At the IEEE Technology Time Machine Symposium last week I heard the world’s leading academics, engineers, executives, and government officials project what the world will look like in 2020. The future brings technology together for everything from enhancing the human experience to improving environmental sustainability.… Read More »
Tech
Devices that boost cellular signals in areas of poor coverage can turn a useless phone into a portable powerhouse, but the CTIA is seeking greater control on the use of such signal boosters, claiming interference issues. Is that the real reason, or are femtocells to blame? Read More »
Picochip today said it has released a chip that will enable mobile operators to place small base stations known as femtocells anywhere, bringing them out of the home environment and into public areas. This is good for carriers, but it may be bad news for consumers. Read More »
Deployments of femtocells have doubled in the last six months, indicating that an increasing number of carriers want to supplement wireless coverage in homes using the 3G devices. Evan as some carriers charge for the hardware, consumers appear willing to pay for better home voice coverage. Read More »
When AT&T eliminated unlimited smartphone data plans earlier this month, much of the outrage was from iPhone owners, traditionally the biggest users of AT&T’s data network. But the biggest losers are femtocell customers because 3G data use with these devices counts against the now-limited plans. Read More »
picoChip, maker of semiconductors for femtocells, has raised $20 million in funding, bringing its total venture capital raised to $110 million. I wrote earlier this month that PicoChip’s latest silicon could finally create an opportunity for femtocells to gain real adoption. Its investors must agree. Read More »
Picochip has built a chip that can support far more mobile users on a femtocell, and help carriers handle the problem of chatty phones that overwhelm networks with movement notifications, push email, Twitter, etc. Maybe it will be just what femtocells need to finally take off. Read More »
Here at GigaOM we’ve pretty much decided that the femtocell market is dead. At the very least, it’s significantly smaller than what was forecast (GigaOM Pro, subscription required) when these tiny base stations for the home first started garnering attention last year.… Read More »
Femtocells, micro-base stations placed inside the home to improve cellular coverage, are supposed to be the answer to operators’ bandwidth constraints. They’re also a new source of revenue for carriers and the startups and large equipment-makers who are building the devices. But so far, the market… Read More »
Add AT&T to the list of operators looking to create a new revenue stream even as they move to offload network traffic. The nation’s second-largest carrier has launched a consumer trial of its 3G MicroCell, a femtocell that uses the customer’s home Internet connection… Read More »
It doesn’t matter how brilliant your mouse trap is if it doesn’t catch any mice. Same goes for technologies. Witness femtocells, those small, in-premise devices that help with spotty cell phone coverage by piggybacking on wired broadband connections. According to The Wall Street Journal, femtocells aren’t… Read More »
