of a painting and has wandered off into a surreal, unfinished world."Beyond the basic story trappings and painting mechanic, Dallas promises, "the painting a white world stuff is actually just the first 15 minutes." But then what? "After that, things get really weird." Well, OK then!The Unfinished Swan has no release window just yet, but will eventually launch exclusively on the PlayStation 3's digital network.
Nokia experiments with location-based white space services in Cambridge, UK (video)
Following news of the first successful white space trials in Cambridge, UK, Nokia is now touting its research in the area with a demonstration of location-based services for the unlicensed spectrum. Traditionally, proponents of white space usage have positioned this unused portion of the airwaves as a viable, low-cost method of data transmission, but the Nokia folks have now demonstrated its ability to pinpoint one's location with much greater accuracy than either WiFi or cellular networks. Think of it as a counterpoint to NFC, if you will, but in the following clip, we're shown how an individual might move throughout a museum, and as they approach various exhibits, one's smartphone could provide supplemental information for the nearby artifacts. Beyond its use in museums, Nokia also foresees the technology as useful in the retail space, where businesses may provide consumers with promotions as they walk by. Currently, the necessary equipment to make this all possible is much too large to fit within a typical smartphone, but Nokia hypothesizes that the necessary chipsets and industry standards may be in place by 2015. Until then, you can dream of what might be with the following video.
Cambridge becomes UK's first White Space city as trials declared a success
The UK White Space consortium has declared its technology trials a success in Cambridge today. Some of tech's biggest names teamed up to equip Silicon Fen with Neul's "Weightless" broadband gear -- managing to get an 8Mbps data service out to the residents of rural Orwell. While great for those who can't get fixed line services, the consortium's also emphasized the benefits for Governments who could use an internet of things and cellphone networks, which can offload excess traffic in times of need. All that's required is for Ofcom to double-check the claims that it won't interfere with other wireless transmission formats and deliver its official blessing. Let's hope the Government study doesn't turn up anything unwarranted, as we'd hate to see a British version of LightSquared.
North Carolina launches FCC-approved TV White Space network in Wilmington
Back in December, the FCC approved the first white space device and database for the lucky city of Wilmington, North Carolina. Last week, the program bore its first fruits, when database operator Spectrum Bridge finally launched its TV White Space (TVWS) network in Carolina, as part of Wilmington's ongoing "Smart City" initiative. With the TVWS network up and running, Wilmingtonians will have internet access in public parks, while authorities will be able to use part of Spectrum Bridge's broadband for video surveillance. Public security, in fact, is among the primary functions of the new network, which will be expanded to help manage traffic congestion and to help the city function more efficiently. Beam past the break for more, in the full press release.
