‘r. kelly is close to getting his’ edition : tech news 8/1

i’m sure some of our readers are fans of mr. robert kelly. that’s great.

i’m not.

chicago has many great things. sears tower. common. the el. r kelly is not one of them and i will never claim that he is. sure, for some reason, when i think of a ’steppin song’, his song is the first i think of. and…? after 5 long years, his court day is set for sept. 17th.

and on the news…

i really just had two things, completely unrelated, that i wanted to share.

first is the announcement that the sony is planning to turn the ps3 into a high-def digital video recorder (dvr). the upgrade and accessories to make it so won’t happen until end of next year, beginning of 2009, but it does peak my interest slightly. by my count, that makes the ps3 a gaming machine, a blu-ray player, a online marketplace, and a high-definition dvr. that is the direct market of m$, toshiba, netflix, and tivo. good job sony. (via engadget)

to really show how big a nerd i am, i’ll preface this next piece of news by saying that it really is as exciting as how i am describing it. i stumbled across an article by pbs’ own resident nerd, robert cringely, regarding google’s recent bid for the 700mHz wireless spectrum to be freed by the FCC and analog tv in 2009. at a beginning bid of $4 billion, google plans to extend its ‘free and open source’ ideologies to every living person via a universal medium present today. right…so what does that mean? the government actually controls where devices can communicate in space. for instance, analog television gets the 700mHz range, wireless phones get the 900mHz to 2gHz range, etc. this prevents interference and makes sure that when a consumer is watching tv, talking on the phone, and popping popcorn in the microwave, the electronics don’t mess with each other. well, the fcc mandated last year that by 2009, all television stations had to broadcast in a digital format (think HD). this means that the airwave space that is used today (700mHz) becomes an open playground for device makers. google plans to buy that space and basically create free wireless for everyone.

i’ll let that sink in. free wireless.

so, that means you could theoretically get your internet and phone calls and cell phone calls for zero because device makers would make gadgets that would use this space to communicate. seeing the big picture?

what google has basically done is an old-fashioned western showdown between how it has taken over the world and plans to challenge the big wigs and their conniving ways in the cable industry (comcast), cell phone industry (at&t and verizon), and landline industry (at&t again). the showdown will see bids of upwards of $10 billion with google trying to make history and essentially bet its entire company on one principle: to make information free and available. think of all the devices that could communicate without fees (special devices in the street, maintenance equipment for improved roads, computers in poor neighborhoods, phones, mp3 players, televisions, video game consoles, etc.) and be able to stream information back and forth to each other. you could essentially be walking down the street, while a billboard directs ads most relevant to your web visits while listening to over-the-internet tunes, watching hd tivo, and buying a cup of coffee without a wallet!

the most relevant aspect of this venture, however, is the concept of ubiquitous access to those who need it. no longer will poorer school districts and libraries have to choose between an infrastructure to get on the internet and books. the increased access coupled with the emergence of online degrees (harvard now offers a program), learning new skills (web design for example), and making better healthcare decisions (think webmd) are available to everyone. for the ybp, this means a better start for our community. needless to say, by 2010, if google wins this auction, our lives could be changed forever. (via pbs)