Jambo

Here’s a cool article that came out today talking about Jambo in airports. Airports are such interesting transition points, always ripe for chance encounters! A few blurbs from the article below:

“The real power of WiFi is the ability to discover and connect with other people in proximity that you might want to meet,” said Charles Ribaudo, co-founder of Jambo Networks Inc., a WiFi-services developer in Dallas. “Until recently, people have been using WiFi just to access the Internet.”

A network developed by Jambo already has been rolled out at New York City’s La Guardia Airport, in partnership with Concourse Communications. The network enables travelers to discover and connect with other travelers who share something in common and are in the airport at the same time.

“For instance, Jambo can discover others from the same industry or company, those that went to the same university or that share a common friend,” Ribaudo said.

Nintendo has partnered with Wayport to offer free WiFi at the 6,000 McDonalds that Wayport manages for the Big Mac. So why is Nintendo interested? Nintendo makes a WiFi enabled gaming handheld – Nintendo DS that lets its users play online games without using a laptop. This will also drive more usage of their online games. So why is McDonalds interested? This will drive more kids to their stores and keep them there longer. With the strong aroma of french fries in the background, Big Mac will surely sell more fast food between games. So, why is Wayport interested? As the big kahuna in the WiFi hotspot space, attracting more hotspot users is great for business. In addition, with the number of wifi hotspots growing rapidly (there’s over 60,000 worldwide), they need to start differentiating themselves with value added apps. The more customers that wayport helps drive to the locations it manages, the easier it will be for them to continue signing up more locations.

While this is a few weeks old, it is still very exciting – particularly since Addison is just 15 minutes north of us in Dallas. Like a lot of other cities across the country, Addison is going to blanket the entire area with WiFi. Addison to be one big WiFi zone

I am glad to hear more cities embracing WiFi. I talked with the mayor of Addison about it for a little while. WiFi lowers the costs for small businesses so that they don’t have to wire their offices (or even have offices for that matter). With VoIP and other applications, WiFi becomes that much more compelling. It could also make Addison a more hip place to be. I lived there for a year when I first moved down to Dallas, before moving closer to downtown (which I think is more fun). However, WiFi definitely makes Addison a cooler place to work, so maybe it will end up being the future home of Jambo Networks.

With several cities deploying WiFi, WiFi may end up becoming the weapon of choice in the arms race for economic development. Hopefully the city of Dallas will follow suit. Addison hopes that its WiFi blanket will draw more creative people there, which could in turn create new businesses. Who knows, your next business partner might be surfing & sitting at the table next to you?

The FCC has unanimously voted to allow wireless internet connections on airplanes. If everything goes according to plans, airplanes might be offering passengers internet service by as soon as 2006.

HotelChatter lists the best and worst WiFi hotels based on free access. The best hotels offer free WiFi in the lobbies and many of the properties also offer free WiFi in the guests rooms as well. The worst WiFi hotels are charging for WiFi either in the guest rooms or the lobbies. We can’t rip on the worst hotels too much though, because at least they are offering WiFi access. There are some hotels that have yet to jump on the WiFi bandwagon and they really deserve to be called the worst.

Best WiFi Hotels 2004:
1. Kimpton Hotels
2. Omni Hotels
3. Marriott Residence Inn
4. Best Western
5. Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express

Worst WiFi Hotels 2004:
1. Marriott flagship hotels
2. Fairmont
3. Hilton
4. Hyatt
5. Any other hotel that charges for wireless access in the lobby.

http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2004/11/2/201522/957/Title/Best_WiFi_Hotels_2004

http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2004/11/4/4105/43713/Title/Worst_WiFi_Hotels_2004

Paris is rolling out WiFi to the La Defense area, just outside the city. The hotspot will be 30 hectares (approximately 74 acres) and will be the largest hotspot in Europe. 150,000 people currently work there, and 50,000 more people visit it every day.

To learn more about the Paris Hotspot, click here

This makes T-Mobile service even more attractive. Given the range of WiFi, you don’t even need to leave your car, to check email or surf the web. This came in handy the other day, when I needed directions. I just pulled up to a Kinko’s, and within a few minutes, I was back on the road, without having to leave my car! We welcome the addition of 1,100 more hotspots.

To learn more about Kinko’s WiFi deployment, click here

Amtrak and AT&T Wireless just launched WiFi Hotspots in 6 Train Stations in the Northeast Corridor. The stations include: Boston Route 128, Providence, New York Penn Station, Philadelphia 30th St, Wilmington, and Baltimore Penn Station. AT&T Wireless is charging $9.99 for 24 hour access per location, $30 for a 5 pack ($6 per session), $50 for a 10 pack ($5 per session). AT&T Wireless subscribers can get further discounts.

With more than 1 million passengers going through these train stations per day, these locations (and even the trains carrying these passengers) offer Jambo users the potential for many matches.

http://wifinetnews.com/archives/003899.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040616/sfw030_1.html

72% of business travelers surveyed by Broadreach said that they would be more likely to ride trains instead of cars or planes if trains had onboard WiFi. 78% of them said that they would use WiFi on trains if it was available. The longer the ride, the more interested they were in using WiFi, since most business travelers are already doing work on the train. Broadreach is currently working with a number of firms that run trains in the UK to have WiFi installed in over 700 trains within the next four years. This would be a great idea for the US market as well, particularly for the Amtrak trains in the Northeast Corridor and the commuter trains into New York City, both of which get a lot of business travelers/commuters.

http://wifinetnews.com/archives/003358.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3729583.stm

On May 17th, Lufthansa will launch in-flight WiFi service on its Munich-L.A. non-stop flights. The WiFi service will be run by Connexion by Boeing. Lufthansa has equipped 5 of its long-haul planes with WiFi and plans to install WiFi on all of its long-haul flights from Munich and Frankfurt by 2006. Passengers can pay a flat fee of $29.95 or $9.95 for 30 minutes and $.25 a minute thereafter. In addition to Lufthansa, Connexion by Boeing has signed definitive agreements with Scandinavian Airlines, Japan Airlines, and ANA, as well as letters of intent with Singapore Airlines, China Airlines, and Korean Air. Connexion by Boeing plans to install WiFi on 300 planes by 2006. The question is, why haven’t any U.S based airlines signed up yet? With the highest percentage of hotspots and the most WiFi users, the U.S. market seems like a good place to start.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/biztravel/2004-05-10-wifi_x.htm

http://www.connexionbyboeing.com/index.cfm?p=cbb.home&l=en.US&ec=