Erictric

FCC Submits National Broadband Plan to Congress

The Federal Communications Commission has submitted its National Broadband Plan [embedded below] to Congress. The plan proposes that at least 100 million homes in the U.S. have affordable access to broadband services with download and upload speeds of at least 100 Mbps and 50 Mbps respectively in the next decade. The plan also states that all communities should have 1 Gbps services at their disposition, and that every U.S. citizen has the right to use broadband to “track and manage real-time [home] energy consumption.”

The plan is described as being in beta, and according to the FCC, it will change just as the Internet itself does to adjust to new technologies and markets. The FCC hopes that the government can influence the plan by:

• Designing policies to ensure robust competition.
• Ensuring efficient allocation and management of assets.
• Reforming deployment services in high-cost areas; And ensuring low-income citizens can afford broadband.
• Reforming laws and policies to maximize the benefits of broadband in sectors such as education, health care, and government.

You can read the complete document, which has been embedded after the break. More »

Adobe Grants Android Devs Access to Photoshop.com Mobile Editor

Adobe announced this morning that version 1.1 of the Photoshop.com Mobile App for Android is now available. The updated version brings new Contrast and Brightness editing tools and new fun photo effects such as Vibrant, Pop, Vignette Blur, Warm Vintage, Rainbow, White Glow, and Soft Black & White. The original application was launched almost four months ago.

With the launch of a new updated application, Adobe went on to announce that third-party Android developers have now been given open access to the new Photoshop.com Mobile 1.1 Editor. More »

Mexico Looking to Ban Twitter

In an effort to combat crime and all kinds or illegal activity, Mexican Revolutionary Democratic Party member Nazario Norberto has proposed to pass a bill to ban the use of Twitter in the country. According to Norberto, Twitter aids people violate the law in a number of way. Everything from simple things like sharing drunk driving checkpoints in real time to even a means of communication for drug cartels and kidnappers.

The proposal has already sparked a lot of controversy in the country. One of the main arguments between supporting and opposition groups is whether they should give priority to public safety or freedom of speech. Norberto denies it will restrict people’s freedom of speech. More »

McDonald’s To Begin Providing Free Wi-Fi Starting In January 2010

Like McDonald’s? Like Wi-Fi? If you nodded your head to both questions, we have great news for you. Beginning in mid-January of 2010, McDonalds will begin offering absolutely free Wi-Fi to customers — encouraging them to certainly stay longer and eat more.

Currently, more that 11,000 of the company’s 14,000 US locations are considered Wi-Fi hotspots. The company also currently charges customers $2.95 for two hours of web access.

Whether or not the move to free Wi-Fi will help is anyone’s guess, really. Over the years, the fast-food chain has changed their restaurant interiors from yellow-and-red hell to comfortable environments — certainly more suitable for those who tote around with Wi-Fi enabled devices.

[ via Mashable ]

TeliaSonera 4G Network Becomes Active in Sweden and Norway

Not only does Sweden and Norway have better healthcare than those Stateside, the two countries now also have super-fast wireless networks. TeliaSonera, a top wireless carrier in Nordic, Baltic, and Eurasian regions has debuted a 4G network in the two Nordic countries.

Just to put that into perspective, carriers in the United States are still working on expanding 3G coverage. Granted, the United States is massively larger than both Sweden and Norway combined, but the point is that we’re running our mobiles phones and other devices on significantly slow[er] networks.

4G can deliver download speeds of up to 100 megabits per second. That’s roughly 10 times faster than 3G. The 4G coverage blankets roughly 400,000 individuals at this point in both Oslo, Norway and Stockholm, Sweden. Those eligible will only be able to initially use the service via a USB dongle — meaning handsets are not yet compatible with the technology.

Review: 01 Communique’s I’m InTouch 7.2 Remote Access Solution

I recently had the chance to review the standard version of 01 Communique’s remote computer access solution, I’m InTouch 7.2, which was just released last week. One of the advantages of this product is that you can remotely access the registered computer from any other computer or wireless device with an Internet connection. I’m InTouch 7.2 is offered in standard and premium editions to accommodate the needs of just about anyone, including travelers, business people, and even parents who wish to monitor their children.

Setup
I’m InTouch 7.2 requires you to install software on the computer you want to access remotely. Installing it is pretty simple and takes only a few minutes. Once the software is installed, all you have to do is visit www.imintouch.com from any computer or mobile device, and either search for the computer you want to access using the “Computer Name” chosen at installation, or log in and manually select the computer from a list on your account. For security and verification purposes, you will be asked twice for the credentials chosen at installation before you can actually start remote controlling your PC.

Features
I’m InTouch 7.2 offers the following features:

• Full remote access and control
• Multiple computer control on one single screen
• Access and control from any wireless mobile device with an Internet connection
• Easy file transfer and management between computers
• Printing of documents from the distant computer using the printer connected to the remote computer
• Watch and listen to media
• Hear sounds from the remotely accessed computer
• Support for multiple monitors
• Great remote desktop display on any monitor
• Child monitoring stealth mode
• Chat between distant and remote computers
• Live video streaming using a webcam
• Outlook access
• Free trial
• Ability to invite up to 10 guests to watch a presentation or to confer
• Automatic login using a USB key
• Windows 7 support for both distant and remote computers

Premium accounts only:

• Remote wake up
• Physical authentication

Price
01 Communique offers different price plans, which are determined by the edition, number of licenses, and the amount of time the service is used. This is how the prices are broken down:

• Premium edition
  • 1st license: $12.95 per month / $129.95 per year
  • 2nd – 5th license: $9.50 per month / $95.00 per year
  • 6th – 10th license: $9.00 per month / $90.00 per year
• Standard edition
  • 1st license: $9.95 per month / $99.95 per year
  • 2nd – 5th license: $9.50 per month / $95.00 per year
  • 6th – 10th license: $9.00 per month / $90.00 per year

Overview
I personally found I’m InTouch to be great for anyone. It’s full of features to accommodate everyone’s needs, it does not affect the speed and/or behavior of your computer when it’s not in use, the system itself is fast and easy to use, it’s very secure, and most importantly does everything as advertised.

Now, I do find the price to be a little bit high, considering there’s a great number of remote desktop services out there, some even for free. The price suggests to me that it’s not directed toward people who are just looking to remotely access their computer. It actually seems to target those people who want much more than just remote access alone like remote webcam access, remote control of multiple PCs, easy file transfer between computers, maximum security, etc.

Overall, if you plan to put every single feature to good use, I’m InTouch 7.2 is a great investment worthy of its price. The system currently works only on Windows based computers. To find out more about I’m InTouch 7.2, visit www.imintouch.com.

Comcast Now Offering Mobile 3G/4G Internet Access

We’re in a day and age when most people cannot going a day without using the interwebz. Then you have people like me, whose job is to be on the internet — all the time (and it doesn’t get sickening, FYI). And what’s better than being connected to the net? Being connected with high-speed data services.

Enter Comcast. The Philadelphia-based cable/voice/internet company has now begun to extend its services over cellular networks, most likely over Sprint’s network, according to BGR. The new service, dubbed High-Speed 2go, is offering 4G services in Portland, Atlanta, and other select cities (and soon to expand). Comcast’s 3G service blankets most of the lower forty-eight states. More »

Finland Guarantees Every Citizen The Right to Broadband with New Law

The Finnish government has just put in place a new law which guarantees every Finnish citizen (all 5.5 million of them) the right to high-speed internet access beginning on July 2010, according to the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The connection will be limited to one megabit at this point in time but the Finnish government plans to increase speeds to 100 megabits by the end of 2015 for all citizens.

This is feasible considering the taxation rate in that neck of the woods is extremely high. But my question is, when will good old Uncle Sam jump on the bandwagon for broadband access all over the US?

[ via TechCrunch ]

FAIL: Sidekick Outage Continues – About 4 Days Now

A Sidekick outage that apparently started on Friday and has left many with no access to the web and/or their own address books continues. The problem doesn’t seem to coming from T-Mobile but rather Microsoft and its recent acquisition: Danger, the Sidekick manufacturer.

“We are working around-the-clock to get all our services back online and will continue to post status updates to our valued customers as issues are resolved,” Microsoft said. “Our goal is to have all services restored to 100 percent functionality by Thursday; however there may be some exceptions” Fortunately, I stopped using my Sidekick 3 a while ago.

As of 6 AM PDT  on Tuesday [today], Microsoft said it had restored “critical applications including address book and calendar, social media applications, IM, web browsing, media player and camera.” T-Mobile released an apology a few hours ago. They went on to say that users affected by the interruption will be credit one month’s service.