Several hours after New Orleans officials made the announcement that they would deploy free city-wide WiFi BellSouth withdrew its Donation to the city. The donation would have been one of BellSouth’s damaged buildings that are located in New Orleans. The building would have been used as the new police headquarters according to city officials.

Apparently, Bill Oliver, the head of BellSouth’s Louisiana operations contacted New Orleans homeland security director Terry Ebbert to withdraw his offer of the building. It seems that BellSouth was upset that the city of New Orleans planned to offer a city-wide high-speed wireless network at no cost. Large Telephone companies throughout the US have been opposed to localities offering their own Internet networks and have been aggressively lobbying against it.

Jeff Battcher, Bellsouth spokesman, says that this info is not accurate. He was quoted as saying “Our willingness to work with the mayor and the city is still on the table. We’ve been working for over two months on this building. We are a little surprised by these comments.” According to Battcher he is still waiting for a response from the mayor.

The police of New Orleans have been scattered throughout the city in makeshift locations ever since their headquarters was damaged by hurricane Katrina. There are roughly 1,650 members of the police force. The building in question consists of about 250,000 square feet of space, but it has suffered from flooding and still needs some repairs. The police force has been eagerly awaiting the move to the building and have been preparing for the move for months.

Greg Meffert, the city’s chief technology officer and a deputy mayor is upset that BellSouth objects to the idea of the proposed wireless network. Meffert said “It’s a once-in-a-century opportunity to truly show the entire world what can be, instead of just what is, and help write future history in the process. It’s a damn shame they don’t see that.” The network is going to cover the central business district and the French Quarter with plans to expand as more people return to New Orleans. The network will also be used by law enforcement and other city agencies in order to help speed up the recovery process. The city has plans to eventually outsource the operation of the network’s business and consumer services to a private firm.

Let’s hope that Bellsouth continues with their donation and the city of New Orleans deploys its WiFi network with success. Hopefully free city-wide wireless networks will spread throughout the entire US. I won’t be holding my breath though.

According to a new proposal being considered by a suburb of New York City, any business or home office with an open wireless connection but no separate server to fend off Internet attacks would be violating the law.

Politicians in Westchester County are urging adoption of the law–which appears to be the first such legislation in the U.S.–because without it, “somebody parked in the street or sitting in a neighboring building could hack into the network and steal your most confidential data,” County Executive Andy Spano said in a statement.

The draft proposal offered this week would compel all “commercial businesses” with an open wireless access point to have a “network gateway server” outfitted with a software or hardware firewall. Such a firewall, used to block intrusions from outside the local network, would be required even for a coffee shop that used an old-fashioned cash register instead of an Internet-linked credit card system that could be vulnerable to intrusions.

Scott Fernqvist, special assistant to the county’s chief information officer, said Friday that he thought “the law would apply” to home offices as well.

“It was just introduced; it’s a draft,” Fernqvist said. “We’re hoping it’s enacted early next year, but this can change.”

The proposed law has two prongs: First, “public Internet access” may not be provided without a network gateway server equipped with a firewall. Second, any business or home office that stores personal information also must install such a firewall-outfitted server even if its wireless connection is encrypted and not open to the public. All such businesses would be required to register with the county within 90 days.

The proposal echoes a slew of bills in Congress and in state legislatures that are being considered in the wake of recent security problems involving Bank of America, payroll provider PayMaxx and Reed Elsevier Group’s LexisNexis service. But the other proposals tend to follow approaches such as requiring notification of breaches or restricting use of Social Security Numbers–as opposed to regulating wireless links.

According to the Westchester proposal, public Internet access sites also would have to post a sign saying: “You are accessing a network which has been secured with firewall protection. Since such protection does not guarantee the security of your personal information, use discretion.” Violations of any part of the law would be punishable with fines of $250 or $500.

Representatives from the county’s information technology department drove around downtown White Plains, N.Y., with laptop computers and detected 248 open wireless connections in less than half an hour, the county reported. Half lacked “visible security” features.

news.zdnet.com

MUMBAI: Global media giants have suddenly got serious about internet. The mood is reflected in the recent buys News Corp and Viacom have done, gobbling up internet assets like mySpace.com, propertyfinder.com, Neopets and iFilm at valuations that have surprised many.

Drawing inspiration from its rivals’ aggressive internet strategies, Time Warner’s chairman-CEO Richard Parsons refuses to jettison his plans on the internet and wireless front. Irrespective of the fact that Time Warner burnt its fingers with its 2001 merger with America Online Limited (AOL), Parsons feels the convergence of traditional media and the Internet is inevitable with online advertising holding an “exciting potential”.

“We are the only media company with a major stake in the Internet”, Parsons said during an interview with New Yorker media columnist Ken Auletta. However, he acknowledged the ongoing talks with competitors to sell off a stake in AOL. According to Parsons, Microsoft, Yahoo and a partnership of Google and Comcast have expressed interest in buying or partnering with AOL in recent weeks.

Parsons expressed Time Warner’s interest in retaining some control over the division even if a deal goes through. “We want to help our other companies to take advantage of the Internet and it would be easier if we retained part of AOL after a deal goes through,” he said during the interview.

When queried by Auletta about areas where Time Warner was not active presently, Parsons singled out Wireless and gaming. “Games online and computer games are becoming a huge, huge business, with young males aging 18 to 35.”

Parsons hinted at Time Warner’s plans to attempt some acquisitions or deals on the wireless front. The company has already made its foray into wireless as it joined Comcast, Cox and Brighthouse in a wireless-cable venture with Sprint Nextel to develop a way for consumers to watch cable TV through their cell phones.

indiantelevision.com

The cable TV industry has been tiptoeing around the edges of the wireless phone market. Sprint Nextel has made a nice business selling wireless phone service to cable TV operators such as Time Warner. But until now, the cable companies have no interest in owning wireless networks. Years ago, Comcast and Cox and Sprint operated a wireless venture called PCS Primeco, but the cable companies left.

The time may be right for another cable TV foray into wireless communications. Wireless networks are increasingly filled with short video clips of sports and news. It’s still crude, but the level of sophistication will soar as networks become faster and handsets more powerful. That will happen over the next six to 12 months. It’s not science fiction. By the end of next year, mobile users will be able to access the Web at speeds that begin to rival that of a household DSL connection. Many do so already, although coverage is still limited to certain markets. “The cable guys want to tap mobile video content,” says Albert Lin, telecom analyst with American Technology Research.

Big wireless companies would be extremely expensive. So perhaps the cable companies will try and find a more creative way to enter the market. One possibility would be to link up with satellite communications companies, which can use their extra capacity for terrestrial, cellular-based service. That’s why deals or partnerships between cable TV companies and communications companies such as Mobile Satellite Ventures and Motient might be at hand. Rudy Baca, telecom analyst with The Precursor Group, says such combinations could put pricing pressure on the entire wireless sector. “Satellite spectrum is not auction able. It was obtained for free, which would give satellite operators a cost advantage over wireless,” Baca says.

businessweek.com

By Laura Petrecca, USA TODAY
As media and tech suitors come calling for content and distribution alliances, Time Warner’s often scorned AOL unit is becoming the belle of the ball.

A possible joint bid from Comcast and Google for a minority stake in AOL is the latest scenario Time Warner is considering, according to two people with knowledge of the talks. Both emphasized the talks are preliminary and might not bring a deal.

Meanwhile, Time Warner also has had talks for several months with Microsoft’s MSN about an alliance or joint venture. And Time Warner has spoken with Google separately about a possible two-way deal, said one of the people.

Time Warner, Comcast and MSN all declined to comment. Michael Mayzel, a spokesman for Google, which currently provides AOL’s search technology, said he can’t comment on “rumored conversations,” adding that, “Google and AOL have a healthy global partnership.”

As companies clamor for advantage in the evolving media and technology landscape, Time Warner has to decide on AOL’s preferred dance partners. Details on the scenarios in play:

•A deal with Microsoft would increase MSN’s traffic and add value for advertisers. Microsoft likely would take a minority stake in AOL, and AOL would use its search technology, according to one of the people. JupiterResearch analyst David Card said this is a strong move by Microsoft to bulk up its online service and thwart rival Google at the same time. “Microsoft is trying to get AOL to block Google out,” he says.

• A solo partnership with Google would keep MSN out and let Google keep the ad revenue it gets from AOL use of its search. Loss of the AOL relationship would cut at least 5% from Google’s earnings per share, estimates Merrill Lynch analyst Lauren Rich Fine.

• Google and Comcast are talking about a stake in AOL’s ad-supported free portal and its instant-messaging service — not AOL’s dial-up service, said one of the people. Comcast, which has 21.5 million cable subscribers, and Google would both gain additional Internet content, such as AOL’s concerts.

In any partnership scenario, Time Warner likely would retain a majority stake, said one of the people. That’s smart, Card says, since AOL has a 9% share of the $9.3 billion in U.S. online ad spending and is poised to benefit as that market grows. Yahoo currently has 17%, Google, 14% and MSN, 12%.

Time Warner also has said it is considering selling a stake in AOL to the public. Any of these deals could give Time Warner a way to increase the value put on AOL. It’s under pressure to boost shareholder value as investor Carl Icahn buys up shares and demands better returns.

Samsung and CSR announced yesterday the launching of the Samsung models, SGH-E750 and SGH-E760, two phones which will use the BlueCore3 ROM solution with MP3 support. In other words, both phones will have the possibility to wirelessly stream MP3 music to a Bluetooth headset.

The SBH100 headset is based on CSR’s
BlueCore solution and it can also be used to make calls. The two phones will be available for GSM networks starting with this year’s second quarter.

By including the BlueCore3-ROM solution in its phones, Samsung is the first producer to allow users to wirelessly stream MP3s to a Bluetooth headset. The solution developed by CSR is the only one capable to offer native support for the MP3s, using the internal codec on the software scheme and the DSP.

These triband phones follow the design line of the existent clamshell models and include a 1.3MP digital camera. The SGH-E750 model also includes flash memory, while the SGH-E760 is only fitted with a digital amplifier and two speakers.

Both phone models include new functions, like digital compass and gesture recognition, which have been associated with cell phone gaming titles.

softpedia.com