Clearwire to Build Next Generation Wireless Network

Yesterday, the New York Times reported on a consortium of technology and telecomm companies that plan to build a high speed wireless network that will rival bandwidth speeds of residential DSL and cable networks today.  Such a network would spawn a whole new class of devices that could take advantage of mobile broadband. Apple’s iPhone is an example of a device available today that demonstrates consumers’ interest and appetite for mobile data access.

Among the investors in the new company, Clearwire, are Google, Sprint, Intel, Comcast and Time Warner. While these heavy hitters have deep pockets capable of building such a network, the Times reporter also points out that competing interests could prove fatal: Comcast and Time Warner wanting revenue beyond the home, Intel to provide the chips for these new devices, Sprint to get a leg up on wireless rivals Verizon and AT&T and Google wanting the ad revenue from increased traffic from mobile users. In addition, Google has offered Android to foster an open platform for mobile devices.

Time will tell if the Clearwire consortium will be successful building a new high speed data network nationwide. However, I think two years is far too aggressive a timetable. As the Times reporter notes, Google has failed in its attempt to offer a free wireless network in San Francisco. Also, municipal Wi-Fi efforts in other cities have either stalled or have been scaled back.

Mobile broadband will arrive in the U.S. as both telecomm and handset vendors are rapidly moving in this direction. As with the current wireless market, I doubt there will be one dominant technology.

iPod Touch + a larger screen = iTablet

Lately, technology industry pundits have been speaking of Internet devices such as the EePC or the Nokia N810 that are an emerging category of devices situated between the laptop and the PDA or smartphone.

During his visit to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January, Walt Mossberg, the Personal Technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal, appears in a video taped at the show where he expresses exasperation at the kitchen appliance industry’s continued attempts to make the refrigerator more than a refrigerator–in other words, one that integrates computer-like functionality to create an information station.

As an owner of the iPod Touch, I think it’s a wonderful device that fits squarely into this category of new Internet devices. In fact, it’s perfect example of the Internet appliance that has been touted in the technology sector for years. Apple may call the Touch an iPod or a “wi-fi device,” but it’s form factor is really that of a well-executed PDA. However, Apple, or more specifically Steve Jobs, has distanced himself as much as possible from any similarities to the long-defunct Newton Message Pad that was created during his absence from the company.

I think that Apple could go one step further with the iPod Touch and create a tablet-like product that would marry an iPod Touch with a much larger screen, such as a 12 inches or 13 inches in size that would enable much easier viewing and reading of web pages, movies and TV shows.

Fortunately, others have begun to come to a similar conclusion for such a device . BusinessWeek reporter Arik Hesseldahl recently wrote an article on the iPod Touch (The iPod Touch: Apple’s Sleeper Device) in which he proposes Apple create a tablet-like device–an iPod Touch with a much larger screen.

I think the mistake that many people (and companies) make when think of such a device is that it would be a mobile product when in fact it would be a product that could either be portable or stationary. For example, I would like a tablet like product so that I could easily check the weather, the San Francisco NextBus schedule (the city’s buses are GPS-enabled), or my check my email without having to boot up my computer or squint while looking at the diminutive screen of my iPod Touch.

This device could sit on my kitchen counter or maybe even be magnetized so it could attach to my refrigerator. But it could be portable too: I could sprawl out on my couch with coffee in hand and read the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle or watch a video podcast.

I think this type of product would be very appealing to the consumer market and would be the perfect addition for those who already have a computer, broadband Internet and wi-fi in their homes. It would enable consumers to easily access to information as the product would have instant-on capability versus the long wait required to start a computer. One demographic that could use this product would be seniors who may not be consumer savvy or who may lack the eyesight needed to view content on screens as small as those found in the iPhone or iPod Touch.

In fact, 3Com, the maker of networking products, had created such a device in 2001 in the company’s short-lived foray into consumer products. The stationary device enabled users to not only access information but to also synchronize the calendars of their Palm Pilot PDA’s. It was targeted at consumers and families , and the company had even hired actress Patricia Heaton, of the then-popular show Everybody Loves Raymond, as the spokesperson to promote the product.

I am hoping that Apple and other companies will realize the value for such a device and consider form factors beyond that of either the laptop or PDA/Smartphone.