Gawker
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Aruba Networks
Another Wi-Fi player falls
It's the grand irony of Wi-Fi, a remarkably useful way of connecting to the Internet which has nevertheless proved to be a tough business to make money in. Aruba Networks, a maker of Wi-Fi equipment, is rumored to have twice spurned Cisco's advances. Its shareholders will likely regret that; the company, which went public last year, has seen its shares plummet more than 90 percent from their peak. And it is nowlaying off 10 percent of its staff, we hearcutting costs by 10 percent, including some layoffs. Aruba's equipment was designed to withstand war-zone explosions — but not market implosions. Update: The company has reported earnings and confirmed costs cuts of 10 percent, though not all of that will come through the elimination of jobs.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Figaro: Wrong tip... "Aruba Networks Announces Record Revenues of $52.4 Million for Fiscal First Quarter 2009" [www.marketwatch.com] 1 Responses | Other threads
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acquisitions
Wi-Fi's golden age ends as AT&T gobbles Wayport
If wireless Internet access is such a hot technology, why is it such a dud business? I asked that question in Wired five years ago, and I still don't know the answer. Since then, eager-to-please Wi-Fi startups have gone the way of boutique ISP service. AT&T, once broken up by law for being an evil monopoly, has reassembled itself into the dominant telecom brand again — bad service and all. This morning, a press release out of Texas announced that AT&T will acquire privately held Wayport, which operates 10,000 hotspots at locations from McDonald's to the Four Seasons. For $275,000,000 in cash, AT&T will now double its number of Wi-Fi hotspots. I side with the Wall Street Journal's snap analysis: Maybe this will make up in part for all those customers canceling their AT&T home phones. -
meltdowns
BART Wi-Fi plan unplugged
The latest casualty of the credit crunch: BART's in-progress rollout of Wi-Fi on its trains. “People won’t loan risk capital until you have a contract,” says an executive for Wi-Fi Rail, the startup tagged with the job. Commuters were promised "ten times faster than DSL" access on BART trains within the next two to three years. A test program had already wired four stations in downtown SF, and 13,000 riders had registered for the service. But BART's schedule was contingent on Wi-Fi Rail raising $20 million, which in itself was contingent on BART signing a contract. Now, of course, even a signed contract won't unlock the big bucks. For BART riders, that means no Internet access during your commute, not for years. Good thing you're getting laid off. (Photo by The Examiner/Cindy Chew)
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By Paul BoutinComment by sample032: "Ten times faster than DSL" can mean anything from 3.84 mbps (384 kbps is the slowest speed AT&T offers) to... more » | Other threads
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road warrior
I'm writing this post from 30,000 feet, and you're not
I like to think I'm resistant to neophilia, the fetishistic embrace of new technology endemic to Silicon Valley. And yet I felt a rush when I logged on to Gogo's inflight Wi-Fi service on the American Airlines flight I'm currently taking from San Francisco to New York. The airliner's cabin has long been the last online frontier, a disturbing pocket of disconnectivity. My colleague Jackson West urged me to test the service, to review it for my readers. But I find myself more preoccupied with human needs than speeds and feeds. More than anyone, I worry about the likes of Mary Meeker. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by bjs: So how is the inflight porn surfing? 1 Responses | Other threads
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road warrior
American Airlines' misdirected Internet-calling ban
American Airlines has debuted in-flight Wi-Fi from Aircell, giving more aspiring business-class passengers the chance to look busy on their laptops. The service bans Skype and other VOIP phone services. The only people really complaining that you can't make Internet phone calls are tech-blog commenters — exactly the kind of people who can't be trusted to not shout into their new phones in the first place. Why doesn't American just ban them? That seems easier.
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Comment by categorically: Amazing how out of touch these people are. I don't want to sit next to them and have them... more » | Other threads
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meghan asha
Julia Allison pal's Cisco ad fails Wi-Fi test
Bay Area-raised biotech heiress Meghan Asha, who now lives in New York and egoblogs for fired Star editor-at-large Julia Allison's NonSociety, appears in an endorsement video for Cisco. The "Digital Cribs" lifestyle shoot has a brief product placement of a Cisco Linksys wireless router. Asha claims that she uses the Linksys for her home Wi-Fi network, which she calls "Geeking Out." Wait for the blooper which shows the whole setup's a fake, 23 seconds in: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Paul Boutin: Meghan has both a Les Paul guitar and a Stratocaster? She's my type. 4 Responses | Other threads
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silicon valley users guide
How to make phone calls on American Airlines' Wi-Fi
VOIP enthusiast and marketing guy Andy Abramson tricked his way around the content filters on American Airlines' new inflight broadband. Abramson succeeded in conducting a long voice call to a friend on an American flight by using Phweet, which embeds the call as an audio stream inside a Flash player inside your browser. "I don't mean a five-second hi. I mean, a real conversation." Aw, you didn't talk to the guy in the next seat?
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By Paul BoutinComment by johnfrombrooklyn: I hope he sits next to me on the next flight. I'll take it as a cue to start playing... more » | Other threads
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road warrior
In-flight Wi-Fi test scheduled for 9 a.m. today
American Airlines begins its full in-flight broadband service today. CrunchGear writer Peter Ha is on a flight from JFK to LAX and promises to file a report from his seat at 9 A.M. Pacific today. For now, American offers the service on three New York-based routes, including flights between JFK and SFO. [UPDATE: Ha's live post from 30,000 feet.] (Photo by Cubble_n_Vegas)
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By Paul BoutinComment by upbeat: How long before porn becomes an issue on the plane? more » | Other threads
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delta
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're turning back to Atlanta — the router is broken"
Delta Airlines plans to put Wi-Fi on most of its U.S. flights by mid-2009. The Aircell-powered service will cost $9.95 on flights up to three hours, $12.95 on longer trips. [NYT] -
earthlink
Philadelphia's Wi-Fi network saved, for now, but the time for citywide wireless has past
After EarthLink abandoned a citywide Wi-Fi project for Philadelphia after only 6,000 customers signed up for the $20/mo. service. Now local investors Derek Pew of Boathouse Communications and Mark Rupp, a former Verizon executive, are planning to take over the network, which will be free and ad-supported. When first announced, the project was on of the largest Wi-Fi buildouts proposed. But after being completed, few users signed up because it was slow, didn't reach far into the city's signature row houses if at all, and was not much cheaper than adding Internet to your cable or phone connection. Earthlink had previously attempted to hand the network off an Ohio-based non-profit. But Wi-Fi was never a particularly good technology for these projects, and it's high time to abandon the pipe dream. More » -
wi-fi
Gavin Newsom insinuates himself into latest San Francisco wireless Internet plan
The San Francisco Examiner was kind enough to add a quote from visionary God-mayor Gavin Newsom to a short article about Meraki's plans to provide a few free wireless routers to San Francisco residents in order to create free Wi-Fi hotspots in San Francisco neighborhoods. "People act as relays and they are able to be receptors of sorts,” Newsom told the Ex — in a quote that Gavvy-Gave also could have used to describe the local hepatitis epidemic. Meraki's plans, however, won't spread hepatitis-fast: More »
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By Jackson WestComment by matto: Actually Meraki covers a decent portion of the city with its free wireless mesh: [sf.meraki.com] bonus points for figuring out which one... more » | Other threads
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wi-fi
Starbucks' desperation means free Internet for card customers
With the purchase of a $5 gift card, or by entering your personal information in the company's database for a rewards program, Starbucks will allow you to sip on two hours of free Wi-Fi from AT&T at stores. The Seattle-based fast food chain may be one of the first to be hit by any economic downturn as Americans cut back on the affordable luxury of $4 caffeinated drinks and spend that money at competitors like McDonald's. One look at the stock's performance over the last year, down over 30 percent, and you can see why CEO Howard Schultz would look to freebies like Wi-Fi to keep the company's FrappucinoTM junkies coming back. As our very special correspondent once put it, "Wi-Fi isn't a luxury or even a commodity. It's a condiment."
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By Jackson WestComment by raincoaster: @sample032: Did we not have this discussion already, right here on Valleywag? And did I not predict this? It's coming, people:... more » | Other threads
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wi-fi
EarthLink tries to unwireless Philadelphia
No one wants EarthLink's Philadelphia Wi-Fi network, first announced four years ago — not the city, not a nonprofit. EarthLink has filed a federal lawsuit to remove its equipment from street lights and limit its liability to $1 million; it plans to shut down the network on June 12. [CNBC] -
great moments in pr
AT&T waffles on free Wi-Fi for iPhone subscribers
Yesterday AT&T added language to its website that promised iPhone subscribers free Wi-Fi hotspot access to the company's listing of features for customers. A few hours later, the offer was removed from the site. The rollout for free Wi-Fi for iPhone subscribers on AT&T's network isn't going so smoothly — after the unannounced program was discovered, hackers shortly discovered they could log any device onto the network quite easily. (Photo from Jajah)
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By Jackson WestComment by matto: The engineering bar seems to be pretty low over at AT&T. It is impressive, in a distressing way, that two-factor... more » | Other threads
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wi-fi
With Wi-Fi network, Cablevision aims for world domination of Long Island
Cablevision, the dominant cable provider on New York's Long Island, now wants to build a municipal Wi-Fi network for the area. Along with its bid for Newsday, the local newspaper, this completes its strategic plan to enter into as many outmoded businesses as possible. [WSJ] -
security
AT&T turns off free Wi-Fi
AT&T meant to make Wi-Fi free only for iPhone users. But a hack made it free for laptop users at Starbucks and other network points controlled by AT&T. The free Wi-Fi has now been disabled. Guess the hoi polloi stealing bandwidth ruined it for iPhone owners. [Gizmodo] -
wi-fi
Get free Wi-Fi at Starbucks with or without an iPhone from AT&T
AT&T is offering iPhone owners free Wi-Fi at hotspots managed by the company, including those at megachain Starbucks. But all the system checks is the user-agent string supplied by the iPhone's Safari browser and a phone number from a working iPhone. So anyone with a laptop can simply change their browser's user-agent string, put in the phone number of a friend with an iPhone, et voila! Free Wi-Fi. Why you won't get? The phone number of the cute barista you've been flirting with in vain. (Via Slashdot, photo by Synthesis Studios)
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By Jackson WestComment by raincoaster: Sooner or later, there will be free wi-fi at all Starbucks. They're about the only place in Vancouver that still... more » | Other threads
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politics
SF mayor Gavin Newsom cancels free Wi-Fi presser
In a new low for hunky god-mayor Gavin Newsom's attempts at getting San Francisco's free Wi-Fi off the ground, an 11:45 a.m. press conference to discuss the issue was cancelled today. Why a new low? Because if there's anything the Gavster and his seven-person communication staff are good at, it's giving press conferences. However, you can still see the Hair at 4:30 p.m. when he swears in assorted appointees. (Photo by sfistrita)
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By Jackson WestComment by SFcitizen: Production of the Tesla is at about one a week and even company co-founder Martin Eberhard doesn't have his yet... more » | Other threads
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technophobia
Sebastopol cancels Sonic.net's free Wi-Fi contract, citing health concerns
The city council of Sebastopol, home to tech publisher Tim O'Reilly, voted unanimously last week to cancel the city's agreement with Sonic.net allowing the company to set up a free Wi-Fi network. Why? Because a few residents complained of electromagnetic sensitivity. And by "residents" I mean "crazy nutjobs." O'Reilly's Dale Dougherty rounded up some typical comments:I have had health challenges, and my body cannot handle wifi...it gives me headaches and makes me very sick. I would be unable to go to the store, shop. I have enough problems being limited in my travels, it is outrageous that a place so environmentally conscious would create this in our/my hometown. In Europe they are much more advanced than us, and there wifi is not allowed in cities in the European commonwealth.
If I touch a coathanger to my fillings and hold it at just the right angle, I can tune in to hear AT&T and Comcast executives cackling. (Original photo by Leslie Hunziker)
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By Jackson WestComment by tobeste: Please if anyone here is from sebastopol sign this petition to counter this obvious mistake. Free WiFi: [www.petitiononline.com] Thank you more » | Other threads
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party report
In the Castro, Fon Chers and Chers alike
"The headline for tonight is 'Package!'" declared our photog, Randal Alan Smith. From the pic above, I have to agree. Last night, Fon held a party at Castro dive bar Moby Dick to promote Share the Castro, an effort to unwire the gayborhood. Gender disillusionist Cher-ish strutted across the room in heels that placed everyone's eyes at fake-boob level, and smacked Fon stickers on the crowd. Matador Joselito showed off the goods (Fon's and his own) by talking free wireless routers to the bar crowd. More »
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Comment by urban bohemian: There's just something about a female impersonator that can't even be bothered to cover up his happy trail for the... more » | Other threads
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starbucks
AT&T to become leading Wi-Fi provider to latte liberals
AT&T is replacing T-Mobile as the Wi-Fi provider at 7,000 Starbucks locations in the U.S., starting in the spring. Even better? Customers who pay with a Starbucks gift card get two hours of free Wi-Fi. Now, I could tell you how this benefits iPhone sales, or takes pressure off AT&T's overcrowded cell-phone networks, but I'm more concerned about how many more people are going to be leeching free Internet at my local Starbucks. More »
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Comment by WolfDemon: Haha. Two measly hours? Here in Montana, we have a place that started here in Billings that is spreading through... more » | Other threads
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meraki
Dirty hippies may get free Wi-Fi after all
Despite the best efforts of San Francisco's professional complainers, the dream of free Wi-Fi for the city, dashed by EarthLink's exit from the market, lives on. Startup Meraki, responsible for the "Free the Net" Wi-Fi hotspots popping up across the city, plans to blanket San Francisco in wireless signal by midyear. This is no good Samaritan act. It's trying to prove that free, possibly ad-supported Wi-Fi is plausible, possible and popular. Then it's going to take advantage of developing countries by selling them cheap Wi-Fi routers. It's sort of like One Laptop Per Child, but with a business plan.
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Comment by jdfalk: I'm surprised that the cynics at Valleywag would buy into the myth that collecting eyeballs and showering them with ads... more » | Other threads
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wi-fi
The coming inflight Wi-Fi nonapocalypse
With airlines preparing to unleash Internet access upon the skies, we're entering what Web evangelist Vint Cerf calls "a ticklish area." Confined airplane cabins has generated concern that flights are going to transform into nonstop phone discussions of the latest online porn releases — so much so that airlines are considering employing content filters and banning VOIP calls. More »
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Comment by rlreif: people are stupid... porno mags have been sold in airport news stands since before i was born (im 30) even in... more » | Other threads
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palo alto
Caffe del Doge, the Venetian coffee chain whose University Avenue outpost we featured in our guide to Palo Alto Wi-Fi hotspots, is opening up a new cafe in the mid-Peninsula city's train station. [Palo Alto Daily News]
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By Owen ThomasComment by Owen Thomas: @davidu: I know. Palo Alto's aspirations to urbanity are amusing, aren't they? more » | Other threads
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wi-fi
EarthLink bails out of providing Wi-Fi to dirty hippies — and everyone else
San Franciscans may remember EarthLink CEO Rolla Huff leaving them in the lurch when he abruptly backed out of the city's municipal Wi-Fi project. Well, it turns out Huff, like any sensible CEO, doesn't want to lose money on a venture that probably will minimize shareholder value. The Internet service provider is cutting its losses and abandoning all plans to build citywide Wi-Fi networks. A shame. We thought it was just San Francisco's toxic stew of entitlement, anticapitalism, and government dysfunction that drove EarthLink away.
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Comment by 0x6772: As it happens, I've actually been paying EarthLink for wifi in Philadelphia. It simply doesn't work. Ever. I haven't canceled... more » | Other threads
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dirty hippies
CBS sets up Wi-Fi in midtown Manhattan
Hey San Francisco, how's the free public Wi-Fi from Google coming? Oh yeah, some of the more leftist among you insist that free Wi-Fi should be a municipal utility. Let me know how that works out for you. In the meantime, over here in New York, one of our Old Media patrons, CBS, was kind enough to hook up all of midtown with free Internet access. We'll let you know how it works on an iPhone. Cheers! -
toogle many googlers
San Francisco "artists" shake down Google
The Bay Guardian, San Francisco's fun crazy newspaper for broke ultraliberals, demands that Google pay $5,000 per employee to subsidize the rent of the Googlers' increasingly resentful, less fortunate neighbors. Yet the Guardian lobbies against Google's offer to provide free Wi-Fi for the city, on the blinkered ideological grounds that it should be a municipal utility. Imagine it: Our inbred city government that can't fill a pothole on Mission Street, trying to set up the world's largest outdoor 802.11b/g network. Priceless.
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By Paul BoutinComment by Paul Boutin: Liberal NYT economist Paul Krugman blamed SF's housing problems on rent control. "The pathologies of San Francisco's housing market are... more » | Other threads
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deals
BT and Fon have partnered to create what they claim is the largest Wi-Fi "community" in the world. "Community," in this case, meaning that participating BT broadband customers will share their home wireless networks with other members and in return will get unlimited access to Fon's almost 200,000 hotspots. Could this be the solution to municipal Wi-Fi? [Connected Internet] -
iphone
Apple is promoting its Starbucks partnership by giving away 50 million songs at the chain of coffee shops. The new wireless service "Now Playing" allows iPhone- and iPod Touch-using Starbucks patrons to preview and purchase the music that happens to be playing in their local shop. [AppleInsider] -
comments
Brad Fitzpatrick coming unplugged at Google?
From the comments, a fresh rumor about Brad Fitzpatrick, the LiveJournal founder widely believed to be working on social networks at Google. The commenter, who claims to work at Google, says Fitzpatrick is actually working on free, ad-supported Wi-Fi. Curious, since Google's Wi-Fi projects have faced trouble recently. A deal with San Francisco for free Wi-Fi fell apart thanks to Google partner EarthLink's straitened finances. Why would a tech star like Fitzpatrick work on such a seemingly doomed project? With that caveat, the report on Fitzpatrick's new project, from googleyes, after the jump. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by 0x6772: You can do that as long as you meant "Mountain View near G-plex" by "city". more » | Other threads
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wi-fi
The Bay Area isn't the only place with municipal wi-fi woes. Chicago, Cinncinnati, Houston and St. Louis are all struggling to figure out how to pay for free wireless. [USA Today] -
wireless
Silicon Valley, you don't deserve free Wi-Fi either
Free wireless access is a pipe dream. San Francisco quickly learned that lesson after EarthLink dropped, punctured, and then torched the ball. The SF public Wi-Fi project is still reeling from the toxic fumes of that flameout. Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network's more ambitious Wi-Fi project, which, as the name suggests, aims to blanket Silicon Valley with free Internet signal, is no longer confident it can pull it off. "We're prepared to scrap the whole project," said Joint Venture CEO Russ Hancock. Like San Francisco, it's no longer confident it can pull together enough advertising dollars to make it work. It's also lacking essential elements like leadership and a business model. And so ends another pie-in-the-sky vision. -
san francisco
Sonic.net tries mob rule for municipal Wi-Fi
With San Francisco's municipal Wi-Fi program stuck in purgatory thanks to EarthLink's budget concerns, Internet service provider Sonic.net aims to be the city's wireless savior. Not that legions of dirty hippy leechers deserve free Wi-Fi. Nonetheless, Sonic says customers can obtain a subsidized wireless mesh router and hook it up to a DSL line. Why? To create a network of wireless access points. Web surfers browsing from the wireless network will be served Google ads to subsidize their surfing. Sonic will implement a profit-sharing plan that will credit their customers' accounts. Sounds like both a cheap attempt to turn EarthLink's woes into free PR, and a blatant ripoff of Fon's business model. More power to Sonic. A plan so crass can't help but work.
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Comment by dickster: Good. Sonic rocks the hizzie! In all honesty, I'd rather have a sharp stick in the eye than the Google/Earthlink... more » | Other threads
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wireless
EarthLink drops the San Francisco Wi-Fi project
Following yesterday's daily dose of EarthLink doom — the Internet service providerlaid off 900 employees, including municipal Wi-Fi networks president Don Berryman — the copmany has decided San Franciscans aren't worthy of free Internet after all. CEO Rolla Huff called up god-mayor Gavin Newsom to say, as a Newsom spokesman put it, "they were not going to be able to fulfill their end of the bargain." The mayor's office says it's still committed to blanketing San Francisco with Wi-Fi, and is counting on Google to remain an "anchor" while the city shops for more vendors. Newsom is also placing a measure on November's ballot asking to use public and private funds to get the network of the ground. Good luck with getting free Wi-Fi, you dirty hippies. As we've said, you don't deserve it.
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Comment by phil_collins: Duhhhh. Notice how every single one of these citywide wifi projects never really happened? I'm sitting in a hotel right... more » | Other threads
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stats
As the Ethernet cable replaced those 56Kbps modem phone lines, Wi-Fi will overtake Ethernet in the next few years, says research firm Burton Group. This projection is based the growing number of laptop and mobile data users. As far as we can tell from Ritual Roasters, this happened years ago. [News.com]
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Comment by davidu: Fortunately the people running networks don't read papers written by The Burton Group. I hope the Burton Group tries... more » | Other threads
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cutbacks
EarthLink puts more than San Francisco's Wi-Fi network on hold
Earlier this month, Internet service provider EarthLink held San Francisco's proposed citywide Wi-Fi network hostage while asking the city to pony up some extra cash. Turns out that wasn't strong-arm tactics — EarthLink is in a world of financial hurt. To cauterize the bleeding, it's cutting 900 employees. Among the victims is Don Berryman, the president of municipal Wi-Fi networks. EarthLink won't be filling the position. -
google
No free Wi-Fi for you dirty San Francisco hippies
Google blunderkind Chris Sacca's plans for world domination are currently on hold. EarthLink, Google's partner in building a citywide Wi-Fi network in San Francisco, has delayed city officials' vote on the project's contract, until September, if ever. EarthLink CEO Rolla Huff is earning his last name by giving San Francisco the silent treatment. Not only has it stonewalled the city's proposal for a shortened contract and improved speed and security settings, but EarthLink now wants San Francisco to foot the bill. "The Wi-Fi business as currently constituted will not provide an acceptable return," Huff told Dow Jones. "We're going to look for municipal governments to step up and become a meaningful anchor tenant." Translation: Pony up! Of course, it has to be said: San Franciscans richly deserve this. The way we're behaving, there's no way we deserve free Wi-Fi. No wonder Chris Sacca and his partners are taking their squishy exercise balls and going home. -
silicon valley users guide
A guide to Palo Alto hotspots
I found myself at home in Palo Alto the other day, involuntarily offline thanks to a wonky broadband connection. So I headed to Coupa Cafe to get caffeine and log onto its Wi-Fi hotspot. And, just maybe, overhear an entrepreneur and venture capitalist doing the Sand Hill Road mating dance. Greylock's David Sze likes to hold meetings there, as does LinkedIn founder and angel investor Reid Hoffman. But it's gotten so popular and so packed, that I wasn't able to find an empty outlet — let alone a seat. What to do? More » -
iphone
Wi-Fi outages at Duke University blamed on the number of iPhones trying to connect to the campus network. [Apple 2.0]
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Comment by cheesy: I have a feeling this is more of a problem with Duke's network than the iPhone. Even if there is... more » | Other threads
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gadgets
SanDisk and Yahoo, a Love Connect-ion?
Back in September, it appeared as the Zing, a Flash-based Wi-Fi-enabled music player with the un-Zune-y ability to download tracks wirelessly from an Internet service. At CES, it was re-named Connect and announced as part of SanDisk's successful Flash-player lineup. Now it's shipping—4GB of internal flash memory, 2.2-in. TFT color screen and a microSD slot for expansion up to 8 gigs, for $250. Today's news is that it comes with a bunch of Yahoo-related perks. [Gizmodo]
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Comment by lkanthatham: I reviewed the Sansa Connect back on Friday. This is what Zune should have been. It makes a... more » | Other threads
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