Apologies if this was already mentioned.
There's at least one feature of the new AirPort Extreme base station
that's not secure by default: It lets incoming IPv6 sessions straight
through. More details here:
http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/2/14/7063
Noel
NOTE: if errors in the following are spotted, please feel invited to
correct same. Thanks.
Wayne
-----------------------------------------
[HeavyTechnologyJargon ON]
...from:
http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/generic/
0,295582,sid40_gci1078079,00.html
What is this 3G/4G/etc. thing anyway?
--------------------------------------------------------
Let's start with "cellular telephones": First of all, "cellular"
generally refers to the wireless telephone family. It is just
starting to compete, in terms of data transmission (which is to say,
non-voice,) with the wireless Internet family that includes Wi-Fi and
the other 802 wireless IEEE standards. But it is a completely
distinct set of standards. The only place the two are likely to merge
is in devices which incorporate a marriage of both the cellular and
Wi-Fi standards [such as Apple's announced iPhone].
[In the following, "G" stands for "Generation" and is not related to
"Gigabytes". It should be noted that the as the Generations evolve,
higher data transmission speeds are attained .]
Briefly:
- 0G (the 0th Generation, if you will): Wireless telephone started
with what you might call 0G if you can remember back that far. The
great ancestor is the mobile telephone service that became available
just after World War II. In those pre-cell days, you had a mobile
operator to set up the calls and there were only a handful of
channels available to the entire population of wireless telephones
which is why the operator was needed to "schedule" the call.
- 1G (the 1st Generation, although nobody actually called it that):
The big boom in mobile phone service really began with the
introduction of analog cellular service called AMPS (Analog Mobile
Phone Service) starting in 1981. This generation is 1G, the first for
using cell technology that let users place their own calls and
continue their conversations seamlessly as they moved from cell to
cell. AMPS uses what is called FDM or frequency division
multiplexing. Each phone call uses separate radio frequencies or
channels.
- 2G (the 2nd Generation): One 2G standard uses a digital version of
AMPS called D-AMPS using TDMA (Time division Multiple Access). A
competing system also emerged using CDMA or Code Division Multiple
Access. As you might suspect, the two are incompatible but you can
have one phone that works with both. Europe embraced yet a third
standard called GSM which is based on TDMA. Digital transmissions
allow for more phone conversations in the same amount of spectrum
compared with analog transmissions. They also lay the groundwork for
services beyond simple voice telephone calls. Data services such as
Internet access, text messaging, sharing pictures and video easily
lend themselves to digital technologies of TDMA and CDMA.
(3G) - Now that a cell phone is not merely a cell phone, but also a
PDA, a messaging system, a camera, an Internet browser, an email
reader and soon to be a television set, true broadband data speeds
are needed as is a new generation of cellular phone technology. That
new generation of cell phone service has been dubbed 3G for 3rd
generation. 3G is a new wireless standard promising increased
capacity and high-speed data applications up to two megabits. Third
generation wireless employes wideband frequency carriers and a CDMA
air interface. Implemented in Europe as UMTS (also marketed under the
name 3GSM) and CDMA2000 in North America, its goals are high-quality
multimedia and advanced global roaming (in house, cellular,
satellite, etc.). You will also encounter the 3G term EVDO (Evolution-
Data Optimized ) which is the data transmission standard in the
CDMA2000 specification.
4G: The fourth generation being championed in Japan will boost the
data rates to 20 Mbps. These speeds enable high quality video
transmission and rapid download of large music files.
...from:
http://www.nttdocomo.com/pr/2007/001319.html
TOKYO, JAPAN, February 9, 2007 --- NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today
that it achieved a maximum packet transmission rate of approximately
5Gbps in the downlink using 100MHz frequency bandwidth to a mobile
station moving at 10km/h. The field experiment of fourth-generation
(4G) radio access took place in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture on
December 25, 2006.
[HeavyTechnologyJargon OFF]
[LightTechnologyJargon ON]
Where is Canadian cellular communications?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
So, no without some of the jargon, the first generation of today's
cellular phones have been around since about 1981. Canada's cellular
providers seem to currently be working toward 3G:
- Rogers Communications (Fido): On February 2006 at the 3GSM
Conference in Barcelona, Rogers announced that testing for their 3G/
3.5G UMTS/HSDPA network would be complete by March 2006. The network
was brought online for select markets on November 2, 2006, with
further expansion during 2007. UMTS/HSDPA is officially available in
the Golden Horseshoe of Ontario, including Brampton, Burlington,
Hamilton, Mississauga, Oshawa, Richmond Hill, Pickering, Newmarket,
Markham, Niagara Falls, Oakville, St. Catharines, Toronto, and all
points between. So far, users are reporting performance in the 2-3
Mbit/s range on the HSDPA network, and 1 Mbit/s using UMTS.
Note, however, that Rogers already offers GSM/EDGE (the predecessor
to UMTS) all across Canada. EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM
Evolution) is a digital mobile phone technology built on top of GSM
that allows for increased data transmission rate and improved data
transmission reliability. GSM/EDGE is generally classified as a 2.75G
network technology since it does not include true 3G technology but
is merely an enhancement to the 2G standard. EDGE has been introduced
into GSM networks around the world since 2003, initially in North
America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Wirelesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolution
- Telus: Telus employs the CDMA2000 standard for their cellular
network, and its 3G EvDO network has since been deployed and marketed
as "broadband on the fly". Telus has also been involved in a
controversy similar to that of the American telecom firm Verizon,
where it crippled the Bluetooth function of its mobile phones and
devices, forcing customers to access its network more often and thus
increasing charges and revenue.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TELUS
- MTS Wireless: EVDO (which MTS is referring to as "Mobility High
Speed") service is available within MTS EVDO coverage areas
(currently Winnipeg & Brandon), where technology permits. Data
download speeds of 400-700 kbps per second are average technology
speeds that users will experience based on manufacturer’s
specifications. Data download speeds will vary depending on user’s
location and hardware.
http://www.mts.ca/portal/site/mts/
menuitem.a275cbc6dbb0d4e50e14081031248a0c/?
vgnextoid=56970331b4dca010VgnVCM1000000408120aRCRD&vgnextchannel=0b1ccc8
78fc81010VgnVCM1000000408120aRCRD
Interesting side stories:
a) Entitled "China skips 3G and goes to 4G cell networks" the January
30, 2007 post describes how 3G cell technology is not available in
mainland China but it looks like they'll be going directly to 4G as a
successful field trial and launch has been done in Shanghai.
http://www.cellphones.ca/tag/4Ghttp://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=534007
b) On Monday, February 12, 2007, Microsoft filed an application with
the FCC for an enigmatic wireless device that could be used to talk
over the Internet. The device is described as being used for
“consumer broadband access and networking,” which doesn’t sound like
vanilla VoIP. Microsoft goes on to say that the device would use OFDM
as its communications protocol, not WiFi or Bluetooth. The standard
OFDM (orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing) is a modulation
scheme that is used widely in upcoming 4G standards.
http://crunchgear.com/2007/02/09/zne-phone-confirmed-launch-
scenario-4g-wimax-action-rumors-off-the-wtf-o-meter/
[LightTechnologyJargon OFF]
[NoJargon ON]
The first generation of today's cellular phones have been around
since about 1981. These phones have been dubbed 1G or 1st Generation
cellular phone technology. Many of today's cellular subscribers in
Canada are using 2G (2nd Generation) phones. Some Canadian cellular/
wireless phone providers are providing true 3G technology but at the
moment this is most likely restricted to high-end devices such as
BlackBerry units. In addition, other Canadian providers have enhanced
their 2G technology (e.g. GSM/EDGE sometimes referred to as 2.75G)
and are using this enhancement as a "stop gap" to provide faster data
transmission for their cellular technology while they upgrade their
networks country-wide to true 3G technology.
The switch to 3G (and then 4G) cellular technology is driven by the
need for high-bandwidth data transmission cell phones.
As this an Apple oriented mailing list - in Canada - let's look
briefly at how this affects the upcoming iPhone release:
1) Apple's iPhone will initially support only the GSM/EDGE standard.
This seems to have been a strategic move on Apple's part as GSM is
huge in Europe and many Asian countries; it is available in Canada;
it is the standard used by the Cingular network in the United States.
Cingular is the largest cell phone provider in the USA. It is widely
speculated that the iPhone will remain GSM/EDGE for the duration of
Apple's contract with Cingular (2 years) after which an iPhone
supporting other true 3G (possibly 4G?) standards will also be released.
[NOTE: Cingular has recently announced that it is changing it's name
to ATT.]
2) Rogers Communication/Wireless is the only network which supports
GSM/EDGE in Canada. Rogers purchased this network from ATT Wireless
(Canada) when it closed down.
3) Rogers has announced that they are in negotiation with Apple
attempting to reach an agreement that will allow Rogers to release
the iPhone in Canada "sooner rather than later".
[NoJargon OFF]
...from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/25/technology/25pogue-email.html?
ex=1185685200&en=5a72e70f46fca51d&ei=5087&mkt=techphoto
A Wake-Up Call to Microsoft's PR Team
By DAVID POGUE
Published: January 25, 2007
From the January 1, 2007, edition of The New York Times:
"Several bloggers reported last week that they had received Acer
Ferrari laptops, which can sell for more than $2,200, from Microsoft.
A spokeswoman for Microsoft confirmed on Friday that the company had
sent out about 90 computers to bloggers who write about technology
and other subjects" that could be affected by the release of Windows
Vista, Microsoft's new operating system.
"Being provided an evaluation computer from Acer is not a 'bribe,'"
argued blogger Blake Handler, after receiving one of the free
laptops. "It simply allows me to accelerate my evaluations,
documentation and demonstrations of Windows Vista."
OMG! You've got to be kidding me, Blake. I guess just being *lent* a
laptop wouldn't have been enough to accelerate your evaluations? I
guess only being given a freebie from Microsoft would do the trick.
Now, I realize it must be hard to send a shiny new laptop back to the
mother ship just because it's the right thing to do. Still, I think
very little of the bloggers who are keeping Microsoft's bribe laptops.
Clearly, they're exploiting the lawless, Brave New World of the
blogsophere, where, since they're Not Quite Journalists, they don't
feel constrained by any of those pesky journalistic ethics
guidelines. Like the one that says, "You don't keep $2,200 gifts from
the subject of your review. You might think you can still write an
impartial review, but it's highly unlikely-and either way, nobody
will believe it."
But Microsoft gets much of the blame, too. It deliberately exploited
a weak spot in today's court of public opinion: how bloggers
influence consumers, but generally don't have conflict-of-interest
policies.
Now, I realize that this isn't exactly breaking news; in fact, it's
weeks old. I wasn't even going to bring it up, but yesterday I
remembered something: this isn't the first time.
In fact, Microsoft has tried to buy public opinion in secret over and
over again in the last few years. Here are a few examples-mainly, the
ones where Microsoft was caught:
In 1998, the Los Angeles Times reported that Microsoft, during its
antitrust trials, hired PR companies to flood newspapers with fake
letters of support, bearing ordinary individuals' names but actually
written by Microsoft PR staff.
Later, during the antitrust trials, Microsoft attempted to prove the
inseparability of Windows and Internet Explorer by playing a video
for the judge. But the government's lawyer noticed that as the tape
rolled on, the number of icons on the desktop kept changing.
Microsoft had spliced together footage from different computers to
make its point.
Then in 2002, Microsoft's Web site featured a testimonial called
"Confessions of a Mac to PC Convert," a first-person account by an
attractive brunette "freelance writer" about how she had fallen in
love with Windows XP.
Unfortunately, a Slashdot member discovered that the identical photo
was available for rent from the stock-photo libraries of
GettyImages.com. Sure enough: Microsoft had hired a PR firm to write
the testimonial. The "switcher" did not actually exist.
I am not, and never will be, a knee-jerk Microsoft basher. I'll give
its products good reviews whenever they're deserved (as I have with,
for example, Media Center, Windows Vista and Office 2007).
But for goodness' sake: Why is Microsoft so insecure? Why can't it
allow its software to stand on its own? Why does it feel the
necessity to spin public opinion using these phony "grass-roots"
marketing tactics?
Here's a wake-up call to the Machiavellis on Microsoft's PR team:
bribing bloggers, fabricating reviews and making up letters to the
editor makes the company look worse, not better.
If Microsoft really wants to earn high marks from the public, it
might want to consider earning them the old-fashioned way: By
creating products people love.
