USA Today: Any real need for wireless data transmission? Yes!
Okay, so InterDigital is working at the very heart of Broadband CDMA development. The question is always asked concerning new hardware and technology: "But what will we use it for?" " What's the killer application going to be?"
In this morning's USA Today, money section page 3B, Kevin Maney addresses that subject in his technology column. Here's a few of his comments:
" Wireless data is a hot topic for 1999. That was established over the past couple of weeks as companies scurried to announced wireless data deals and projects with the eagerness of a litter of puppies digging into the same food bowl. The rest of us see this and ask: what does it mean to 'moi'? Of course, there's the obvious benefit of being able to use a palm-size computer, held low under conference table, to read e-mail while representatives of yet another company go on and on about their revolutionary " whatever". Besides that, though, there must be some applications of wireless data that would really, truly make me happier. Here are some things I dream about, and the chance I'll see them some time before I go on Medicare.
" Car tunes. ... already, there are hundreds of radio stations available through the Internet which you can hear through RealNetworks software running on a PC or laptop.... All right, so I'm sick of the handful of homogenized local radio stations I can get in my car. If I had a wireless Net connection in the car, I could find a (Internet) station that would hit the spot every time. Will it happen? One good sign is that a number of companies are thinking about the value of Internet radio a la car. ... existing wireless networks, like those that handle cell phones, can't transmit data fast enough today....(but) this is not very far away in terms of being possible to do. If there is a market for it, the technology will make it real.
"Sky Web. Wireless data becomes desirable in places where 1. You a prisoner for long periods of time, and 2. Entertainment and information options are woefully inadequate. An airline seat fits that description. ... I want the Web to be as available as the magazines they put in those plastic sleeves.
" Disney help. The next time I haul the family to Disney World, when I walk in I want to be handed palm- size, touch screen device that has a wireless connection. I want the device to show mean maps, descriptions both of rides and other basic info. But what I really want is to touch and an icon for space Mountain to see how long the line is right then. Or use it to make a restaurant reservations as the day ends.
" Bingo, I've hit a hot button. Lots of people seem to think this kind of system -- which could also work on a college campus or corporate headquarters -- is a coming cool application of wireless data. Word he is Disney is, in fact, looking at such applications. Lucent has a project in this realm code-named Third Eye. IBM is experimenting, too. Wladawsky-Berger calls it a ' campus area Network'
At least something like that makes wireless data more tangible, more human. Just think, if an icon pops up on my Disney device showing me where characters are at that moment, we could rush to elbow aside other kids to get Captain Hook's autograph."<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<,
My comment: when we start reading about the need for wireless data hardware in the largest circulation daily newspaper in the country, there is some assurance that our time is coming. Our wideband CDMA technology and IPRs it will be very important. If IDC shareholders are patient a little bit longer, their reward will be immense. There is light at the end of the tunnel. And it's not an oncoming train.
Bill |
