| Technology | | |
| Comcast CEO shows off 150 megabits per second download on next-gen modem. Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Comcast Corp. Chief Executive Brian Roberts dazzled a cable industry audience Tuesday, showing off for the first time in public new technology that enabled a data download speed of 150 megabits per second, or roughly 25 times faster than today's standard cable modems. The cost of modems that would support the technology, called ''channel bonding,'' is ''not that dissimilar to modems today,'' he told The Associated Press after a demonstration at The Cable Show. It could be available ''within less than a couple years,'' he said.
The new cable technology is crucial because the industry is competing with a speedy new offering called FiOS, a TV and Internet service that Verizon Communications Inc. is selling over a new fiber-optic network. The top speed currently available through FiOS is 50 megabits per second, but the network is already capable of providing 100 Mbps and the fiber lines offer nearly unlimited potential. | | Technology Meets The City
The availability of information and technology is creating new opportunities to comprehend the character and dynamics of cities. Wiki City, a current research project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's SENSEable City Laboratory, is trying to harness this available information to create interactive systems that enable people to better understand and participate in their cities.
In the SENSEable City Laboratory's "Wiki City Rome", signals from cell phone and Global Positioning System navigational devices were used to create a real-time map of the mobility of people and transit in Rome during a recent all-night street festival, White Night. Wiki City seeks to create an interactive and participatory connection between people and their city, much like the concept of the user-generated online encyclopedia Wikipedia. | For the past 56 years National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) has annually put on The Cable Show (formerly known as The National Show) to tell and to celebrate the great success story that is cable. This year NCTA will host The Cable Show at the wonderful Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada from May 7-9. | The Great Divide: Rural Areas Continue To Face Limited Access To Broadband Services 28% of Internet users are still using slow dialup connections. Rural areas have limited access to high-speed broadband services. New technology and government initiatives could change that--though probably not anytime soon. | Reinventing the Reel
The phrase "interactive advertising" is everywhere. Bob Greenberg actually makes it.
Now Greenberg is teaming up with architects to overhaul the entire retail environment. He wants to integrate things like Bluetooth, motion-detecting sensors, and mobile applications that can boost customer service. In a retail setting, however, the technology has to fade into the background. "When it's a really cool technology, that's when you have to be most careful," says Mayo-Smith. "It can seduce an entire room without actually enhancing the customer experience." Over the past decade, R/GA has worked with retail clients such as Levi's and Discovery Channel Stores; most recently, it was behind Verizon's (NYSE:VZ) Experience stores in Texas and Virginia and NikeiD's New York location. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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