FreeNetworks Conference: June 6-8, Las Vegas NV



FreeNetworks.org is a voluntary cooperative association dedicated to
education, collaboration, and advocacy of the creation of free digital
network infrastructures and in collaboration with Security Travel is
presenting the first Free Networks Conference 2003.

Focused on giving the public an in-depth look into the fast growing
worldwide movement of Community Wireless Networking (CWN). In the past few
years, these decentralized, noncommercial networks have gained world
recognition and populist support as the adoption of the IEEE Standard for
wireless ethernet, 802.11b, more commonly known as WiFi has gained ground.

The Free Networks Conference will show you how these networks started, the
directions they are taking, and provide you with enough technical
knowledge to start your own wireless group.

This conference will bring together the experts and implementors in
community wireless networking groups from across the globe, innovators
from the wired community and municipal networks, and the technologists
designing the hardware for future phases of this amazing movement for a
conference like no other.

Keynotes by Tim O'Reilly (CEO O'Reilly Publishers) and Cory Doctorow of
the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

Some of those presenting are James Stevens from Consume.net, Tim
Pozar & Matt Peterson co-founders of BAWUG, Terry Schimdt a founder of
NYCwireless, Dirk-Willem van Gulik of Foundation Wireless Leiden, Schuyler
Erle of NoCat, and many more.

The conference will combine overviews of the technologies and motivations,
status reports from the front-line, and in-depth coverage of
implementation details that provide the conference attendee with the
knowledge to bootstrap their own CWN in their locale. The Free Network
Conference will bring together many of the prominent local users groups
including BAWUG, NoCat, Consume.net, NYCwireless, Seattlewireless, and
PersonalTelco

This is the first time a wireless conference is being created and designed
by the actually implementers of community user wireless groups. Whether
you are a seasoned wireless veteran or a total newbie this will be a one
stop shop to bring you up to speed with the wireless community. This
conference is focused to actual working content rather than unending sales
pitches so you will be able to walk away with an understanding of how to
bring this to
your community or nonprofit or small company and CUT THE CORD.

Internet Access for the Cost of a Cup of Coffee

[Free Registration at NY Times Required]

By KATIE HAFNER


AUSTIN, Tex. -- AS the Wi-Fi trend sweeps through the air, one question appears to be cropping up with increasing frequency: to charge or not to charge?
...

John C. Wooley, the chief executive of Schlotzsky's, said he briefly considered charging customers for Wi-Fi access but quickly changed his mind.

Mr. Wooley said each restaurant spent about $2,000 to get its Wi-Fi up and running, and another $300 to $500 a month for the high-speed communications line that provides the wireless access network to the Internet. His reasoning is similar to Ms. Griffith's, but on a larger scale. Schlotzsky's surveys over the past few months have shown that 6 percent of customers go to Schlotzsky's for the free Wi-Fi. That translates to 15,000 customers per store per year. If each pays, on average, $7 for a sandwich and drink, that adds up to about $100,000 in sales per year.

"That's a really good return on investment," Mr. Wooley said.

...

But whatever the arrangement, Starbucks maintains its resolve to charge. "We think people will pay," said Nick Davis, a Starbucks spokesman. "They get a great customer experience and really high access speed."

Enterprise Market Gains New Applications and Tools for Utilizing Bluetooth Wireless Technology
NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2003--

Bluetooth SIG Developer's Contest Winners Announced at WinHEC;
Series of Implementation Guides Introduced
From the 12th annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC), the Bluetooth(R) Special Interest Group (SIG) today announced initiatives to grow the number of innovative Bluetooth wireless enabled applications, while educating corporate IT executives and engineers developing enterprise applications using short-range wireless technologies in corporate environments. Today's news builds on the Bluetooth SIG's announcement last December of its "5-Minute Ready Plan," which aims to further improve the usability of Bluetooth wireless enabled devices across multiple industry sectors and deliver an enhanced out-of-the-box experience to wireless users.

"With Bluetooth drivers and support embedded in Windows XP, Bluetooth is easy to support in the workplace and is a secure, reliable way to connect devices," said Mike Foley, wireless architect at Microsoft Corporation. "WinHEC, the key industry event for hardware engineers and driver developers to receive future directions for systems and peripherals running Microsoft Windows operating systems, is a great venue to discuss Bluetooth usage benefits as well as current and future applications of Bluetooth technology."

Bluetooth SIG Developer's Contest at WinHEC

To further encourage the development of wireless centric applications, the Bluetooth SIG called on developers worldwide to speed innovation by competing for the best new Bluetooth wireless enabled application running on the Windows XP operating system. Mark J. Kramer, president and CEO of BlueRadios, Inc. and X-traFun, Inc., was named the first place winner this morning by Tom Phillips, general manager of the Windows Hardware Experience Group at Microsoft Corporation, during his WinHEC conference welcome.

Kramer's entry, X-traFun is the world's first interactive multimedia Game Boy(R) cartridge product and services that enables wireless transformation of content information via the Internet. The product communicates via Bluetooth to Microsoft Windows XP platform acting as the home gateway and is capable of storing and retrieving information transferred from the local computer's file system to the cartridge Flash or Secure Digital SD memory cards. Applications include: Interactive Game Playing, Download New Episodes, Send and Receive e-Mail, Chat/Text Messaging, Play .WAV Files, Stream Video, View Pictures, Wireless Printing, Mobile (wireless Bluetooth), ISP (via Bluetooth enabled mobile phone), Multiple Players (massive), Customize Ring Tones and Logos.

The Bluetooth SIG selected five finalists that were judged yesterday by David English of ComputerShopper, Michael Kanellos of Cnet, Paul Thurrott of Windows & .NET Magazine, Simon Ellis of Intel, and Bluetooth SIG's executive director, Mike McCamon. Judges used the following criteria to determine the five finalists and the overall winner: 1) overall presentation quality; 2) application friendliness, considering users, market relevance and marketability; 3) security, ensuring no interception or interference of data from device to device; 4) reliability, the application working time after time; 5) interoperability, the keystone of Bluetooth wireless technology; and 6) innovation, or uniqueness of the idea.

The remaining applications will be displayed and voted on in the Bluetooth SIG booth (# 700) to determine the People's Choice winner to be announced at the WinHEC closing on May 8. Today's winner received a trip for two to Amsterdam, Netherlands, to attend the 2003 Bluetooth World Congress, June 17 - 19.

Bluetooth Wireless Technology Implementation Guides

In its continuous effort to achieve a 5-minute out-of-box experience for all Bluetooth wireless technology users, the Bluetooth SIG will introduce a series of Implementation Guides for product manufacturers. The first Implementation Guides will focus on the PC and mobile phone industries. In the guides, PC and mobile phone product manufacturers will find best practice methodology for incorporating user-friendly Bluetooth functionality in their future products. In particular, the guidelines will specify common profiles and security settings among other optional items in the specification. This effort is another milestone in the SIG's 5-Minute Ready Program announced in December.

Bluetooth SIG members representing the PC and mobile phone industries collaborated on the development of these Implementation Guides. Sponsored by the Bluetooth SIG, these manuals were created with the needs of the end-user in mind, and to provide greater synthesis of usability of Bluetooth functionality across manufacturer lines.

"Bluetooth wireless technology benefits corporations' efficiency and productivity by increasing the mobility of workers both in and out of the office," said Bluetooth SIG executive director, Mike McCamon. "It is already a useful, convenient and powerful extension to the wired or wireless infrastructure within a corporate enterprise. Our aim, through initiatives like the developer's contest and the implementation guidelines, is to further foster the development of innovative wireless applications which will interconnect us all -- in whatever work 'place' we find ourselves."

About the Bluetooth SIG, Inc.

Bluetooth(R) wireless technology is revolutionizing the personal connectivity market by providing freedom from wired connections. It is a specification for a small-form factor, low-cost radio solution providing links between mobile computers, mobile phones and other portable handheld devices, and connectivity to the Internet. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), comprised of leaders in the telecommunications, computing, and network industries, is driving development of the technology and bringing it to market. The Bluetooth SIG includes promoter group companies 3Com, Agere, Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia and Toshiba, and thousands of Associate and Adopter member companies. The Bluetooth SIG, Inc. headquarters are located in Overland Park, Kansas, U.S.A. For more information please visit www.bluetooth.com.

The Bluetooth word mark and logo are registered trademarks and are owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc.


CONTACT: Porter Novelli for the Bluetooth SIG
Kari Hernandez, 512/241-2236
kari.Hernandez@porternovelli.com
or
Starr Million, 512/241-2237
starr.million@porternovelli.com