Truly Mobile Internet. Really?

Around the globe, people easily connect to the Internet through WiFi (Wireless Fidelity). Having moved from an era of dial-ups and cable modems, technology has taken us to the next frontier, to the joy of everyone who’s constantly mobile. The genius of Intel has now ushered in the era of WiMax which has undeniably left many in awe.

WiMax, or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is considered the next generation of wireless technology. Projected to dominate the world, WiMax has been referred to as WiFi on steroids and is said to be the future for wireless networking. It is both ideal for businesses, as well as rural areas as it has a tremendous range, greater than WiFi which is used by many. As it now stands, when leaving a cafe, you’re not surprised that you can no longer connect to the Internet. With the wonders of WiMax, that will soon be history.

A Few Highlights

• Builds on wireless; Companies and residents can cut costs by not having to purchase expensive cables for their internet connection
• Enables high-speed, pervasive or uninterrupted mobile Internet access
• Used in a wide range of devices and applications, such as notebook PCs, mobile phones, smartphones, gaming devices, music players, camera-records and other electronics.
• Discovery of all IP mobile Internet solutions that are open-networked, being considered as the fourth generation of wireless technology (4G)
• Used at low-cost delivery, despite its great functions;Â Base stations will cost under $20,000, but still provide users with T1-class connections, a type of connection considered to be most efficient
• Enables efficient and scalable networks for data, video and voice. Has been designed by Intel and embedded WiMax solutions in a number of mobile devices supporting the tomorrow’s high speed broadband on-the-go
• Supports the widest range when compared to other existing wireless technologies. It can communicate up to 30 miles, covering about 2800 square miles by rough estimates. That would be enough to cover a small city.
• Supports data sharing rates of up to 70 mb/s “ this is enough bandwidth to support up to 60 businesses altogether with T1-type of connectivity
• Supports enough bandwidth of 1mbs DSL-level connectivity for over thousand homes altogether
• Operates at 2- 11 Ghz (non line-in-sight), easily bending obstacles at a lower level of frequency
• Operates at 66 Ghz (line-in-sight), having a greater bandwidth with the signal very stable and strong
• Directed signal has a fixed dish antenna points, communicating and connecting straight from tower to tower

This flexible Internet access option will likely spur on new mobile based businesses that have now been freed from the wire. Hmmmmm Mobile Take out Cafe’s? Maybe not but at least now it’s possible.

Curtis Robinson – Principal for Robinson Consulting, LLC. in Atlanta, GA.

Open Source: Is it really worth the time?

The Internet was founded upon principals of openness and a sense of
fairness amongst all users. The current version of the Internet is far from that, though. The bombardment from Congress, corporations and IP Hawks paints an innovation-less, mundane and metered Internet. Don’t be discouraged, though because there is hope!

The Open Source movement which began with
the Internet has recently begin to gain momentum from just complex OS development. Such development will compete with some of the big time vertical solutions like Communications, CRM and ERP.
The biggest attraction that most people have to Open Source is the licensing (GPL and Others), which, basically, means that as long as you include the source code and a disclaimer that it was created using Open Source components – you can use it for FREE! That’s right… Free! Before you get excited and start downloading ISO’s, let talk about a few things first.

The first thing we need to talk about is:

• Where can Open Source make the biggest impact?

As I talk to my clients, I tell them that you want to identify a critical part of your business that you think
you can make the biggest impact on resources regarding time, effort or money. The same applies to any Open Source solution.

The second thing that I want to talk about is:

• How clear are you regarding your technical aptitude or lack thereof?

I think this is very important. I’ve seen and experienced how, even, the best ideas for usage of Open Source can lead down a very dark road only to find out that the solution was too complicated to implement or maintain. When looking at an Open Source solution you want to truly put a limit on how much of your personal time you want to commit or how much time you want to pay someone to implement an Open Source Solution. Remember, when you wear multiple hats… your time is truly valuable.

As our business continues to evolve, I have become more excited about new projects in which I feel can help SME’s to have the same systems and solutions as the Big Boy’s. While there are many projects out there, a few of my favorite ones include:Asterisk, Sugar CRM, VMWare, Apache, Tomcat, Wordpress and Joomla.

Viva OpenSource

Curtis Robinson – Principal at Robinson Consulting, LLC.