Hate paying for Wi-Fi but want a reliable, decent connection that your corner coffeeshop might not be able to offer? (Mine can, but that's not uniformly the case.) Two developments this week may keep your pocketbook full. AT&T slipped out and Cablevision announced significant additions in Wi-Fi access for their current customers.

AT&T is taking over the Wi-Fi service from T-Mobile for Starbucks corporate-owned, standalone stores--over 7,000 in the U.S.--and slipped their kimono last week by accidentally (perhaps) making an iPhone-tailored gateway page available at Starbucks that prompted subscribers for their cell number. Enter it, and you were in, gratis.

That portal disappeared after a few days, but AT&T revised its iPhone plan features sometime in the last day or two to include access to all 17,000 of its domestic hotspots at no additional cost to iPhone subscribers. (That's 17,000 once the Starbucks transition is done, but T-Mobile and AT&T are engaged in a very goodsportsman-like handover in which subscribers to both networks will have access throughout; T-Mobile HotSpot subscribers will continue to have service for at least five years at Starbucks locations, too.)

AT&T already offers free Wi-Fi on its domestic network (excluding hotels and some airports, but including McDonald's, Barnes and Noble, and Starbucks) to its 1.5 Mbps and faster DSL customers, all fiber subscribers, and remote business access users--12 million in all!

(Just as I was about to post this, Computerworld's Gregg Keizer posted this story that AT&T had scrubbed that information from their site. Up, down, up, down, let's not call the whole thing off. It'll be back--but maybe not until the June 9 Apple developer's conference kickoff at which the iPhone 2.0 software, production software developer's kit, and 3G iPhone are all expected to ship or be released.)

Cablevision meanwhile dropped a bombshell today when they announced that they'd be building a $350 million--yes, million--Wi-Fi network across a big hunk of their coverage territory in New York, especially focused on Long Island. This service will be built over two years and be free to its millions of cable broadband subscribers, who already get among the highest speeds of any cable system in the US: 15/2 Mbps (downstream/upstream) and 30/5 Mbps flavors are their two listed offerings. Non-subscribers will pay to use the network, which they claim will have 1.5 Mbps of downstream Wi-Fi service.

Cablevision is building this network clearly to remain in play with a "quadruple" play: that is, voice, fixed broadband, video, and mobile broadband. Sprint and Clearwire's deal with Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner, and other cable operators has both a direct and indirect impact on Cablevision, which while not in competition with other cable providers, must fight back other video, data, mobile, and voice firms.

All I know is that additional services at no additional cost means a win for the consumer, and I'm happy to see it continue to expand.

 

I'm not embarrassed to admit it: I'm a big fan of Office 2007. I think Microsoft got a lot right with its latest release, starting with the ribbon interface and including any number of tweaks and improvements that make my day easier. I can't say I'm thrilled about the price of the suite, however; nor the countless SKUs to choose from. Plus, I'm also a big Linux fan. That's why I always try to keep my eye on the current state of OpenOffice.org, the open source office suite founded by Sun Microsystems.

OpenOffice.org 3.0 has just entered public beta, and it promises plenty of improvements from the previous version. Mac users, in particular, will be pleased with the new native Aqua UI. Unfortunately, however, the one feature that I was really looking forward to on the Windows side -- compatibility with the Office 2007 XML file formats -- could still clearly use a lot of work.

The Internet Storm Center, which tracks online threats, warns today that a worm is infecting vulnerable Web sites with a database attack.  Though relatively small by Web attack standards with about 4,000 reported infected sites, the assault adds invisible code to a site that can force visitors to download malware onto their PC. Bad PR, to say the least.

IMPORTANT:  DO NOT visit the domain named in the following test, or any sites that show up on a Web search as having this domain listed in their pages' code (including cached pages). Doing so could infect your PC with malware.

Sprint and Clearwire have agreed to form a joint venture that will bring wired broadband speeds to mobile users starting as early as late 2008. The new venture combines all the spectrum licenses owned by the two companies into a new firm called Clearwire; Sprint will retain its cellular business and third-generation (3G) data network. The new venture is valued at an estimated $14.5 billion, which includes an infusion of over $3 billion in cash from Google, Intel, and several cable operators.

Both companies had separately charted paths to roll out mobile WiMax, a flavor of mobile broadband that's only been deployed in scattered places around the world, and is about two years behind earlier predictions for widespread deployment. The technology isn't monolithic like Wi-Fi, where all Wi-Fi devices are supposed to work together (more or less). Rather, there are many flavors of WiMax, including ones that can carry 10 to 20 Mbps downstream.

Sprint and Clearwire's WiMax rollout will likely offer speeds well above 5 Mbps; some reports put the peak rates at 8 to 15 Mbps, which is perhaps optimistic for an individual user, but might be reasonable for a pool available to all users in a given "cell" of coverage. Pricing isn't set, but Sprint expected to have production networks in place this summer, which was delayed to fall, ironically because they lack enough network backhaul to carry the high-bandwidth service from their cellular base station towers!

The joint venture and Sprint have both signed deals with all the various partners, which will allow Sprint to resell WiMax access, and the new Clearwire to resell 3G service on Sprint's existing network. Cable operators will be able to resell Sprint voice, 3G, and WiMax, which allows them to have a quintuple play (voice, data, and video over cable, plus mobile voice, and mobile data). Intel and Google have an option to resell service if they choose.

We'll start seeing WiMax adapters everywhere by 2009. Intel has been a backer of WiMax since they decided that existing cellular 3G plans wouldn't accomodate their needs as early as 2004. They will build Centrino designs that have WiMax and Wi-Fi built in. Companies like Motorola, Samsung, Zyxel, and others are committed to building residential and business fixed receivers, and laptop and desktop adapters, like PC Cards and ExpressCards.

The new operation estimates that 120 to 140 million people will be able to get their service by 2010, at which time AT&T and Verizon should start rolling out their 4G flavor, LTE (Long Term Evolution), which should offer comparable speeds. This increased competition among mobile broadband coupled with true broadband speeds that compare to today's wired services should force real price competition and improved customer service.�

Some laptop adapters will support both Sprint's current 3G service and Clearwire's 4G WiMax, allowing the fastest speeds as the WiMax network is built. Without dual cards and the cross-selling deals between Sprint and Clearwire, WiMax would likely never have had a chance in the U.S.

IT managers often assume that open source software is more secure than proprietary commercial software. Anyone who uses open source can examine the original code to spot any lurking vulnerabilities, and potentially even fix the vulnerabilities themselves. With proprietary software, you have to trust the vendor to do it all for you.

But open source's supposed security advantage assumes three things: 1.) Someone is actually looking at the code; 2.) Security vulnerabilities are getting reported and fixed; and 3.) Information about those fixes makes its way to Linux distributors and other software vendors, who apply the fixes to their products. But what those things aren't happening? As a customer, how can you be sure?

We'll never know whether a Microhoo would have been a best-of-both mix-up ready to challenge Google with hot new consumer offerings, or whether it would have been a horrible culture clash that brought both companies to their knees.  Or will we?

I have to say I was surprised when Microsoft pulled out (as were many analysts who knew a lot more than me).  I thought Redmond's increased bid was a sure sign that the companies were settling into negotiations that would surely end with a buyout - though there are now indications that there might not have been a formal, increased offer. Silicon Alley Insider has some additional analysis on the suggestion.

Nobody likes desktop PC security software. It's intrusive, it slows you down, and it constantly needs updating. And if you think blocking viruses and other malware is a pain on your home computer, spare a thought for the IT staff at work. When you have dozens or even hundreds of PCs to manage, security can quickly become a fulltime hassle.

Webroot claims it can help. Beginning in June, the company will offer a new service designed to ease security woes for small to midsized businesses. There are no servers to manage, no database updates to download, and no client software to install. All it takes is a simple monthly fee.

Fujitsu Siemens Computers will release LCD monitors this summer that use no power during standby mode, and charge the same price for their existing monitors. Standby mode typically consumes very little power with LCD monitors; an EPA Energy Star qualified monitor must use 2 watts or less in standby and 1 watt or less in off mode. Two watts can add up, however: that's nearly 9 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year, which can cost as much as one or two bucks, depending on your electricity prices.

You may ask: why does a computer pull power in standby or off mode, anyway? Isn't "off" off? Of course not. Just as in Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, where the eponymous guide's power-down feature changed at one point to "Mode Execute Ready," so, too, does all our electronic equipment that doesn't have a satisfying power switch clicker await our instant bidding. In off mode, monitors anticipate that you'll press the soft switch--a software controlled button--to turn them on; in standby mode, they're listening for signals from the computer to spring to life.

Fujitsu Siemens says that their monitor uses a simpler circuit that detects a signal from a computer, and that's brought their standby usage down to zero; the circuit is activated by the signal.

Five to 10 dollars over the lifetime of an LCD (perhaps five years) isn't enough to spend more for the feature. But companies that can include a zero-watt option may be able to shift firms spending the same dollars on their products instead of competitors.

The folks at Green Plug have just announced the winners of a messy plug competition that has a nice message behind it. Green Plug sells embedded technology for improving the efficiency of power consumption by electronic devices. They license at no charge their connector-type and power-supply communications protocol to encourage its use. Rather than having several AC-to-DC converters--the ugly power bricks that litter the undersides of our desks--Green Plug offers hubs that can flexibly support DC power output for many devices, dramatically reducing power usage.

As Google founder Larry Page noted in a somewhat unexpected approach to his CES 2006 keynote address, the complexity of power supplies is more than ridiculous. Google has, since then, talked about the inefficiency of power cords that connect power supplies to AC outlets--they can shed double-digit percentages of power as heat--and the ridiculous number of different voltages required on a computer mother board and the consequent inefficiency of PC power supply.

The latest spam can take the form of a subpoena purporting to be from a United States District Court, a calendar invite, or an IRS refund, in 'net cast wide' blasts or more targeted 'spear phishing' usually aimed at businesses.

Those are some of the examples from a draft of Symantec's 'State of Spam May 2008' report sent out this morning.  Along with the expected stats (80 percent of all e-mail is spam, and the U.S. remains the top spam source), the report provided some examples of new dirty tricks that can target your business.