Everyone who reads this should already know what WiFi is... but "Super WiFI" is a fairly new buzzword that will become hot news in the not so distant future.

What is Super WiFi? to explain that, lets first understand why the WiFi we know and love today, is non-super.

Today's WiFi travels over frequencies that are pretty high up the spectrum - typically 2.4 ghz or 5 ghz

Wireless technologies in those higher frequencies aren't able to penetrate walls and buildings as well as lower frequencies.

Super WiFi will utilize "white spaces" in lower frequencies between 50hz and 700mhz and at those lower frequencies, it will be able to cover greater distances and penetrate walls and structures better than non-super wifi.

Super WiFi will be better able to deliver high speed bandwidth through walls and over great distances -- many suspect it will be able to deliver 15 ~ 20mbps -- rivaling DSL and cablemodem service.

Rural areas are expected to greatly benefit the most from Super WiFi technology as it should be a more cost effective way to cover the 'last mile' to a lot of remote areas.

The questions that remain are: how long before Super WiFi gear becomes available and how long will it be before internet providers ramp up to take advantage of this new tech?

Time will tell.

If you're like me, you are probably getting tired of rising costs on everything, and look for ways to save money whenever you can.

In my informal poll of friends and family, I've found that most of us are paying $80 ~ $100/mo for cable or satellite TV, and can't imagine parting with it because the DVR is such an important part of how we live... it lets us watch what we want, when we want.

If there were a way to easily watch OTA (over the air) television using a DVR, we might be more willing to ditch cable/satellite.

The ChannelMaster CM-7000PAL looks promising enough and is getting pretty good reviews from customers. It offers an electronic program guide that allows you to preset recording schedules so you never miss your favorite shows. Users can record up to 130 hours of SD (standard definition) content or up to 30 hours of HD content. The CM-7000PAL easily hooks up to just about any TV as it includes HDMI, component and composite connectors. One of its best features is the dual tuner that lets you record two shows at once!

Overall, the CM-7000PAL is a lot like a cable or satellite DVR, but there is one major difference:

Unlike most other DVR set top boxes, there are NO monthly subscription fees.

I haven't pulled the trigger on this idea yet (mostly because there are family members I have to convince), but I may try it soon.

Check out this cool video review by a knowledgeable Crutchfield staffer:

BONUS INFO: While doing more research, one reviewer explains that the DTVpal DVR that sells for $250 at Kmart is pretty much the same thing as the ChannelMaster 7000PAL... I've not tried either unit out yet, so I don't know for sure if you lose any features with this lesser-expensive model. I've also found a forum thread with a tremendous amount of info that compares DTVpal/7000pal features to that of TiVo... you can find that at http://j.mp/dtvpal

Have any of you tried this solution? Please feel free to post your comments about your experience with it!

Verizon recently announced that starting September 28th, they will be selling premium smartphones like the Droid X for use on their Pre-Paid service.

Reports indicate that on the PrePaid service, the DroidX will cost $395 and a $45/mo plan would provide for 450 minutes per month with no text messages.

Unlimited data to the phone would cost the same $30/mo that 2-year contract customers can get.

With Verizon's 4G service expected to roll out in 30 cities this year and more cities over the coming 12-18mos, many who want a new 3G smartphone right now, consider PrePaid service to be a smarter idea, rather than sign up for a 2-year contract.

A day later and now the archived video event is available and viewable with more browsers, like FireFox.

Check it out at: http://j.mp/b8awea

The confirmed specs look pretty good for Samsung's Galaxy Tab:

• Android Froyo 2.2 with TouchWiz 3.0
• 7-inch 1024 x 600 pixel resolution display
• 1GHz Cortex A9 processor
• 16GB or 32GB internal storage
• microSD card expansion up to 32GB
• Front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera
• Rear-facing 3-megapixel camera with flash
• 4,000mAh battery
• 3G (most likely with Verizon EVDO)
• 5GHz dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi
• Full HD video playback

I love my 3G iPad, but I'd love it better with cameras and an SD slot...

Gmail account holders will soon be able to make voice calls to any landline or cellphone at really low rates -- including free calls to USA and Canada!

The feature is being rolled out over time... accounts that have the feature enabled will see a new option under the chat section as seen below:

In order to be able to make the calls, users will need to install the same free plugin that allows video chat on gtalk.

Over the weekend, electronista reported that VirginMobile prematurely confirmed forthcoming plans to provide truly unlimited mobile broadband data service with no contract, for $40/mo on VM's FaceBook page.

If this really happens, it should seriously change the mobile broadband market, and the consumers win!

Apple posted a press release today that confessed:

"... the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong."

So the explanation for all those people who have been noticing wierd signal issues is that the new iPhone has been showing more bars than it should be.

What? you mean the signal isn't even as good as the phone has been showing us?

That means that the new iPhone is lying about how good ATT signal may be in some places.

Apple maintains that the iPhone 4's wireless performance "is the best we have ever shipped", and that the only real problem is their software has been erroneously reporting the wrong number of signal bars.

Simply. Amazing.

Bloomberg really seems to think so.

I'd stand in line to buy a Verizon iPhone.

It will be nice to find out whether or not Verizon's network could hold up better than ATT's network has.

http://www.simon.com/mall/?id=1248

Test Date: May 16, 2010 4:00:30 PM
Connection Type: Cellular

Download: 1341 kbps
Upload: 105 kbps
Ping: 279 ms

Not bad, considering the crowd of people here... Sent from my iPad