Google introduces Google TV

On the second day of the I/O developer conference Google unveiled Google TV, internet-enabled platform that will be available as early as this fall on devices offered by Sony and Logitech.

While Sony will be selling HDTVs and Bluray players with GTV capabalities, Logitech will offer devices that will be connected to existing hardware. No pricing was revealed, but all three devices will be available at BestBuy. In addition Google TV will be integrated with Dish Network.

Along with all the cool features viewers will be able to use a special remote control and browse for upcoming TV shows, view more information online, schedule for future DVR recording or watch previous episodes on Hulu or Amazon. In addition a translation service will be available to translate LIVE TV captions in any language.

Another applouded feature is the ability to use your Android phone as a remote or speak to your device the search queries displayed on the screen.

The devices from Sony and Logitech will use a specialized version of the popular Atom processor which will be optimized for TV viewing. The integrated browser is Chrome and initialy the operating system will be powered by Android 2.1 later on to be updated to the newly introduced Android 2.2.

Most Android apps should work with the service and the source code and APIs will be released in early 2011.

iPhone as a Remote Control for XBMC (Xbox Media Center)

While searching for the ultimate FREE home media center application, I came across XBMC (Xbox Media Center). XBMC was originally created for the first-generation Xbox game console, but it is now available for Linux, Mac OS X (Leopard, Tiger, and Apple TV), Windows (Vista, XP). There is even a live CD version called XBMC Live.

XBMC plays most video formats, and I find it the ultimate player for playing HD movies. For additional features and recommended hardware, please refer to the official XBMC site.

I currently have XBMC installed on my Windows Vista Ultimate (x64), and it is running absolutely flawlessly. My windows machine is connected to my Mitsubishi HC1600 HD DLP Projector, and oh boy…do I have a movie theater in my living room?

After appreciating this set-up for a few weeks, I decided to create a similar one for my bedroom (less the projector), and this time I wanted to use my Mac Book. Fortunately XBMC has a build for Mac OS X, but for a greater positive surprise, I found that there is a XBMC port specifically designed for OS X: Plex. Plex works absolutely amazing and it utilizes both cores of the Mac Book, which is crucial for watching HD Movies.

Now that I have a fully functioning home media center in my living room and bedroom, I couldn’t wish for anything else but a remote that will control them all.

Being an iPhone addict, I searched for XBMC on App Store and was pleasantly surprised. There is an application called XBMC Remote that allows you to control XBMC (or Plex) through your WiFi. That was exactly what I was hoping for and installed the software immediately. XBMC Remote costs $2.99, but is worth every penny. In addition, there is an application called xbmcontrol which is free, but XBMC Remote works better for me.

Setting up XBMC to work with your XBMC Remote is very easy and it takes about a minute:

1. Open XBMC (or Plex) and Navigate to Settings. Write down or remember the IP address.

2. Enter settings and scroll down to Servers

3. Highlight (arrow right) Enable Web Server and enable it (hit Enter). Port 80 is preselected and you may leave it as is unless you have a web server on the same subnet accepting connections on port 80. Adding a password is optional.

4. Go to App Store on your iPhone and search for xbmc remote. Install the application and open it.

5. You’ll have to first configure it, by adding a XBMC Host. Select Add Host

6. Enter a title of your choice. Enter the same port number you used on your XBMC or just leave it 80 if you didn’t change it. For Host/IP enter the IP address of your XBMC (the one you remembered from step 1).

Select Done and you are all set. Tap on your newly created host, select more and tap on Remote. Now you have a fully functional remote control for your XBMC or Plex. The remote could be used with Buttons or Gestures.

Palm Treo Pro

Palm proves it’s still in the smartphone game with the new Treo Pro. After a trip down memory lane earlier this year with the entry-level Centro running Palm OS, Palm returns to Windows Mobile with the Treo Pro (also known as the Treo 850).

The Treo Pro runs WM 6.1 and has a 400 MHz Qualcomm processor with 256 MB of RAM. It has a 2.5-inch display, with the resolution boosted to 320×320.

The Pro also comes in 85millimetres thinner and 20grams lighter than the Treo 750. The Treo Pro is a touchscreen device but is no iPhone-killer. It’s not intended to be – it has its sights set on the BlackBerry crowd. Palm has made a few modifications to the clunky Windows Mobile interface, such as a new screen saver displaying the time, missed calls and messages. Palm has also licensed HTC’s drop-down Task Manager, which makes it easy to access advanced settings and kill applications running in the background.

The phone has Palm’s standard, five-way rocker interface surrounded by four function keys plus answer and end. There are also dedicated volume, camera, wi-fi and mute buttons as well as a stylus. The keys are slightly smaller than those on the 750 but still OK. Anyone doing a lot of text entry should consider a phone with a slide-out qwerty keyboard.

The Treo Pro’s key new features are GPS (stand-alone and assisted) plus 802.11b/g wi-fi with WPA, WPA2, and 801.1x authentication. The Pro also has a quad-band GSM, tri-band UMTS device compatible with EDGE and HSDPA networks – to be used as a wireless broadband modem “tethered” to your notebook. It also has Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR, infra-red, 256MB of onboard storage and a microSDHC card slot supporting cards up to 32GB.

Initially available only from Telstra, the Treo Pro runs on the high-speed Next G network and comes bundled with a range of Telstra services including the Whereis Navigator sat-nav software. Whereis Navigator is far more impressive than Nokia Maps on the Nokia N96, which took us on a wild goose chase last week.

The Treo Pro’s screen is difficult to read in direct sunlight, but not impossible. The phone has a 2-megapixel camera with video capture but no front camera for video calls. This is the first Treo with a 3.5-millimetre headphone jack, but the trade-off is the loss of the multi-connector in favour of microUSB for charging and synching.

Bundled software includes mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Internet Explorer, MSN Messenger, Windows Media Player and Adobe Reader. IE Mobile struggles with complex sites; we’d suggest downloading Mobile Opera (opera.com/products/mobile). The email, calendar, threaded SMS and contacts features are acceptable but clunky.

The mail client supports POP3, IMAP and Microsoft’s Direct Push technology. The Treo Pro is a solid business tool but Palm needs to improve its multimedia and web offerings to fend off BlackBerry and the iPhone 3G.

Palm’s Treo Pro retails for $929

Xperia X1 phone: Pricey and overloaded with options

What kind of smart phone can $800 buy?The luxe Xperia X1 from Sony Ericsson.
At this price, it probably appeals only to recession-resistant gadget lovers, but it says something about what some gadget makers think consumers would want if money were no object.

In this instance, what you get is more sleek sheath than intelligent innards. Its glut of options makes it pokey and difficult to navigate.

Out of the box, the device is pure eye candy, with a black or silver metal-and-plastic body, crisp 3-inch touch screen and slightly curved QWERTY keyboard that slides out smoothly with a satisfying click. The X1 has minimal included memory, so you’ll need a sizable microSD card if you want to access lots of songs, videos and photos on it; a 4 gigabyte card was used during testing, which was enough for plenty of content.

But even before it was turned on, the whopping number of choices to be made would make many nervous. One would be more confused about the phone’s operations than excited about the freedom to use it as one pleases.

When the phone went on sale recently at Sony Style stores and on the Sony Style Web site, it came unlocked, providing access to a variety of carriers. In the United States, you can slide in a SIM card for AT&T or T-Mobile and it should work with their 3G networks.

Then, there was the assortment of 11 buttons on the X1’s face, including a center button that can select items or work as an optical joystick, which scrolls with a finger swipe.

Beyond the button bounty, you can navigate the X1 by tapping its screen with your finger or with a stylus. The stylus was often the best way to go, as the device’s many options are often presented in small text that is difficult to accurately jab at with an index finger.

The X1 uses Windows Mobile 6.1 as its operating system, but Sony Ericsson developed a variety of customized enhancements that run on top of it. Most notable is the stylish panel interface, which consists of up to nine small rectangles you can customize and use to view different applications or media on the device in different ways.

The panel idea is cool, and it’s a nice way to differentiate the X1 from the slew of touch-screen phones that have been released this year, since each rectangle leads to a variety of options instead of just a single application. Panels were used for conducting Google searches, listening to the built-in FM radio and checking out the songs and videos that were stored on the X1.

However, the panel interface still sits atop Windows Mobile, which offers its own methods for listening to tunes or watching videos. It’s hard to understand why anyone would want so many options.

That said, the inclusion of Windows Mobile does mean that if you’re familiar with it, you won’t have much trouble navigating the X1 once you find and click the “Start” tab in the upper right corner of one of the panels. Business users can synchronize the phone with their PCs and get e-mail from their Microsoft Outlook account pushed straight to the phone – something that can make it difficult to switch to a more consumer-friendly phone like the iPhone or the G1, which uses Google Inc.’s Android operating system.

And there are several cool features on the X1. Though the iPhone has a larger screen, the X1’s touch screen sports a sharper resolution. As such, videos look quite good, and it was fun to watch some clips of “The Simpsons.” You can also stream some content from the Internet, such as videos from YouTube, and adjust video sizes to make lesser-quality clips look more palatable.

The X1 also has a standard headphone jack, which is becoming increasingly common on smart phones and makes a big difference to music fans like myself.

Surfing the Web is easy on the X1, and, as with videos, online content looks very good on the screen. The phone includes the Internet Explorer Mobile and Opera Mobile browsers, and having more than one option here is appreciated.

The built-in 3.2-megapixel camera takes good photos and can also be used for videos. Phone calls sounded impressively clear – for $800, they’d better – and if you can find a friend whose phone also supports it, there is a video calling option.

Still, some issues with the X1 often overshadowed the fun. Many times it seemed fairly slow to open applications or complete actions, displaying the multicolored Windows while it processed the request. Even without slowdowns, it usually took several steps to complete a simple action.

The X1 is a gorgeous device. But even if you can afford it, dealing with its overabundance of choices would, in the words of Dewey Finn from “School of Rock,” test your head and your mind and your brain, too.

Xperia X1 at a glance

WHAT IT IS: The $800 Xperia X1 smart phone from Sony Ericsson.

WHAT IT DOES: It has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, sharp 3-inch touch screen and a long list of features that includes Web surfing and video recording. It uses Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Mobile 6.1 as its operating system and has customized enhancements developed by Sony Ericsson.

THE BOTTOM LINE: You may have fun watching YouTube videos, making calls and listening to music on the X1, but its steep price tag puts it out of reach for many gadget fans. And its overabundance of options makes

it somewhat slow and hard to navigate.

ASUS Introduces Fastest Business PDA Phone in the World

800 MHz Processor-equipped ASUS P565 Glides through Resource-intensive Tasks with Effortless Ease and Style

Taipei, Taiwan, November 14, 2008 – ASUS today introduced the ASUS P565, a business PDA phone that boasts an 800 MHz processor—the fastest in the world at the time of this announcement. Featuring ASUS’ latest touch-driven user interface—Glide—the stylish, leather-accented P565 delivers graphics and system performance beyond anything else on the market at present, posting Vsbenchmark scores almost two times that of competing products in its class. This enables the P565 to glide through resource-intensive tasks effortlessly and to handle heavy multitasking exceptionally well—making it ideal for businesspeople who demand uncompromising performance and maximum speed from their productivity tools. Rounding off its impressive feature set is a 2.8″ touchscreen running at a high resolution of 480 x 640 pixels, delivering an unprecedented degree of clarity that does wonders for both personal photographs and spreadsheets.

Gliding to New Heights of Productivity
The ASUS P565 is geared toward the business community. The coupling of an 800 MHz processor and Glide—an innovative touch-responsive user interface exclusive to select ASUS PDA phones—makes for a powerful, productivity-boosting combination. The fast processor renders the P565 particularly amenable to multitasking, while Glide enables users to switch between tasks rapidly with their fingertips. The P565 also comes with a potent suite of business-oriented features and software, including push mail, business card recognition and Microsoft Office Mobile. Other useful applications such as Anytime Launcher and Multi-Home enable users to view their calendars, the times of local and visiting cities, weather reports, online news and much more—all with an intuitive tap, slide or flick of their fingers.

Unprecedented Clarity with High-resolution Touchscreen
The ASUS P565 is equipped with a 2.8″ VGA (480 by 640 pixels) high-resolution touchscreen that delivers unprecedented clarity and brilliance. Photographs look crisper and more true-to-life, while minute details in business documents, such as the individual cells in spreadsheets, are reproduced much more clearly—reducing eye fatigue over periods of prolonged use.

Air of Bespoke Exclusivity
The ASUS P565 is designed to leave a deep and lasting impression. Its battery lid is lined with black synthetic leather, commanding instant respect and attention. The leather contrasts nicely with the P565’s modern, high-gloss face, and lends the phone a natural tactility and evocative appeal that elevates it far above other phones on the market.

About Glide
Glide is a revolutionary touch-responsive user interface that enables users to perform a variety of navigational actions—such as selecting, zooming, scrolling and flipping—easily through simple flicks of their fingers. Incorporated into Glide are also applications that enable users to access a wide range of functions such as looking up the latest news, checking the weather forecast, viewing photo slideshows and listening to music within a few finger taps. These applications, dubbed Multi-Home, Anytime Launcher, EziPhoto, and EziMusic, give the expression “the world at your fingertips” a whole new meaning. For more information on Glide, visit http://event.asus.com/mobile/glide/.

Specifications

Networks	HSDPA 3.6Mbps, UMTS 2100, EDGE/GPRS/GSM 900/1800/1900, Class 10
Operating System	Microsoft Windows® Mobile 6.1™ Professional
Color	Black
Form factor	Bar type
Dimensions	102 mm x 60.5 mm x 16 mm
Weight	120 g (with battery)
Standby Time	250-300 hrs with 3G and 200-250 hrs with 2G**
Talk Time	3 hrs with 3G and 4 hrs with 2G**
Display	2.8″ TFT, 65K-color Touchscreen, VGA (480 x 640 pixels)
Processor	Marvell TavorP 800 MHz
Memory	256 MB Flash + 128 MB DDR SDRAM
Expansion Slot	MicroSD with SDHC support
Connectivity	WLAN 802.11b+g , USB v1.1(FS), Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
WAP Browser	HTTP / WAP 1.2.1/2.0
Messaging	SMS / MMS / Email / MSN / Push E-mail
Battery	1300 mAh Li-Ion
GPS	SiRF Star III with InstantFix
Business Applications
PIM	Word (editor), Excel (editor), PowerPoint (viewer), Windows® Live, MSN, Voice Commander* and Push Email (Exchange Server).
Other Features	Anytime Launcher, ASUS Today, EziMusic, EziPhoto, Business Card Recognition and PDF viewer*.
Multimedia and Entertainment
Camera	3 M Pixel Auto Focus (Main) 300 K Pixel for Video Telephony (Sub)
Video	Record:MPEG4@QVGA 24fps / H.263@QCIF 24fps Playback:MPEG4@QVGA 30fps / H.263@QCIF 30fps Audio/Video Streaming
Picture Format	JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP
Audio Format	MP3, WMA, 3GP, AAC, and AAC+
Ringtone	MP3 / MIDI
JAVA	J2ME (CLDC 1.1 + MIDP2.0)

HTC MAX 4G: World’s First WiMAX Smartphone

The HTC MAX 4G, the world’s first integrated GSM/WiMAX handset, has just been announced. This is a Windows Mobile device with a WVGA touchscreen, GPS, and 4G service.

This device is launching on the Yota Mobile WiMAX network in Russia, which provides subscribers with access to online games, maps, messaging, and file exchange applications while on the move. In addition, this high-capacity Mobile WiMAX network with traffic prioritisation algorithms allows online films, video ,and TV programs to be viewed on the smartphone’s screen.

“Yota was established to provide a unique set of mobile communication services to millions of people in Russia, and today we have launched the first device and services to realize its full potential,” said Denis Sverdlov, General Director of Yota’s parent company, Scartel LLC. “We really believe that these innovative services, high-speed Internet and stylish HTC MAX 4G will completely change the communications industry, just as the introduction of cellular communications did many years ago.”

Yota does not offer regular voice service. Instead, users of this HTC device will need to insert the SIM card from another Russian carrier. However, its WiMAX service can be used for VoIP.

More about the HTC MAX 4G

Running Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro, the MAX 4G includes HTC’s proprietary TouchFLO 3D user interface. This allows users to operate many of the features of this smartphone by touching the 3.8-inch, WVGA (800 by 480 pixel) display with their fingertips.

It’s a tri-band GSM phone, but with WiMAX service naturally there’s no need for 3G. The device does include Wi-Fi b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, though.

Unlike many other HTC models, the MAX 4G includes a a 3.5 mm headphone jack, which makes it easier to use this device with standard headsets.

Other features include a GPS receiver, front- and rear-facing cameras, and an accelerometer.

Overall, this device is 114 mm by 63 mm by 14 mm. It weighs 151 grams with battery.

The HTC MAX 4G has a 1500 mAh battery. This should give it 420 minutes of talk-time over a GSM connection, or 230 minutes with a VoIP connection. Standby-time should be 350 hours with a GSM connection or 50 hours with a VoIP connection.

Outside Russia?

At this time, it is not known if other WiMAX providers around the world will pick up this device in the future.

In the U.S., the largest WiMAX network is being primarily backed by Sprint, who uses the CDMA standard for voice calls. If it was planning to offer this device, it would likely ask HTC for a WiMAX/CDMA version.

Useful network apps for your iPhone

One of the greatest inventions of today’s tech world is the iPhone OS. It is the operating system that your nifty iPhone or iPod touch runs on. Based on the same kernel found on the Mac OS X it is capable of supporting bundled and future applications from Apple as well as third party software developers. Being a *NIX based system, it is capable of running your favorite network apps and utilities. Besides iTunes additional packages could be installed via Installer or Cydia. In addition, there is a linux utility written in Python called iDebMaker which could assist in an easy creation of Debian (.deb) packages for use with your iPhone/iPhone Touch.
I would like to share some of my favorite ones, which help me on a daily basis at home and work:

Terminal

Available through Cydia – Free

Mobile Terminal is a terminal emulator for the iPhone. It is a must have for anyone requiring a sysadmin feel of the iPhone. It supports Backspace, One-Finger Swipe, Single Keyboard, Config Screen, Ctrl-C and more.

Nmap

Available through Cydia – Free
With Nmap you can analyze and scan remote networks, along with your current WLAN. It is run from the terminal as root.

StumblerPlus

Available through AppStore – Free
Stumbler Plus is a very useful information that allows you to scan wifi networks and gather information such us MAC address, longtitude and latitude of the accesspoint, accesspoint manufacturer and more.
Network Ping Lite
Available through AppStore – Free
Network Ping Lite will help you in maintaining and debugging network problems on a LAN. It features:

• Single IP ping
• Ping a subnet
• Traceroute
• Telnet console
• Display the iPhone IP

More functional version is available for $3.99.

zsrelay

Available through Cydia – Free
This is the best solution of using your iPhone as a modem. It requires SOCKS connection and despite the unsafe connection between your Mac and the iPhone your data is safe and encrypted by SSH. This will allow you to use 3G network when WiFi is unavailable.

Minicom

Available through Cydia – Free
Serial communication software for your iPhone.

OpenSSH

Available through Cydia – Free
OpenSSH allows you to login securely from and to your iPhone. This is a must have if you need to access your servers or desktop remotely. It works great over 3G, Edge and WiFi. Windows users may access the iPhone through Putty or WinSCP. Both available for free.

Remote Desktop (lite)

Available through AppStore – Free (paid version available as well)
rdesktop is the open source client for Windows Terminal Services. It works with XP, but does not support Vista yet.

SOCKS Relay

Available through Cydia – Free
This is a simple SOCKS 4/5 proxy server. It is run from the terminal as root.

Wget

Available through Cydia – Free
Simple HTTP file transfer client. Run from terminal and get any file available on the network or internet.

SubnetIT
Available through AppStore – Free – Requires 2.1
SubnetIT is a very useful app for the network administrator. You specify a network address and subnet mask it will calculate Network address, Broadcast address, First and Last host in the subnet and max number of hosts. Displayed in decimal, hexadecimal, and binary notation.

Review of Reviews BlackBerry Bold (AT&T) BlackBerry 9000

The reviews of the BlackBerry Bold range from loving it entirely to calling the BlackBerry Bold an enterprise keyboard choice. Most reviewers commented that the BlackBerry Bold was worth waiting for and that it works very well with AT&T’s 3G network. Almost all noted that the 2.75 inch 480×320 screen shows 65,000 colors and is great looking, gorgeous, sharp, brilliant and the best they have seen on a smartphone.

Reviewers also found the multimedia player and capabilities of the BlackBerry Bold great, wonderful and impressive. The luxurious leatherette exterior was praised.

The BlackBerry Bold has excellent push email for both enterprise and personal email.  Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents can be edited in DataViz Documents to Go. The camera with LED flash was seen as better than the iPhone camera.  Call quality was good and the speaker phone was very loud and clear. The keyboard was easy to use.

Although the web browser was referred to as the best BlackBerry browser so far, some reviewers said that it slowed down and didn’t render everything well. Applications additions are not as easy as other iPhone or Android Apps.

Peter Ha at CrunchGear about how he feels about the BlackBerry Bold, “I love it and never want to let go of it.” and calls it a Super BlackBerry. He quickly adapted to typing fast. The screen is gorgeous but suggests a protective cover. The microSD slot is on the exterior which he likes. The GPS found him instantly.  The camera has LED flash, video capture and worked well. The web browser is better than previous versions. There were errors using Gmail.

Ben Patterson,  Yahoo’s Gadget Hound writes that the BlackBerry Bold is worth the wait. The 3G network worked great and was glitch-free. The display is razor sharp. The OS is improved and performance was peppy. He also liked better rendering of the HTML email and web browsing. He was pleased with call quality and the speaker phone was loud. It shines for multimedia with fast downloads and video streaming.  The media player was impressive with video looking smashing. The Bold is solid choice for non-touchscreen users.

Matt Buchanan at Gizmodo, call the BlackBerry Bold, “the Best BlackBerry Yet.”  The hardware is awesome with an easy to use OS and every reliable 3G access. Wi-Fi however was finicky. The browser is the best BlackBerry browser so far. He however gripes about the lack of an app store and problems that occurred when the browser didn’t handle both Wi-Fi and 3G.

Bonnie Cha at CNET also writes that the BlackBerry Bold was worth the wait rating it 4 out of 5, for the sharpest display, excellent multimedia performance, HSDPA, updated OS, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooh, great messaging email support and QWERTY keyboard.  She doesn’t like that is bulky and high price or web browser navigation. The leatherette texture on the back makes it look and feel nice. The backlit keyboard worked fine. It supports 3G in the US and around the world. The web browsing isn’t as good as iPhone. DataViz Documents to Go allows for editing Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. The camera allows for geo-tagging. Call quality was good while multimedia was amazing.

Sascha Segan at PCMag rated the BlackBerry Bold 4 out 5 for it luxurious feel, beautiful screen, reliable email, Office document editor, terrific media player and good camera. He however wished the web browsers were better and that there was an IM client. The keyboard was easy to use.”The best-looking” screen he’s seen on a mobile device but wishes it were bigger.  Voices were loud and clear. The speaker phone was a wonder. In weak signal areas, however, the call quality was not as good. Battery life was fair at 4 hours 28 minutes. The smartphone worked as modem with speedy download speed. The BlackBerry Bold connects with both corporate and personal email servers. The browser is rough. Music and video players looked and sounded great. The camera is better than the iPhone or Curve.

Another Report On iPhone Production Cuts

For the second day in a row, there is a report on Apple (AAPL) cutting iPhone production.

Yesterday, Craig Berger of Friedman Billings Ramsey said December quarter iPhone production was likely to be down 40% from the previous quarter, worse than the 10% production cut he had previously expected.

Today, UBS analyst Maynard Um reports that his checks find “iPhone production and the associated supply chain may be experiencing some incremental
weakness due to concerns about end demand.” Um says production in the December quarter could be 4 million units; he maintains his sales forecast for the quarter of 5 million, but writes that “there could be some downside risk to this estimate given a weakening environment and checks within the supply chain.” Um cautions that “supply chain order and production plans can vary from week to week,” but that “recent data points may suggest unit volumes weaker than our current estimate.”

Apple shipped 6.9 million iPhones in the September quarter; about 2 million of those are estimated to be in carrier inventory.

Wireless carriers open the network to embedded devices

Where’s the next big evolution in wireless?  The tier 1 operators think there’s tremendous growth opportunity in embedding wireless connectivity into all types of devices and appliances.

With penetration rates hitting 85 percent and above in the U.S., wireless carriers are quickly realizing that the next big growth opportunity lies in not just connecting people to their networks, but in connecting devices.  And those devices aren’t just the typical wireless handsets but all types of consumer electronics goods and appliances. Basically, any type of device-digital camera, personal music player or navigation device-can be outfitted with wireless.

This is the reason Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility have formed targeted open development business units and it’s why Sprint Nextel’s Xohm Business Unit is encouraging big vendors such as Intel and Nokia to “self-certify” their WiMAX gear to speed device time to market.

PCMCIA cards that connect the carrier’s network to the laptop are a good first step but the only way carriers will reap the rewards of their 3G/4G network investment is to give the consumer an embedded device.

“Whatever device it gets embedded in is OK with me, as long as I have the ability to place it on my network,” said Tony Lewis, vide president of Open Development for Verizon Wireless.

That’s an almost radical position for Verizon Wireless which, most everyone would agree, has a reputation of being something of a control freak when it comes to its network.

“This was met with some skepticism early on but I think folks have come to find out how serious we are and how significant this is and, more importantly, how quick and easy it is to get onto the Verizon Wireless network now,” Lewis said.

Sprint Nextel’s Xohm Business Unit comes from the opposite extreme. Within a couple weeks of its WiMAX launch in Baltimore, Xohm could point to a dozen laptops with embedded WiMAX capability available in retail and 20 more in the pipeline being certified. In the next three to five years, Xohm expects to see “smaller devices really starting to take off in terms of volume. These devices will be digital cameras, video cameras … music devices, e-books. From sheer volume they’re going to be very big,” said Bin Shen, vice president of product management and partnership development at Sprint’s Xohm Business Unit.

Embedding rather than having external USB or card-based technology is important because embedded devices “go through the more conventional consumer electronics device channels,” Shen said. “We all agree in order to drive the wireless broadband and the data adoption you really have to go through an embedded device model.”

AT&T’s 3G product focus is on embedded connectivity with such devices as Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPCs) and Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) that look like small Internet-specific computers.

“When you get to ease-of-use, a plug-and-play for the customer, embedded is going to be the future, especially as you go into some of these other (non-laptop) devices,” said Glenn Lurie, president of emerging devices at AT&T. “I believe embedded is the only way to go.”

All the carriers talk about being open, but vendors must go through a screening process to get on their networks. Devices must work within a proprietary scheme, at least with Verizon Wireless and AT&T, and must be certified by all the carriers. Sprint’s WiMAX is an IP-based technology that’s available around the world but devices still need an OK to be on Xohm.

The big difference is how the networks will handle the devices, said Shen, pointing out that data is an add-on for voice-centric 3G and “WiMAX is designed for a really high-speed broadband network.”

However, WiMAX has its limits when it comes to footprint. Sprint’s Xohm Business Unit is expected to merge with Clearwire to form the “new” Clearwire with a $3.2 billion investment from Google, Comcast, Intel and others. That merger is expected to close by year-end and while the “new” Clearwire is promising nationwide ubiquity, AT&T and Verizon Wireless are everywhere now.

“Pretty much everybody has a handset… so where’s the next big momentum in this industry? It’s in the connected devices. An embedded module is a radio chip that would be placed in that device,” Lewis said. “It could be as extreme as your refrigerator or toaster; it could be as useful as medical devices; as fun as gaming devices; attaching things not just to your car but to your parking space, your front door, your medicine cabinet.”

As long as there’s a Verizon connection, Verizon’s open to partnering with any number of device manufacturers and is willing to simplify its certification process. In the end, though, it becomes a Verizon Wireless product built by an outside vendor.

“I want to qualify it for my network. I want to have the ability to have as many devices as possible working on this network. If a manufacturer chooses to go to another network that’s certainly their option to do that,” Lewis said. “This is giving consumers their choice on which network they want to operate this device.”

Perhaps the best example to date of a wildly successful embedded device is the Apple iPhone which really is not open at all.

“We’re having very nice success with the iPhone (and) the only way we got there was because I knew that when Apple walked into my office they weren’t walking into Verizon’s tomorrow. We could really open up and give them all of our details and work on new things and build new capabilities,” Lurie said.

While admitting that the new era of open embedded devices will go both ways–exclusive and non-exclusive–Lurie believes that the relationship with the carrier, not the technology, will drive the market.

“Many of these consumer electronics players have never done mobility before… so they’re looking at their core partner to help them build mobility, build a distribution model, build the device. Those are the things they’re going to want to do with a partner to start and possibly down the road that will change,” he said.

What won’t change is the carriers’ focus on the embedded device as Velcro to bind consumers to their networks and grow revenues beyond voice.

“This is the natural evolution of utilizing one of the greatest assets we have, the network, (and) more importantly giving our consumers even more choices than they have today,” said Lewis. “There are lots of opportunities for folks out there to do some innovative things if they know they have an open network.”

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