Sunday, December 31, 2006

NYC Cabs to Flesh Out Cell Phone Drop Zones

From Fox News:

NEW YORK — Ever wanted to stuff that "Can you hear me now?" guy into the trunk of your car and take him on a tour of those maddening spots where your cell phone won't work?

One telecommunications company has a plan to do the mechanical equivalent.

The Stockholm-based firm Ericsson recently got approval from New York's taxi commission to place mobile sensors in the trunks of at least 50 cabs in an attempt to better map dead zones in mobile phone networks.

The small devices, about the size of a computer modem, will automatically feed information about signal strength and clarity to engineers.

Because taxis in New York are on the road all day and all night, and ostensibly travel into every corner of the city, company executives said they are a cheap way of covering vast amounts of territory with limited effort.



  • Read the Full Story in Fox News: Technology

  • Thursday, December 28, 2006

    Interstate Connections in Forbes Magazine

    Interstate Connections grows to 100 stores! Here is the Press Release as posted by Forbes Magazine:


    Nationwide Wireless Retailer Now Has More Stores to Serve Professional Drivers AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Interstate Connections, Ltd., the leading retail provider of wireless solutions to the trucking industry, announced today the opening of its 100th location since launching August 1, 2001. Interstate Connections is commemorating the occasion with special promotions for its customers and employees throughout the month.

    "We're proud to be 100 stores strong across 30 states," said Brandon Frye, CEO. "We now have Interstate Connections stores coast to coast and in the four corners of the U.S. to serve our customers -- from Portland, to LA, to Tampa, to New York, and all in between."

    In 2006 IC has opened new stores in the areas of Atlanta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Denton, Texas; Ft. Wayne, Indiana; Hubbard, Ohio; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Prescott, Arkansas.

    "We are proud to be teamed up with Petro Stopping Centers(R) and TravelCenters of America(R) and look forward to continued growth of store locations in both networks," said Frye. "We owe our success to our customers, the thousands of professional drivers who come to us for their communication needs, and we are dedicated to evolving our business to continue to improve their lives on the road."

    About Interstate Connections

    Interstate Connections is the leading retailer of wireless solutions to the interstate trucking industry. Interstate Connections operates store- within-a-store retail outlets in 100 interstate travel centers nationwide. A preferred dealer for such leading product and service vendors as Sprint, Cingular, RoadCom Wireless, Sirius Satellite Radio, XM Satellite Radio, NetSpend All-Access Prepaid Visa(R) and PreCash, Interstate Connections improves the productivity and quality of life for professional truckers by providing communication and financial solutions configured to their distinct needs. Based in Austin, Texas, Interstate Connections is privately held and has about 300 employees. For more information, visit http://www.interstate-connections.com .




    Sprint to Boot Fair & Flexible Plans

    This just in from Phonenews.com and submitted by Mike Kendall:

    Sprint Pulls the Plug on Fair & Flexible
    Written by Christopher Price
    Thursday, 28 December 2006
    In internal documents, sent from sources, Sprint appears to be ready to discontinue their highly-promoted Fair & Flexible plans. The "no huge overage" plans will be discontinued in the middle of next month. Read more for a complete list of changes to Sprint's plan lineup.

    Also, Nextel data and messaging goes cheap. In Come the Power Packs

    Sprint will replace Fair & Flexible next month with Sprint Power Packs. Power Packs, on both Individual and Family plans, are aimed at matching Cingular and Verizon's current offerings. Currently Fair & Flexible offers significant advantage in overages. However, next month, Sprint's only comparative advantage will be in Night & Weekend minutes starting at 7 PM instead of 9 PM. Sprint will offer 6 PM calling for $5/month additionally.

    Sprint cites internally lack of market competition, as well as poor penetration of Fair & Flexible usage. Sprint justifies the move by saying that very few customers actually went over their minutes (less than 20%) in a given month. In addition, most customers were not significantly impacted by the savings from Fair & Flexible price tiers.

    The plans do vary in terms of the exact overage rate (lower the higher the recurring monthly charge), and all plans continue to include free roaming and mobile-to-mobile calling.

    Below are the plan price-points, as set by Sprint in internal documents. Power Packs will launch on January 13.

    Individual
    Note: 6 PM calling is $5/month as an add-on on individual plans, down from $10/month on Fair & Flexible.

    $39.99: 450 Minutes, $.45/minute Overage
    $59.99: 900 Minutes, $.40/minute Overage
    $79.99: 1350 Minutes, $.35/minute Overage
    $99.99: 2000 Minutes, $.25/minute Overage
    $149.99: 4000 Minutes, $.25/minute Overage


    Family Plans
    Note: Prices include second line. Also, 6 PM Night & Weekend calling is reduced to $10/month on all plans above $59.99.

    $59.99: 550 Minutes, $.45/minute Overage
    $69.99: 700 Minutes, $.45/minute Overage
    $89.99: 1400 Minutes, $.40/minute Overage
    $109.99: 2100 Minutes, $.35/minute Overage
    $149.99: 3000 Minutes, $.25/minute Overage



    Grandfathering

    Current customers on Fair & Flexible plans will keep their current plan and price tiers. Also, customers on Fair & Flexible shared line plans will continue to be allowed to add additional lines.

    As a logistical option, Fair & Flexible plans will remain in the system for a little over two months post-1/13, however, Sprint will be training representatives to not offer these plans to customers. That means that if you want to get a Fair & Flexible plan, you have until January 13 to do so.

    Other Changes

    The industry has moved to get rid of the $29.99/month price point. From the industry's perspective, customers interested in $29.99 plans would be better served with prepaid or no-contract postpaid options. Cingular has moved the $29.99 price-point to GoPhone Pick Your Plan, and Verizon has followed suit with their EasyPay option.

    Sprint however, lacks a prepaid unit as a part of their direct offering (Virgin Mobile remains their only CDMA prepaid provider that they own). Because of this, Sprint will offer the Sprint Basic 200 plan to both iDEN and CDMA customers. The Basic 200 plan will not be on rate plans and will not be promoted, however any customer can chose the plan.

    The Sprint Basic 200 plan is bare-bones. Night & Weekend calling starts at 9 PM, and the overage rate will now be $.45/minute. 6 PM and add-on minute bundles are not compatible with this plan. If you want a Sprint plan at a $29.99 price-point, it is best to do so now.

    Alternatively, the Sprint SERO promotion is expected to continue, with savings@sprint.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it as a login allowing all (informed) potential customers to have a much better plan.

    For other changes, Free incoming Plans on CDMA will trade Ready Link PTT for Mobile to Mobile as a built-in offering, and Hybrid Network phones will have data services cut to $10/month. This is also going to be mirrored on iDEN plans, with the new PowerSource Data Pack.

    The PowerSource Data Pack for Nextel will offer unlimited data, web access, and will also bundle 1000 SMS messages for $10/month. In addition, unlimited SMS will be offered as an add-on for $5/month. These data changes do not affect Vision or CDMA plans, they will remain unchanged.



    Tuesday, December 26, 2006

    Customer Support Numbers for Tech Companies

    TechLore put together a pretty impressive list with web and phone numbers for Customer Service Support numbers of top electronics companies.

    Phone manufacturers and Sling Media are on the list. A lot of computer builders too, just in case you can resolve an issue for a customer and score that AirCard sale.

  • TechLore List


  • Cingular - To Be Out of Contract? Or Not to Be?


    Personally, I have Cingular and love the service, but, as we all know, there are times when getting out of a contract can be handy.

    From Gizmodo:

    Remember when we told you that you can get out of a Cingular contract thanks to their text message rate hike? Turns out Cingular doesn't quite want you to do that. The Consumerist has been documenting how much trouble Cingular's been giving callers who call in to cancel, saying that text messages are a subscribed service and not a part of the contract.

    Read the full story.



    Sprints EVDO Rev A Broadband Reaches Benchmark of 60 Million

    Sprint released to the press today that it has added EVDO Rev A coverage to 10 more markets. This increases their high speed coverage to include 60 million customers. Plus, increasing PowerVision to include 20 markets.

  • Read the Press Release

    This release comes on the heels of Verizon touting coverage to "blanket" the US by the year's end. Actually, if you read the Verizon releases, their coverage is far behind Sprint's. They had added in such states such a MA, ME & RI. Hardly a blanket you could use without your toes hanging out. And by my count, year's end means they only have 5 days to roll out the holes.

  • EVDO Coverage
  • Monday, December 25, 2006

    U720 USB EVDO with Mac - Two Solutions

    Here it is... The post you have been waiting for. How can we capitalize on the U720 for Mac users?

    First, the biggest difference between the U720 and other AirCards is that it is faster (clocked at up to 3.1Mbs) and like it's card counter part, the S720, it has GPS built in.

    Sprint does not offer OSX connection manager and Novatel does not have OSX drivers yet. Other cards were supported by OSX 10.4 and higher. So where can we go for a little bit of help until Apple adds in the support? To Verizon, of course!

    We'll have to get a little help from their OS X VZAccess Manager. You will still have to initially activate it on a Windows machine and make sure the U720 runs the OTA updates.

    Another option is that one user of EVDO Info forums has extracted the U720 drivers and packaged them into a handy installer app that can be downloaded via the forums. If you go this route, once you install the drivers, restart the Mac. (Don't forget to first activate the U720 on a Windows machine!) Here is a link to that post.

    Once you are sure that the U720 is activated and ready to go, plug it into the USB port. Make sure the status light is shining green. That means it is getting enough power to work. If, by chance, it does not, use the included Y-adapter use two USB ports with modem. This should seal the deal!


    Drivers with Earwax Problems?


    Ever done a bluetooth headset demo only to have to scrape the earwax off the ear bud afterwards? This little gadget could be your saving grace... or your worst nightmare!

    An elephant shaped cell phone strap lets truckers and others with ear wax issues scrape it out. Cut and gross at the same time.

  • Elephant Cell Phone Strap For Waxy Ears
  • Apple and the iPhone - iPod Cell Phone

    There has been a lot of hush hush rumors regarding Apple working on a cell phone around it's iPod platform. There have been attempts at guessing design and features, but mums the word from Apple. Rumor mills claim that we will see this phone in January. Doubtful since insiders say the Apple iPhone was slated to go back to the drawing board because the current producer and provider (negotiations with T-Mobile were put on the back burner) could not come up with the interface that Apple's head honcho mandated.

    Recently Cisco came out with something they called iPhone, which is not cellular, and has nothing to do with Apple in the least. However, considering all things Apple for the past few years have had i in front of it, the moniker calls to an already established trend by Apple. iWork, iChat, iPod, iBook and the list goes on and on.

    Apple Insider is a site that has released accurate Apple info before the company has released the information publicly. No, it's not an Apple marketing ploy, and they actually tried to get the site shut down via the courts.

    Apple Insider claims there will be no further delays in the iPhone release.

    Verizon Math

    Verizon Math is a blog that one man started a few months ago. It seems that he purchased an EVDO aircard and plan from Verizon in the states and is in Canada quite a bit. He ran into a whole can of worms with how data cost is explained by Verizon. This is something you should all be aware of. I have used this as a sales tool. After all, if you are going to be charged roaming, don't you want to have a clue what you will be charged vs what you are billed?

    Apparently one issue is that the rate they charge is confusing, but also that none of the reps in customer service have a solid understanding of how to explain it in an understandable way to customers.

    He documents his experiences and Verizon's responses. This has become a wildly popular site simply because so many other people have the same experiences. This guy doesn't rant or get emotional. He puts his posts in a cut and dry way, which is much better in order to get things resolved.

    His first post gives the background of the issue:

    Here's the background:

    I have a Verizon unlimited data plan in the U.S. and recently crossed the border to Canada. Prior to crossing the border I called customer service to find out what rates I'd be paying for voice and data. The data rate I was quoted was ".002 cents per kilobyte."

    I was surprised at the rate so I confirmed it with the representative I spoke to, and she confirmed it "point zero zero two cents per kilobyte." I asked her to note that in my account.

    I received my bill and was charged $.002/KB - which is dollars - "point zero zero 2 dollars per kilobyte". As it is translated to cents would be .2 cents or 2 tenths of a cent - which is a 100 times greater rate than I was quoted.

    My bill for my data usage in Canada was therefore much greater than I had expected - using the quote I was provided before my usage.

    I have tried to resolve this issue with customer service reps on the phone, but noone seems to see the difference between ".002 cents" and ".002 dollars".

    Wave Bubble Jammer


    Here is a little ditty that just might have it's uses. It is a jammer for cell phones, rf, bluetooth and wifi with a radius of 20'. Fits into a pack of cigs like clockwork. My question is, can I use it NOT to get speeding tickets too?

  • Wave Bubble
  • Sunday, December 24, 2006

    Contribute to this Blog

    I can now add feeds to the sidebar very easily. I have added Phone Scoop and Digg Technology sites. If you have a site you want to run headlines in the side bar, let me know by emailing me.

    Also, if you have any additions you would like to make to this blog as you discover work arounds or info, let me know and we can post it up for everyone. This is the easiest way to share info with each other.

    There is also a work around for the USB EVDO modems for Mac, and I will post that up here shortly.

    Sierra 595 with Macintosh

    Thanks to Juan for finding this info. The best info on this type of harder install is always what we discover when trying:

    You must, as always, activate the Sierra card first on a Windows based computer. You need a PowerBook G4 (or G3 with PCMCIA slot), OSX version 10.4 or higher. You can check the version by click on the apple in the very top left corner and choosing "About this Mac". If it is a lower version, plug the computer into an ethernet connection or use wifi to downloaded the latest version. On the same pop up where your version whos, you can choosed "Updates". It might take a while depending on what version the Mac is running, so be prepared to do something else if needed. You can also update the software by click on the harddrive icon on the desktop. Go to Applications>System Preferences. Open that and choose Software Update>Check Now.

    Download to the Mac, "Watcher Lite for Sierra Wireless". This software works for 975, 860, 850, 775, 595, 580 and MP series AirCards.

    Watcher Lite should start automatically. Plunk in the AirCard and begin install on the Mac. If you can install with the regular Sprint connection manager, this one will be cake.

    Interestingly enough, the instructions also tell you not to put any stickers onto the Aircard, so control yourself and no smileys :)



    Tuesday, October 10, 2006

    Higher and higher

    It seems that over the past few months, the cost of the usb to pcmcia adapters have skyrocketed. The average price increase is around $50. This makes them around the same cost as the Kyocera and Linksys EVDO wireless routers. Why pay for one when you can load a few computers with high speed? Not sure if this is a supply/demand issue, or only that it is such a niche need, they can charge what they want for the high speed card junkies.

    Just ordered the Elan U132 adapter from this site http://store.mp3car.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=COM-038. It was the least expensive and the fastest as far as shipping out. I even checked ebay and found that they are $11 plus extortionate shipping higher there. This one cost $189, s&h just under $8.

    Linksys Wireless-G Router for Mobile Broadband (EVDO)


    A very sexy looking alternative to the other clunky and AutoCad rendered alternatives.

    "The Linksys Wireless-G Router for Mobile Broadband is really three devices in one box. First, there's the Wireless Access Point, which lets you connect both screaming fast Wireless-G (802.11g at 54Mbps) and Wireless-B (802.11b at 11Mbps) devices to the network. Second, it’s a built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 Switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices together. Connect four PCs directly or attach more hubs and switches to create as big a network as you need. Thirdly, the Router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share a Mobile Broadband Internet connection (requires a Mobile Broadband Data Card, available separately). You can also use a standard Ethernet attached Internet connection, like a cable or DSL modem, if available. Wireless-G Router allows up to four people to work wireless and simultaneously with their laptops."

    Runs in low $200's on eBay.

    Tuesday, September 19, 2006

    Installing Sierra 860 on Mac

    A little more fidgety than the Sprint card. Basically, Cingular has an agreement with two software providers who charge anywhere from $40 to $99 to use the Sierra Card with OSX. Silly, isn't it? Mac does have more built in support for these cards, but not the 860.

    I tried this today, and it failed miserably. However, I have used it before and it worked great. Here is the link to the drivers for download. http://www.auralogic.com/3g/ There is an install guide there as well, which makes it easy if you know your way around a mac. If you don't, here is the dumbed down version:

    1. The download of the drivers will put a zip file onto the desktop. Open it and you will have a new folder on the desktop for the 860 aircard. If you open the folder, you will have two files and a text file with install directions.

    2. Copy (the squiggly square plus c key) or drag the file Aircard8X0PCCard.kext to /System/Library/Extensions/
    ~You get there by double clicking the hard drive icon on the desktop. Click on the top left the icon that indicates several lines below each other. Find the System folder and click the arrow to expand. Find the Library folder and click to expand. Find the Extensions folder and click to expand. You will see a bunch of files. Drag or copy the kext file into the extensions folder.

    3. Copy or drag the file Aircard860ModemScript to /Library/Modem Scripts/. Go back to the hard drive icon, find Library and expand. Click modem scripts and expand. Place the above file into the Modem Scripts folder.

    Be careful because there is BOTH an Extensions and Modem Scripts folder in both the System folder AND the stand alone Library folder.

    4. Click the harddrive icon again and go to Applications. Open it and scroll to terminal. Open it. A DOS like program will open. Cut and paste the following there.

    sudo chown -R 0:0 /System/Library/Extensions/Aircard8X0PCCard.kext/

    It may ask you for admin password. Enter your admin password again when requested, then close terminal.

    restart computer.

    5. On the dock there is an icon that looks like a lightswitch. Click that to open "preferences". Go to Network settings.
    ~ Cingular modem settings in system preferences are as follows. These values, including account/password, are the same for all cingular users.

    account name: ISP@CINGULARGPRS.com
    password: CINGULAR1
    telephone #: isp.cingular

    under ppp options, make sure "send ppp echo packets" is NOT selected.
    tcp/ip tab should have "using ppp" selected, and nothing else entered.
    on the modem tab, select "Aircard860ModemScript"
    for convenient dialing/disconnecting, select "show modem status in menu"

    Problems? Not sure I can help, but if you need to be talked through this on the phone, call me. Oh, when I say that I mean talking YOU through it, NOT your customer. You will be able to maximize your sales once you learn how to do this successfully.

    Monday, August 28, 2006

    How to Install AirCard onto a Mac



    To install a Sprint S620 card into a Macintosh laptop.

    The laptop must have the PCI slot. The PowerBooks have the needed PCI slot. The most common PowerBook you will see with the right slot for direct (no adapter needed) connection is a G3 or G4 15" or larger. (Sprint and Novatel will tell you that you need a G4, but the G3 can run OSX and also has the correct slot) The 12" PowerBooks do not have them and iBooks do not have the slot either. The new MacBook Pro has an ExpressCard slot. The solution to getting these to work would be a USB adapter (doing research on these now). NOTE: There is some material that says the cards will not work with the USB connector and others who say that they do. The trick is finding the adapter for the Mac that has the OSX drivers.

    First, install the PC and use the lock code, etc on a Windows laptop as usual. If you get an error message when it is trying to "Update Profile", simply click out of it and the connection manager then goes to "Disconnected". Try connecting. This usually works.

    If you do not have a laptop laying around with Windows on it, ask another trucker if they have one and they would not mind helping out another trucker. Usually they will say yes. You might even get another sale of an aircard out of it. (Seriously. I sold 3 this way.)

    Shut down the Windows laptop and remove the PC card.

    Go to the Mac. It must be running OSX (most of them do now). In the top left corner you will see a little apple icon. Click on it and choose "About this Mac" from the menu. This will tell you the operating system and version. (If you want to check out the other things available on that Mac, you can choose "more info". This opens the System Profiler and allows you to access all the information on components, etc. found on that Mac.

    The easiest way to do the install is to be sure they have OSX 10.4.4 or greater running on their computer. If they do, you can skip this next portion. (Current version is 10.4.7)

    If they do not have OSX 10.4.4, then click the icon beneath the OSX version that says "Software Updates". This will pull up a window with a list of things and little checkmarks next to whatever items they can update. Unclick everything except the OSX version. Leave that box checked.

    Click through to continue updating. Make sure the computer is plugged into power. If the customer is not on Wifi, plug in an ethernet cable and run it to the router for DSL if you have it. Otherwise, they need to somehow have access to the internet.

    When the download finishes (it can take a while, depending on the connection speed) the dialog box will ask you if you want to shut down or restart. Choose restart. Unplug the ethernet cable if you had it plugged in.

    When the computer is loaded up again:

    Slide the Merlin card into the PCI slot. On the top right side of the very top bar you will see several icons which could include a thing that looks like a fan (airport card), a megaphone (sound), battery, time, bluetooth and a little magnifying glass.

    When the card is recognized (it recognizes it in a flash) another icon will appear that looks like the antenna symbol on the regular Sprint connection manager. Put your cursor over that and click. A menu will pop down with several choices. Choose "connect". When you are connected, the two up/down half arrows will appear to the right of the antenna symbol. You are good to go.

    Open up Safari or Internet Explorer or any web browser. You should be flying on the internet. These cards are by far faster on Macs!

    You can disconnect the same way you connected. Or, you can also just click, hold and drag the antenna icon into the garbage can.

    Macs make these things so simple. Everything works well together and you do not get conflicts like the ones you get with Windows.

    Apparently this also works with the Cingular card, but I have not installed that yet, so I don't know if there are extra steps.

    Resources:
    Apple Downloads - http://www.apple.com/downloads
    Sprint's Directions - http://www4.sprint.com/pcsbusiness/downloads/MacOS_QuickStart.pdf


    Questions? Just ask as they come up.

    Wednesday, August 23, 2006

    More USB adapters


    Sewell Direct also offers another version of the USB adapter for aircards. "This adapter lets you turn any USB port into an available PCMCIA slot... The adapter is specifically made for wireless data cards, meaning you can access the internet through your data card on a machine that does not carry a PCMCIA slot. The device will run on laptops or desktop PCs (no Macintosh support available)." Cost is $139 for one card. Website http://sewelldirect.com/U-111-USB-to-PCMCIA-Adapter-16-Bit.asp

    2GB Micro SD Card Announced


    "SanDisk has got you covered with its new 2GB microSD card. First to market with a two gig flavor of this type of card, SanDisk has given VZW a 60-day exclusive for selling it in the US, while the rest of the world should be able pick it up at any number of locations. Available immediately, this card -- with its 1,000 song capacity -- will set you back an even $100, and probably less if you can find one of the OEM versions that SanDisk also announced." 2GB of storage also could be used to download a movie and watch it on your cell phone or PDA!

    Link to Check Speeds of AirCards

    DJ sent this out in an email. Very great info!

    "Below is a site link that will allow you to do and upload/download speed test for the air cards.

    Keep in mind that the speed of either aircard is also dependant on the
    individual laptop.

    http://www.internetfrog.com/mypc/speedtest/"

    PS - I tested this on two Mac computers and it works for Macs as well. It displays and baselines both upload and download speeds.

    Saturday, August 19, 2006

    Elan USB Connectors for AirCards & Other Options

    Adrianna Amaral, DJ Carter, Mike Kinman and I have been searching for a work around for the new PC slots. These are slimmer and called ExpressCard. All of the new Dell computers seem to have these. Assorted other models within a manufacturer's range also seem to have them. The new MacBook Pro also uses Express Cards. I have taken customers to Circuit City to check the PC slots. I found a mix within the same brand. Sadly, you can't discover this most of the time on the Specs of the box or sheets. It just isn't listed. The only way to tell for sure is to pop out the dummy card. If it looks like it has a step in it, then it's the new slot. If it is pretty much rectangular, then you are good to go with our AirCards.

    If you haven't come across this problem, you probably don't sell very many AirCards. For those stores busy with AirCard sales, this has been an irritating cause for lost sales or returned AirCards.

    At one point I had found a USB connector that created a PCMCIA slot for an AirCard. I ordered it for a customer and it cost about $50 with $10 shipping. Sadly, all the bookmarks at the store were "redone" and now that information is lost, unless I can sleuth it out again.

    Until then, Elan makes two such USB connectors. The U111 (works with both the Sierra Cingular card and the Sprint Merlin we sell as well as older models). You can click this link to buy it for $130 (until I can source a less expensive alternative). http://www.teampctechnology.com/product_detail.php?id=511

    The touted U132 doesn't seem to be for sale anywhere yet, although all the releases state it is already out. The estimate for the cost on the U132 is $150-200, although I am not clear on what the difference is. As near as I can tell, it is more of a style difference. The lines seem a little more sleek on the U132. On the site above, however, the company uses the photo for the new adapter, not the previous one.

    Elans site for sourcing where to buy their products is here http://www.elandigitalsystems.com/buyourproducts.php


    STOMPBOX - A geek with too much time, or a lot of volition created his own solution to this problem AND his creation let's you create a wireless hotspot with an EVDO connection. Conceivably, this would also work with the Sierra Card. Looks easy enough to make (ahem), a little awkward in design for in a truck, but interest enough to mention. Dubbed the StompBox, you should check it out at http://mobilitytoday.com/news.php?n=004735&p=evdo_stomp_box

    CDMA EVDO USB Modem - Compact and cool. Has a SIM slot, but why is it there for a CDMA piece of equipment? No one is sure. This is still in developement, but looks very SWEET. Still to be released by Falcom as the SAMBA 3G.

    A cheaper Junxion Box: Kyocera KR1 Portable Router. This gets you the same PCMCIA slot and then distributes your EVDO signal like wifi. At $299, it saves $300+ over the Junxion Box. The Kyocera EVDO router has four 10/100 ports and one slot for an EVDO PC card. It supports up to 2.4 Mbps download, which pretty much as fast as you can go right now.

    Users can use the 802.11b/g connection or plug their computers directly into the ethernet ports. All the standard router features are there, firewall, DHCP, NAT and access control.

    Juxion Box and PC to PCMCIA




    The Junxion Box is a spendy little item. Looks pretty cool, but of course, bulky. The manufacturers website gives you all sorts of geeky goobly gook, but not really a clear picture of what this gadget does. That is fairly sad, since they would probably sell more and be able to bring down their price a bit. Basically, Junction Box connects to a laptop or PC via either ethernet or wifi. It looks similar to the box modems in days of yore, yet a little more stylistic for today's consumer. You slip your AirCard into the slot, and you get your cellular high speed internet where ever you are in range of this beauty.

    The manufacturer says: "At Junxion we're excited about the future of wireless data services. We've also decided it’s high time for more organizations and people to begin enjoying the benefits of the relatively high-speed networks already available through wireless carriers. Which is why we’ve introduced the Junxion Box™, a device with patent-pending Junxion Platform™ firmware that creates new opportunities for tapping into the cellular Internet today...and with upgradeability to ensure a long useful life as the evolution of wireless network technologies continues to accelerate."

    Price? For ethernet only $599 and $699 for ethernet and wifi. It is interesting to note that with this price tag, they only show cartoony renditions of the Junxion Box on their website. Who knows what it REALLY will look like.

    Website: http://www.junxion.com/index.html

    Here is the tried and true (and cheap) solution for those odd customers who ask if they can use their AirCard in a PC. It's simple. It's easy. It's the SYBA PCMCIA PCI to Cardbus Add-on Card Model SD-PCI-PCM! Whoo Hoo! The same card is made by many manufacturers. This one is one of the highest rated by consumers. This card fits into any PCI card slot on your PC and converts that slot into a PCMCIA.

    Price? $19.99 from New Egg

    Website: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815124021




    Lastly, and something that should be super exciting to all of us, Novatel is working with Sprint to offer a USB EVDO.

    This is what they say about it: "This EVDO USB adapter made its debut at CTIA last week with open arms. It is primarily targeted to owners of desktops or smaller laptops that lack PCMCIA slots, but still want some EVDO love. For example all of the MacBook Pros and six different Dell laptop models lack PCMCIA slots.

    It operates at USB 2.0 speeds, includes Windows and Max OS X drivers and can even attach to the USB port directly or with a USB cable. Novatel will be shipping this device with Sprint service later this year."

    Price? One can only guess.

    Website: http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/wireless/novatel-usb-evdo-adapter-166223.php

    Friday, August 18, 2006

    Greetings All

    Welcome! I thought that I would toss together a blog where we could all share information. This came to me with the ExpressCard slot to PCMCIA adapter situation. As you find stuff that's relevant or interesting, or helpful, toss up a quick post.

    I will add more as I find it.