Jim and All the GLISTers : BIFS RESISTANCE JUST BROKE 73 cents, that is hat for all YOU selers at 13 cents, LOL:
NEWS TODAY:"" a write up rather:
Chucka
ragingbull.altavista.com
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Company unplugs Web service
By Jennifer Rotenizer The Sun NewsJay Knabb, 33, started Beach Access, a wireless Internet company, in August 1999. The company uses the SWOMI system, which stands for Seamless, Wireless, Omni-directional, Mobile Internet.
By Jennifer Rotenizer The Sun NewsIn about 90 days, Beach Access will offer wireless Internet service to customers along the Strand. About 1,500 customers are on a waiting list for the service.
WIRELESS
By Dawn Bryant
The Sun News
published on Thursday 8-10-00
Grand Strand residents and tourists will soon be able to surf more than waves during beach outings.
They could surf the Web or send e-mail at T1 speeds while catching some rays. Or lounging by the pool. Or even riding in their cars. No extra-long extension cords needed.
Myrtle Beach-based Beach Access has developed technology that turns any laptop computer into a high-speed, wireless, mobile unit. The company with 18 employees is negotiating to launch the technology across the country.
The computer operates like a cellular telephone, with a box the size of a remote control catching signals from nearby antenna.
Companies offer wireless service in other states across the country, but use cards or modems to receive the signals.
Beach Access overcame the hurdle other companies couldn't
jump, creating a system that runs at 1,780 kilobytes, more than 100 times faster than other wireless services, said Jay Knabb, Beach Access' chief executive officer.
A 6 megabyte file downloads in a minute and 18 seconds, a job that could take at least a half-hour on other systems.
The secret is a white box called a SWOMI Seamless, Wireless, Omni-directional, Mobile Internet. The size of a remote control, the box latches to the back of the laptop's screen and catches the satellite signal.
It allows computer users to watch television, call friends or business clients and send e-mail from almost any location within the system's planned coverage areas at speeds faster than some network computers.
``There's no limit as to where you can go with this,'' Knabb said as he drove in Myrtle Beach on Tuesday with a laptop balancing on his BMW's gear shift.
``How can you drive around in your car and watch CNN? That's insane. It just creates a whole new world of applications we haven't thought of.''
The SWOMI device, weighing less than a pound, is creating a buzz across the country among potential customers, investors and computer gurus.
``I was absolutely amazed,'' said Hal Campbell, a computer science professor at California State University at Humboldt, which is meeting with Beach Access later this month to talk about outfitting the campus.
``People have spent billions of dollars trying to make it happen and couldn't. I think everybody in the country will sign up and have it.''
The service will debut in about three months in the area from Georgetown to Calabash, N.C. Nearly 1,500 residents have their names on a waiting list for the service.
The list started two weeks ago as advertisements for the wireless Internet started appearing in local newspapers.
Customers will pay a $90 startup fee to cover programming of the SWOMI box and $40 monthly.
``I want everybody, no matter what they are making, to be able to afford this,'' Knabb said.
The technology differs from other wireless Internet because the coverage area is broader and the connections are quicker, he said.
Antennas are installed every few miles. As long as users stay in the coverage area, service isn't interrupted because the SWOMI seeks out its next antenna before it loses the active one, Knabb said.
``I've had the best people in the country trying to figure out how we are doing it. They sit there and scratch their heads because they can't believe what we are able to do,'' he said.
Beach Access employees are testing the technology at three Myrtle Beach resorts: the Seawatch Inn, the Caravelle Resort Hotel and Villas and the Sands.
Sands property manager Lee Rawcliffe said the service will enable visitors to check investments or send e-mail while vacationing.
The connection speed impressed Rawcliffe, who saw a demonstration a couple weeks ago.
``It's a pretty cool thing, isn't it? I couldn't believe it,'' he said. ``The speed has made wireless practical.''
Campbell stumbled upon the technology about two months ago after noticing Beach Access stock's immediate and substantial climb in the markets.
Beach Access, a wholly owned subsidiary of BioFiltration Systems, is traded over the counter under the symbol BIFS. The stock has risen from less than 10 cents a share to 65 cents a share since the company acquired other Internet companies and split stock 100-to-1 earlier this summer.
Growth in the technology sector and the introduction of new products likely caused the jump, said Allen Powell, financial services representative with Cox Bell Financial.
``They are cashing in on it,'' he said. ``As they start showing more and more products where they have signed projects ... investors see greater opportunity for revenue growth.''
Nancy Lightner, an assistant professor of management information systems at the University of South Carolina, was less impressed with Beach Access after a quick search found several other wireless companies across the country.
Still, a faster connection could make a difference, she said.
``This could be great,'' Lightner said.
DAWN BRYANT can be reached at 626-0296 or at dbryant@thesunnews.com via e-mail.
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