BBN Technologies has come up a low-power mesh network as part of research funded by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to produce ad hoc wireless networks on battlefields.

The transfer rate is around the mbps (megabits per second) range and is fast enough to stream video, but only takes about a hundredth the power of a regular network. Consumer applications of this technology would be to produce more energy-efficient mobile devices. According to the article linked to above, it's unlikely that these mesh networks in particular would be used for anything like Municipal Wi-Fi.

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BT (British Telecom) has plans for Municipal Wi-Fi in a number of cities, and are suggesting to people that it could be a way to detect noisy parties. In addition, BT would like for authorities to supplement these Muni Wi-Fi networks with attached webcams, hoping that these measures will reduce crime.

Surprisingly, BT is expecting Muni Wi-Fi users to be able to make free VoIP calls, something that would likely cut into their profits. Their current plans involve adding six cities to their current count of fourteen that they've setup with Muni Wi-Fi.

Some other recent (non-BT) Muni Wi-Fi projects include: Yokota US Air Base in Japan; Nokia's Central Park hotspots; Fort Wayne, Indiana's downtown free Wi-Fi; New Orleans second attempt at a Wi-Fi network; and Paris' plan to install 400 hotspots - with comfortable street furniture, laptop rests, and possibly solar-powered electrical outlets - followed by city-wide coverage by the end of 2007.

Unfortunately, the Nokia Central Park setup will provide two different experiences, depending on whether or not users have a Nokia device or something else. Unlike other towns and cities, residents of San Francisco have mixed opinions about Wi-Fi, free or otherwise. The plan being negotiated by the city would have Google offering free Wi-Fi at 300 Kbit/s, and Earthlink offering paid 1 Mbit/s service.

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In what is quite possibly one of the oddest team-ups, Microsoft (NYSE: MSFT), Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD) and Palm, Inc. (NASD: PALM) will collaborate on a new Treo smartphone. Not surprisingly, the phone will run Windows Mobile 5.0.

Initially, the phone will only be available to Vodafone customers in several European countries this year. The reason for this collaboration has to do with the fact that Palm's Treo 650w (Windows edition) does not comply with certain EU (European Union) regulations.

Source: InfoWorld.

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