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Rory Cellan-Jones

Wireless in Vegas

  • Rory Cellan-Jones
  • 6 Jan 08, 04:06 GMT

Wireless in Vegas

Where and when do you want to have access to the internet? In my case it鈥檚 everywhere and all the time, and in Las Vegas this week there are plenty of devices aimed at giving you just that kind of access.

A couple of hours ago I was sitting in the back of a car driving down the Strip, updating my Facebook status and sending a photo home. Sad, I know. But the thrill was in the fact that I was using the car鈥檚 own self-generated wi-fi hot spot. A small company called US Telematics, started just a couple of years ago, has developed an in-car communications system, designed principally to keep American kids entertained during those endless journeys.

A unit installed in the roof uses a souped-up 3g phone network to access the internet and then creates a wi-fi hotspot in the car. The kids in the back can watch television streamed from their home via a Slingbox, while the parent up front uses a wireless device to check Google maps or book a hotel.

Now while I loved the experience of getting online from the back of the car, I can鈥檛 see myself shelling out between $500 and $1000 for the unit, then paying a monthly fee to the phone company. Howard Leventhal, the founder of US Telematics, says he gets a panic attack if he is away from the internet for too long and he is convinced there are enough people like him to provide a market for his idea.

There is a battle shaping up between the different wireless technologies , from wi-fi to wimax, to HSDPA. Just a couple of years back, the promise was that universally available wi-fi networks might make those phone companies that had spent a fortune building 3g look pretty daft.

Now the 鈥渨i-fi for all鈥 movement is fading. Having struggled to get easy access to wireless hotspots as I trudge through the endless acres of Las Vegas hotels on the way to press events I can see the attraction of alternative technologies.

The big question is just what consumers will pay for connectivity. A taxi-driver overheard me marvelling at my experience of in-car wi-fi. 鈥淔orget it, 鈥 he said. 鈥淭hose phone companies just want to lock you in to a monthly fee. The working guy can鈥檛 afford it.鈥 And having just found out that I will be charged 拢7 a megabyte to access the internet from my phone while in Las Vegas, I think he may be right.

Comments

  • 1.
  • At 12:28 PM on 06 Jan 2008,
  • John M wrote:

[This comment actually for the previous RC-J post, but your site was kooky.]

Rory C-J and the 91热爆's coverage of tech is just appalling. He behaves like some kind of bumbling dad out of his league. This is really letting everyone down.

This post is a great example of contentless blather about how 'complex' and 'funny' the world the tech is (to Rory C-J).

I imagine you will suppress this post - Rory C-J presumably being more vain than he likes to pretend - but the fact remains that 91热爆 tech coverage is infantile. Look at the US coverage in the mainstream, CNet, NYT, All Things D, all the blogs, etc and you see what can be achieved.

Your argument will surely be - we have to be where the audience is - and this is sound but too abstract. The audience may be confused, but they are eager, and Rory C-J just makes the whole thing feel like a jolly jape that will sort of all make sense one day.

Get it sorted! Be serious about the tech, without making it too hard to grasp. Put Bill Thompson in charge. He's no great shakes, but he at least manages not to patronise the reader, while keeping it clear and compelling.

Definitely get rid of Pops Rory C-J. Technology is not some goofy thing for dads of yesteryear.

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