Okay, maybe not all, but some fine folks have set up a collaborative project to inform interested parties in the developing world about wireless networking and how they can plan and build cost-effective telco infrastructures. I would guess that the lion’s share of their efforts have gone into the creation of the book they offer on their site (a CC-licensed PDF that also available in print-on-demand) to help educate people on the topic. Although the book is titled and targeted at the developing world, I think it would be of interest to the same folks who are involved in rural broadband efforts.

Check out their site to learn more.

The news over the past few weeks has been rife with alarming articles and snippets about the imminent shutdown of BlackBerry service in ths US. Of course, the catch is that it’s not that cut and dried… there will be a ruling on February 24th in which NTP will argue that RIM is infringing and that the court should issue an injunction preventing RIM from selling their products and services until the legal issues are sorted out. RIM has a patch that is a work-around to any potential infringement and will likely offer that up as a solution.

For a realistic look at the likely outcomes of the ruling, check out Frank Hayes’ article CrackBerry No More? in Computerworld. It’s definitely one of the most realistic looks at the situation that I’ve seen.

And in an act of self-aggrandizement, if you want to find out more about the latest BlackBerry Enterprise Server, check out this sneak I wrote of BES 4.1 at Network Computing.

So… The end of the semester is fast approaching, and my blogging has been a bit slow. In order to maintain a little “freshness,” I thought I’d post a roundup of links to my NWC articles, including the most recent one.

• Analyze This… WLAN
• BlackBerries and Treos and iPaqs, Oh My!
• Mobile Application Gateways: VPNs Go Mobile

Came across this interesting article tonight (while avoiding my homework) on the economics of buying a hybrid versus buying a different vehicle… Sure, sure, hybrids use less gass, which is an important savings in this day and age of high gas prices. But does that savings really add up? Well, check out all the equations in this article and make your own darned decision.
(via Lifehacker)

Okay, so not a permanent new toy, but I had the opportunity to play with the BlackBerry 8700c last week. I worked with the BB 7290 for the NWC mobile messaging review, but it was neat to get a chance to work with one of the newest additions to the CrackBerry family. It’s not a revolutionary product by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a good incremental step above the 7290.

• The screen is bigger, brighter and has better resolution. I found it to have better outdoor readability than its predecessor.
• RIM has re-vamped the interface to take advantage of the enhanced screen real estate, making some modest improvements.
• The support for EDGE networks made quick work of downloading the attachments I received (which was helped by RIM’s attachment-processing services).

I don’t know that it’s enough to make me want to rush out and buy one… especially as an individual w/o my own groupware server. I’d still hate to be reliant on a desktop redirector for access to my calendar. Nonetheless, I think it’s likely to be favorably received in the market as an improvement over its predecessors.