What is the Novatel MiFi Mobile Hotspot?
The development of WiFi over the past 10 years or so has been one of the biggest breakthroughs in internet technology. For any place with WiFi, anyone can connect with the internet through their laptops after just a few easy clicks. Not only does this maximize connectivity for personal and professional use both at home and in public locations, but it also shows how great the developments are becoming in internet technology. As great as WiFi may be, the number of locations WITHOUT WiFi signals withing range still to this day greatly outnumbers those with. Flash forward to 2009 - there has to be a way to offer WiFi connection WHEREVER you may be. Right?
The solution to universal WiFi coverage is the Novatel MiFi, the latest in wireless internet connectivity.
Novatel has developed the MiFi so that anyone can take their high-speed wireless internet connection with them wherever they go. It’s now termed an “Intelligent Mobile Hotspot,” and from its early reviews, it sure seems to be hot among the WiFi crowd. Everyone is calling it the next big thing, and with specifications which make so many new things possible for both users and developers, the possibilities with this technology are endless.
The MiFi device is a small and sleek one, which is just about the size of a credit card – it is, however, a bit fatter than that. It also only has one switch, to turn it on or off. That simple and that small a device, and yet its development is a huge leap in mobile broadband technology. Such a compact piece of equipment, if one were to maximize its use, would be very powerful. It allows connections for up to five of your or your friends’ devices at once to access the internet over a single wireless 3G account.
Once it’s turned on, it creates a 30 foot (10 meter) radius where anyone can connect to the internet with their laptops, cameras, or other devices which could benefit from it. And with a battery life of four hours of usage and forty hours of standby, it also packs quite a charge for those long bus rides and family trips. Imagine being able to finish all your business reports, your online games, or your book report – perhaps even all at once – on the trip to grandma. That’s high-speed connectivity at its most convenient.
So what does the Novatel MiFi have over regular WiFi? Well, aside from being able to take the high-speed wireless connection that you enjoy with you anywhere, the mobile hotspot also pushes the speed limit to 3G speeds. Compared to other portable broadband connections, this speed is much, much faster than everything that has been currently developed up to this date. Also, a portable 3G wireless connection opens the possibilities for developers to create more mobile applications which require high-speed connections, since you’ll have this connection with you at all times. Uploading and downloading pictures you’ve taken right away from your camera would be something very possible and hassle-free with Novatel MiFi, when before you’d have to wait to get home first to do so.
Novatel has really developed something very important with MiFi. It’s a cool thing, being able to connect to the internet wherever you are and at whatever time. However, this technology is a sign of just how far connectivity has come. From smoke signals, we’re now able to bring high-speed internet connections wherever we are. Read more...
Verizon Promotion Codes Offer Savings on More than Cell Phone Service
When you see Verizon promotion codes, your first thought might be of cell phones. However, Verizon offers broadband service in a variety of settings. This is one of those cases where what you don't know can hurt you.
First Off, FiOS
FiOS is exclusive to Verizon. It is a bundled communication service, which covers Internet, telephone and television. It works through a fiber-optic network and is available in many areas across the United States.
Recently, FiOS has attracted a lot of attention in the broadband world. In fact, Verizon is the first major carrier to offer FiOS to residential homes. In the past, the cost has made it exclusive to businesses.
Other networks use fiber optics but not in the home. They use it as part of a network that is combined with their already existing copper or coax infrastructure.
Mobile Broadband Connect Plans
For consumers with cell phones capable of Internet access (and what cell phone isn't) Verizon offers a variety of mobile broadband services. Prices range from to depending on how much access you need.
Interested customers should read the qualifying details first. All plans come with some caveats, such as having a nationwide voice and e-mail plan. Others require a smartphone. Still others require a data package. Therefore, you are encouraged to check out the requirements before getting too excited about a plan.
Mobile Broadband for Computers
Internet mobility has picked up in the last decade. More and more people want their Internet anywhere and everywhere. Tired of being held down to Wi-Fi hotspots an increasing number of people are opting for broadband coverage for their computer.
Unless you have a special laptop with the Verizon card included, you will need to purchase a USB dongle (wireless card attaching via USB port) or MiFi (a wireless hotspot). This is a one-time fee and does not affect your data plans.
Monthly plans range from for the light user and for the heavier users. Those wanting a prepaid plan can choose for daily access, for weekly access, or for monthly access.
Connection Devices
The USB dongle is the most popular choice for laptops on the go. It is plug and play ready and can be used with any laptop. They are small, convenient, and simple enough for anyone to use.
The MiFi has not quite caught on yet but it won't be long before it does. It is like taking a hotspot with you wherever you go. It can connect up to five devices at once. This means you can connect a couple of laptops, a couple of iTouches or iPhones, and still be able to connect other device such as a wireless printer.
Coupons for All Services
Verizon has launched an Internet campaign to promote all of its new products. They are offering online promo codes for their FiOs service, broadband services, and even for the MiFi.
The coupons rotate and are limited by a number of different expiration dates. Therefore, you never know when a code will expire.
Verizon promotion codes and coupon codes are unlike any other broadband service provider. From getting a few months free to rebates in the triple digits, the company is really aggressive with sales and attracting new customers. This is a good thing, because their service is a notch above the competition and anyone who joins them rarely leaves. For some of Verizon's great offers, go here—-> http://couponshoebox.com/shop/verizon-com/
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Even if you NEVER get to use the 4g capabilities you wont pay a cheaper price for such a great phone, especially if you are comparing it the iPhone 4. Sprint's plan (with the hotspot extra charge) is $100 while to get the same plan ...
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Barnes
Amazon's Kindle ereader has been the leader, at least in the US, of the ereader market since the introduction of Kindle 1 in 2007. Sony has held 2nd place with 30 - 35% of the market.
But now there is a new kid on the block. In October '09 Barnes & Noble announced its nook ereader that sold out on pre-order within a few weeks.
The nook is revolutionary primarily in its looks. It will be hard for your average gadget boy/girl to see one and not develop a serious craving. But does this mean that the nook is the best thing since the printing press for bookish boys and girls?
Let's look at and compare some of the features of the nook and the Kindle ereaders.
For the most part reading on the nook's e-ink screen is very similar to reading on the Kindle ereader's e-ink screen. Both ereaders use the same or a very similar reading screen.
What is dramatically different, and what in fact attracts many people to the nook ereader is the small LCD touchscreen under the e-ink screen. On the Kindle, navigation is accomplished by using the chicklet keyboard and the 5-way controller. The controls for the nook are mostly accessed through using the LCD touchscreen.
The nook's touchscreen is also used for browsing books in your library or for selecting books to purchase from Barnes & Noble over the wireless connection. A virtual keyboard is available on the LCD screen for typing.
The nook's color LCD screen looks really nice and would seem to be a very desirable feature, but there are problems with the software implementation, which we will get to in a bit.
Connectivity
The Kindle ereader has a 3G wireless connection through AT&T for the Kindle Global, and Sprint for the Kindle 2. Amazon calls its wireless service "Whispernet". Using Whispernet, you can usually purchase and download a book within a minute or less. You also can use the somewhat clunky but functional browser to access the internet, check email, research your reading on Wikipedia, even access another online ebook store than Amazon to purchase and download books, etc. With Kindle Global you also have access to the Kindle store in many other countries besides the US, though you have to pay a surcharge for downloading a book on the Whispernet outside of the US.
The nook ereader has both a WiFi connection and a 3G AT&T wireless connection. The difference is that the nook's connection can only be used for purchasing and downloading books from Barnes & Noble. No internet, no Wikipedia, you cannot use it to connect to another online ebook store and purchase books.
The nook's WiFi connection will be useful if you carry your nook ereader into a B&N store as it will download coupons and special offers to your ereader. You can also use the WiFi to browse ebooks while in a B&N store, but you can only read each book for a maximum of one hour in a 24-hour period. These in-store features are not yet fully implemented so we don't yet know how useful they will prove to be.
Sharing
One of the nook ereader's features that received a lot of press coverage is the ability to lend your ebooks to friends. Unfortunately, this feature is not as great as first thought. For one thing, publishers must opt in to let their books be loaned. Some have said they will not allow this. Also there are restrictions: you can only loan a particular book once ever, and only for 14 days. While a book is loaned out you cannot access it on your own nook.
The Kindle does not at this time allow this type of lending. However, you can share ebooks with up to 6 (it can vary by title) Kindles that are registered to the same account. This works well for multi-Kindle families. It is even possible to set up a reading club with your Kindle owning friends if you feel comfortable sharing a single credit card to register your Kindle ereaders to.
Other Features
One nice feature that the nook ereader has is a user replaceable battery. The Kindle's battery is hardwired in and therefore will need to be sent back to Amazon for replacement (). Amazon says that even after 500 charges (ten years or so) these batteries will still hold 80% charge, so this may not be an issue for most people.
The nook also accepts an SD card for additional storage. The Kindle only has its internal storage, but that is enough to hold around 1,500 books, so this may also not be an issue for you.
A nook feature that has not received any official Barnes & Noble acknowledgement is the ability to borrow ebooks from your local library if they use Overdrive's digital distribution service. To do this you need to install Adobe Digital Editions on your computer and use that to sideload the ebook onto your nook. You can borrow an ebook from the library for 14 days, after which it will be automatically deleted. You cannot renew library ebook checkouts. To find out how useful this feature will be in your case you should check your local library website. Most libraries do not have a large catalogue of ebooks yet. Kindle does not support borrowing library ebooks at this time
The eBook Stores
No matter how attractive the hardware, an ereader's primary purpose is to read books. Since today's ereaders tend to be tied to proprietary DRM formats for current titles, you want to make sure that the hardware that you choose is backed up by the best ebook store(s).
The nook's primary ebook supplier for DRM'ed ebooks will of course be Barnes & Noble. You can also purchase DRM'ed ebooks from other online sellers that support Adobe Digital Editions. The nook is also compatible with non DRM'ed EPUB and PDF format.
With Kindle you will purchase most if not all of your DRM'ed titles from Amazon's Kindle store. Kindle also uses a few other formats for non-DRM'ed ebooks such as MOBI and PDF. Public domain ebooks are also available for the Kindle ereaders. I suspect that at some point Amazon will also have to allow EPUB compatibility for the Kindle, as there is increasing pressure for this.
Many people disparage the Kindle's being locked into Amazon's ebook store for DRM'ed ebooks. While this may be true to a large extent, the fact is that the Kindle store has more titles available than B&N and all of the online stores selling ADE format ebooks put together. In most cases Amazon's prices are less as well, although Barnes & Noble has been trying to match their prices.
If you primarily read books on the current best sellers lists you will likely be able to find these available in most formats at similar prices. The more off the beaten path your reading is however, the more likely you are to find what you are looking for at the Kindle store.
So Which eReader is Best - Kindle or nook?
If the nook ereader had not been rushed to market to make the holiday 2009 season, and if Barnes & Noble had waited until they had the software ready and the bugs worked out, then I would say that the nook would have been a very close second choice and maybe even equal to the Kindle.
In fact, the nook at present is crippled by its faulty release version software and unless B&N gets it fixed in a timely fashion the nook will be leapfrogged by the next Kindle release. Barnes & Noble has said that they are working around the clock to update the software and fix the current nook problems; and to their credit they have released a couple of updates as of this writing. However there are still lots of bugs and the nook is slower than the Kindle, which will be distracting when you are trying to immerse yourself in that next great book. In its present state the LCD screen does not play well with the e-ink screen and can be very frustrating to use.
Also, I prefer the Kindle store. My reading tastes may be different than yours however, so I would suggest you make a list of books you want to read and make a price and availability comparison between the Kindle store and B&N's offerings. Higher ebook prices can add up pretty quickly.
The Kindle's ability to connect to the internet and Wikipedia, etc. is also not to be underestimated.
I think that the nook ereader has the potential to be a great ereader and possibly equal the Kindle, but it is something of a gamble buying one now and waiting to see if Barnes & Noble can get all of the glitches fixed in time and also match the Kindle store's offerings.
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The pool of choices for WiMAX hotspots continues to expand, and thanks to the FCC , we now know of another up-and-comer.
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Mobile Broadband Shootout: T-Mobile HSPA+ Takes on Sprint and Clear 4G
For reasons we don't fully understand, Philadelphia has become the mobile broadband mecca of America. A few months ago, Clear and Sprint began selling 4G mobile WiMax service in the larger metro area (promising 3 to 6 Mbps), including nearby areas of New Jersey. And just last week,Sony, T-Mobile announced that it will be offering a faster version of 3G called HSPA+ in the city (with a theoretical max of 21Mbps).
This past weekend, we journeyed to the city of brotherly love to exercise our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of high-speed data transfers. Our goal was to see Sony VGP-BPS13A/Q Battery devices and services offer the highest speeds, widest coverage, and best overall user experience.
Devices and Services Tested
We set out to test the following mobile broadband modems and their associated networks:
•Sprint OverDrive: For .99 (with two year contract) and .99 a month thereafter, you get a Sony VGP-BPS13B/Q Battery powered mobile broadband router (like the MiFi) that lets you connect multiple devices to either 3G or 4G, depending on what's available in your location. While the 3G service is limited to 5GB a month (5 cents per MB overage charge), the 4G is unlimited. So if you live in a 4G coverage area you really could use this device all the time.
•Clear 4G Mobile USB: You can buy this sleek modem for just .99 without a contract and pay just a month for unlimited 4G service. The downside is that, once you go outside of Clear's WiMax coverage zone, the Mobile USB is a laptop ornament. Clear makes several accessories for the Mobile USB, including the Clear USB Performance dock, which boosts signal strength for added speed. We tried dell vostro 1510 battery dock in one of our test locations (see below).
•T-Mobile webConnect Rocket USB: T-Mobile's new USB device supports 3G everywhere and the higher-speed (but not technically 4G) HSPA+ standard in Philadelphia and other markets in the future. The Rocket dell vostro 1310 battery runs with a two-year contract or 9 with no contract. The standard data plan is .99 for a strict limit of 5GB per month with a punitive fee of .20 for every megabyte over the limit. If you buy the modem without a contract, you can pay .99 a month instead, which adds up to 0 less in costs over 24 months. Too bad the software can't tell you whether you're getting a standard 3G or HSPA+ signal. You can only tell by the speed you are getting.
•Sprint MiFi 2200 (The Control): This 3G-only modem was used in a couple of our locations for comparison purposes only, just to show the difference between a typical 3G signal and the HSPA+ or 4G speeds supported by the other devices. It actually did quite well. As featured on "Into Tomorrow…with Dave Graveline", airing Friday, March 19!
How We Tested 3G, 4G, and HSPA+
We tested in four locations in the Philadelphia area: two were near windows, one several hundred feet from a window, and another location underground. In each location, we conducted the following tests using a Lenovo ThinkPad X301 with Windows 7 (64-bit) Sony VGP-BPS13 as our test laptop:
•Speedtest.net: We visited the popular Speedtest.net broadband test site three times and took the average upload and download speed in megabits.
•Web surfing: We visited three popular Web site home pages (nytimes.com,cnn.com, and espn.com) three times each in Firefox 3.6 with caching disabled. We used the popular plug-in Firebug to time these page loads down to the tenth of a second. To determine average page load times shown in the results below, we dropped the slowest of the three visits to each site (to eliminate outliers) and then averaged the remaining results.
•FTP Upload / Download: We uploaded a 5MB file to our FTP server and downloaded a 50MB file from the same Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery.
•YouTube Video Frame rates: Using the Flash 10.1 plugin, we played two different versions of the Star Trek trailer, one in low res 360p and one in high-definition 720p. Using Flash's own logging ability, we determined the average frame rate.
Round #1: Liberty Place Food Court (near a window)
We headed into Philadelphia and set up shop in the shops at Liberty Place, a small shopping mall strategically located right in the city center, between the Liberty One and Liberty Two office towers. The food court Sony VGP-BPS9 Battery is huge, allowing us to test both near a window and several hundred feet away from one. We conducted our first series of tests in front of the window.
As you can see, the T-Mobile device clearly dominated here. The HSPA+ speeds were much stronger than those offered by either 4G device. Downloading a 50MB file via FTP in just 1 minute and 35 seconds is pretty amazing. It's also worth noting that upload speeds were far better with the T-Mobile device. Among the two 4G devices, the Clear 4G Mobile USB Modem was the clear winner in this test.
Round #2: Liberty Place (far from a window)
We moved over 100 feet away from the window and sat deep inside the building to see how being far away from a window affected our connectivity. As you can see below, the change was dramatic and Toshiba pa3534u-1brs Battery not in a good way.
All of the devices slowed down dramatically when deep inside the building. In this case, though, the 4G devices were hurt the most. The Sprint Overdrive did a little better, but both struggled to upload files, and the Clear modem was so slow in this location conducting our FTP download test that we gave up.
The webConnect Rocket remained fast when downloading Web pages and testing on Speedtest.net, though it was definitely slower than before. For reasons we can only attribute to random YouTube strangeness, we had difficulty playing our 360p clip, but not the 720p Star Trek trailer on the Rocket.
Location #3: 30th Street Station Track 3 (Underground)
On our way home from Philadelphia, we had the opportunity to run an additional series Sony VGP-BPS9/B Battery of tests in the train station (thanks to an extensive delay). We were one level underground, which is definitely not optimal for broadband reception, but this allowed us to see which devices and services could handle this extreme, but very common situation and which could not.
The sad reality is that we couldn't get a consistent connection from either the Clear modem or the T-Mobile webConnect Rocket while underground. The webConnect registered just one bar and took several minutes just to complete one run of the Speedtest.net test. As you can see its speed of 0.03 Mbps upload and 0.1 Mbps download are basically unusable.
The Clear 4G Mobile USB modem was highly inconsistent underground. The software showed 2-3 Mbps, but Sony VGP-BPS9A/B Battery as we tried to conduct our tests, the modem kept dropping its connection and reconnecting itself, making it impossible to complete most tasks. For a few minutes, we were able to connect long enough to complete the download and to start streaming video, but after a while, we were getting kicked off of our connection too rapidly to do anything more.
The clear underground winner was the Sprint OverDrive, because it was able to switch itself into 3G mode and maintain a consistent connection.
Round #4: Cherry Hill, NJ Living Room
Another location was a friend's living room in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Cherry Hill Sony VGP-BPL8A Battery is located about 15 minutes outside of Philadelphia and falls squarely within the Clear / Sprint 4G WiMax coverage zone. Unfortunately, T-Mobile's HSPA+ coverage area does not include Cherry Hill, so the webConnect Rocket only connected at standard 3G speeds in this location. Like most living rooms, this one had several windows and we sat just a few feet away from them.
In this first location, the only real competition was between battery the two WiMax devices, the Sprint OverDrive and the Clear 4G Mobile USB modem. Though they seemed pretty evenly matched in video streaming and web page downloading, the Clear modem got a much higher score on Speedtest.net's benchmark and did noticeably better on FTP uploading and downloading.
When we attached the Clear modem to its performance-enhancing dock, the Speedtest numbers shot way up but the real-world numbers stayed about the same. Still, if we were doing something even more intensive, we would have appreciated the bandwidth from the dock.
It's also worth noting , even at its default 3G speeds, the T-Mobile webConnect Rocket was a lot faster than Sprint's 3G MiFi. So, under normal 3G conditions, the webConnect is still a solid device.
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