RSS Blogster - Top Articles

Newegg terminates supplier relationship over counterfeit Core i7 CPUs

2010-03-08T17:58:00-07:00

PowerHouse eMonitor lets you manage power use down to the circuit

2010-03-08T12:28:00-07:00

Jalalabad's Fab Fi: How Junk Was Turned Into a High-Speed Wireless Network [Wi-Fi]

2010-03-04T17:00:00-07:00

Members of MIT's Bits and Atoms lab visited Afghanistan some time ago. While there, they showed locals how to turn pieces of board, wire, a plastic tub and some cans into reflectors for a wireless network. The result? Fab Fi.

The project resulted in 25 simultaneous live nodes being up in the city of Jalalabad and residents being able to enjoy a stable connection all over the place. Locals are even expanding the network by adding more reflectors and routers. There are some difficulties in actually obtaining the routers though, but the MIT crew—now dubbed the Jalalabad Fab Lab—are helping resolve those by shipping routers over.

On the surface this is a tale of some clever University MacGyvers, a small place in Afghanistan, and a makeshift Wi-Fi network, but the greater idea is that people came together to provide a new method of communication to an area where Skype calls and quick Google searches weren't a common luxury. Sure, now the area is exposed to time wasters and Internet porn, but it's also been provided some new opportunities to learn and explore. [Free Range International via Futurismic via Boing Boing]

Officials Sue Couple Who Removed Their Lawn

2010-03-02T21:39:00-07:00

Hugh Pickens writes "The LA Times reports that Orange County officials are locked in a legal battle with a couple accused of violating city ordinances for replacing the grass on their lawn with wood chips and drought-tolerant plants, reducing their water usage from 299,221 gallons in 2007 to 58,348 gallons in 2009. The dispute began two years ago, when Quan and Angelina Ha tore out the grass in their front yard. In drought-plagued Southern California, the couple said, the lush grass had been soaking up tens of thousands of gallons of water — and hundreds of dollars — each year. 'We've got a newborn, so we want to start worrying about her future,' said Quan Ha, an information technology manager for Kelley Blue Book. But city officials told the Has they were violating several city laws that require that 40% of residential yards to be landscaped predominantly with live plants. Last summer, the couple tried to appease the city by building a fence around the yard and planting drought-tolerant greenery — lavender, rosemary, horsetail, and pittosporum, among others. But according to the city, their landscaping still did not comply with city standards. At the end of January, the Has received a letter saying they had been charged with a misdemeanor violation and must appear in court. The couple could face a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for their grass-free, eco-friendly landscaping scheme. 'It's just funny that we pay our taxes to the city and the city is now prosecuting us with our own money,' says Quan Ha."

iPad’s 3G Pricing: Why It’s So Great

2010-03-02T11:29:26-07:00

As someone whoâs followed the wireless industry closely for years, one of the most interesting announcements to come out of the iPad keynote were the wireless plans. The wireless industry in the U.S. has been one of the least consumer-friendly industries for years (just consider the fact that consumers regularly pay as much as $1,000 per megabyte for text messages). There has been a slow change in how the wireless industry prices data, however, and the iPadâs data plans with AT&T highlight this.

This change first drew my attention when the Kindle was originally released with unlimited data access built into the price. This was a sea change in how cellular data is sold, as the cost basically became transparent for the customer. Thatâs not to say the customer isnât paying for it, you are, but thereâs no monthly line item that you are aware of. Now, the Kindle, and other e-book readers that offer similar services, are something of an extreme example because of the very small amount of data thatâs actually used to send a book to the device. The iPad, however, shows that this isnât an isolated incident.

Letâs take a close look at the iPadâs mobile data plans. For $15 per month you get 250MB of data transfer and free usage of AT&Tâs Wi-Fi hotspot network. For twice that amount you get âunlimitedâ data (read 5GB per month as is standard in the wireless industry) plus access to AT&Tâs WiFi network. Despite what many are saying, that $15 plan is actually a pretty good deal for many people. For example, Iâm a heavy iPhone user, so the first thing I do every morning is pull out my iPhone and check my RSS feeds. I have it in my hand and am usually accessing the Internet for hours every day. Despite that, I regularly use less than 200MB of data each month. This is possible because I, like most people, have access to high-speed WiFi networks at home and work, where I spend most of my time.

Throw in the free access to AT&T Wi-Fi networks and I imagine that most users can get away with that 250MB of use per month without too much trouble. That means that for the first time people can get everywhere access to almost the entire Internet for the same price that dial-up cost a few years ago. Of course for tech geeks like us weâre going to be afraid that weâll blow past that 250MB pretty quick and probably spring for the $30 per month plan. Even here, however, weâre getting a pretty great deal compared to the $60 per month that cellular companies regularly charge for unlimited data for your computer, even dinky little computers like netbooks.

Perhaps even more important, however, is the fact that these data plans are available on a prepaid basis and can be cancelled at any time. Up until now, in order to get the privilege of paying $60 per month for 5GB of data for your netbook you would have to pay a couple hundred dollars for a modem. If you want that modem for free youâre stuck signing a contract for two years. The fact that I can get an iPad with 3G capabilities, and then buy service on a month-to-month basis as necessary is pretty great.

The iPadâs data plans are in fact a major competitive advantage for the device. For other companies to compete effectively in this space theyâre going to not only have to put together a device that matches the iPadâs hardware and software experience, but that also matches its connectivity experience. This isnât going to be easy in the short term, and itâs a clear example of how Apple has been able to leverage its relationship with AT&T to get a pretty great deal for consumers (as long as you donât live in New York or San Francisco). In the long term you can bet that companies like Verizon, Sprint, HTC and Asus are going to be forced to match or beat the pricing and structure of these plans, and thatâs going to be a win for all of us, no matter what device we use.

Force10 IPO — Better Late Than Never?

2010-03-02T07:04:52-07:00

Force10, the networking gear maker founded in 1999, filed for an initial public offering today, as part of a rush of companies seeking to hit the public markets while the window seems open. IPO filings are up more than 900 percent in 2010 according to Renaissance Capital, which tracks the IPO market. Despite its relative youth for an IPO filer this year, Force10 represents not a hot new startup seeking access to the public markets, but a grizzled 11-year-old veteran trudging toward an IPO because it simply has to exit, and no buyers have emerged,

At least 13 venture firms firms have invested more than $205 million in Force10 within the last five years alone. The company is seeking to raise $143.75 million through its offering. But given the amount of time its investors have waited, a history of losses, a complicated balance sheet thanks to a series of transactions, and a slew of larger competitors, Force10’s IPO looks a bit like a shotgun wedding.

Force10 sells telecommunications networking gear as well as 10 gigabit Ethernet gear for the data center. It’s the data center market that’s growing most for Force10, although the opportunity to provide aspects of the core network and backhaul components for telecommunications providers as they switch to all-IP architectures is another mid-term opportunity.

Three years ago, after a $60 million Series F round of funding, Om wondered when Force10 would file to go public. But any company that didn’t make it before the fall of 2008, and was stuck staying private thanks to the economic freeze and the credit crunch. In 2009 it purchased Turin, a maker of wireless backhaul gear. It reported pro forma sales (which combined Force10 and its Turin acquisition) of $199.2 million in 2009 and a loss of $76.3 million.

Force10’s IPO may not reflect the return of the big ticket technology IPO as much as it reflects a lack of buyers for the business and the chance to get an exit while IPOs are possible. Instead of comparing it to Tesla, the electric vehicle maker that recently filed to go public, or Silver Spring, a smart grid startup that is expected to file soon, a better comparison would be Calix, the telecommunications gear maker that has raised a similar amount of money in its long history, and filed late last year. Given that too many hot IPOs can overshadow older candidates, perhaps it’s better for Force10 that popular online businesses such as Yelp or Facebook are holding off on IPOs this year.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

What the VC Industry Upheaval Means for Startups