Monday, February 12, 2007
Microsoft, Google Want FCC to Test Wireless Device
Posted by Jeremy Charette in "NEWS" @ 01:00 PM
"Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and four other technology companies plan to submit a prototype of a new handheld device to U.S. regulators for testing, as they press the government to free up airwaves for wireless Internet access. Microsoft is developing the prototype, which the coalition will submit to the Federal Communications Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology, according to a Feb. 5 letter the companies filed with the FCC. The device would "provide consumer broadband access and networking," the filing said. The commission is considering whether to let companies offer wireless Internet access on handheld devices that would use vacant television airwaves, known as white spaces. A law enacted last year requires TV stations to convert to digital technology by February 2009, freeing up their old airwaves."
Seems like the majors are trying to use the soon to be available analog TV spectrum for broadband internet use. What exactly this device (or devices) will do is unclear at the moment, but it'll be interesting to see what they can come up with. Free internet for everyone?
Seems like the majors are trying to use the soon to be available analog TV spectrum for broadband internet use. What exactly this device (or devices) will do is unclear at the moment, but it'll be interesting to see what they can come up with. Free internet for everyone?
