Next Wave: Motorola-MeshNetworks, in-car iServices & iTunes

Posted by Dennis Sellers Feb 22, 2005 at 12:30am

Neo is Macsimum News’ international man of mystery. If we told you more, we’d have to kill you.
In a recent Motorola presentation at the 3GSM World Congress held in Cannes, France in February, Motorola made the following points later addressed in this press release:

° 3G devices leadership—is highlighted with a trio of feature and functionally rich new handsets, for all price levels, such as the Motorola A1010 and E1120, promising thrilling experiences in music, video clips, games, movies and downloads.

°Motorola IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) In Action—Seamlessly bringing converged VoIP and multimedia applications together across a variety of end-user devices and environments. Demonstrations include video calls, ringback tones, multiple devices showcasing packet switch to circuit switch calling, flexible alerting, voicemail, unified messaging and mobile conferencing

Convenience on the Road—Motorola presents its hands-free, in car Bluetooth Car Kit IHF1000, tailored to the needs of drivers. With a simple touch of a button, Motorola’s voice operated Bluetooth Car Kit IHF1000 provides a driver with three easy ways to place hands-free mobile phone calls including: speaking the number or contact they wish to have the system dial; accessing up to 20 contacts stored on the system; and using voice tags stored on their mobile phone.

A day earlier, another press release came from Motorola entitled “Motorola Offers Sneak Peak of New iRadio”: “In combination, the information from these press releases reminded me of material presented in chapter two of this series entitled “Apple: On the Road to iPod-Live!—in 2005.” It was here that I covered a Motorola Media platform simply known then as “Total-E.”

I had originally provided a hyperlink to a Motorola QuickTime-only clip in the story that provided a simple glimpse of this platform in vehicles using a voice activation system to download music to a personal online account. Within 24 hours of the story going public, Motorola yanked the video and any mention of the Total-E platform. Luckily I saved a copy of the video-clip and provided it to the founder of the former site I wrote for to run as a separate story a week later. So if you’ve never seen this video before, then take a peek for yourself before reading the press release below so as to visualize how their Total-E platform fits in with their coming iRadio and how it will most definitely be integrated with iTunes.

Motorola’s iRadio press release:

The breakthrough Motorola iRadio solution will mobilize hundreds of commercial-free Internet radio channels and your personal music collection, letting you enjoy your favorite genres, artists, and tunes whether at home, in the car, or on the go. The service uses a high-speed Internet connection, Bluetoot technology, and a mobile phone to offer listeners a continuous entertainment experience—you can start a song on your car radio at exactly the point where you stopped it on your living room stereo.

Planned for launch later this year, Motorola iRadio will provide Internet broadcasters with the ability to extend their services to the places where people listen to and enjoy music the most, such as in the car or while jogging. For music labels and producers, Motorola iRadio will offer a secure, direct way to reach consumers most interested in a specific recording artist or genre.

Ah, now I see why they pulled the video! This is what I wrote back in October 2004:

… “Total-E basically covers how a QuickTime-Live type of in-car iService platform will use simple voice commands to make a music transaction to your online account in realtime while driving. You could easily extrapolate that principle to next year’s iPod by substituting the voice command with a simple click of the wheel feature. In addition, Apple will either provide a built-in on-the-fly transaction identification/security feature, and/or offer an optional Java smart-card upgrade.

The second Motorola presentation titled In Sync simply covers how in-car voice-mail/smart-mail systems will be able to interact with cross-continental iService based accounts such as a live version of Apple’s .Mac.

In context with the recent Apple-Motorola iTunes mobile music player agreement, we could easily see how this agreement is likely to extend into Motorola’s Total-E platform. We’re also likely to hear more about additional collaborative joint-initiatives on this platform in 2005.”

So it appears that the call I made on this back in October 2004 is well on its way to being on target if Motorola’s own launch target is on schedule. It just so happens that this particular chapter of the Next Wave was a full month ahead of the knowledge of a Wireless iPod patent.

How Motorola will actually deliver these iServices is what will be covered in this chapter. One of the methods that Motorola will employ in order to extend their iServices to those “while jogging,” as their press release confirms, is as follows.

Motorola and MeshNetworks

MeshNetworks Press Release (August 2004):

Motorola is adding MeshNetworks mobile ad hoc networking solution to its product offerings. The two companies have signed an agreement enabling Motorola to distribute the MeshNetworks Enabled Architecture (MEA) product line through its sales force and re-seller network.

The MEA solution’s self-forming, self-healing mobile broadband networking and precision position-location solutions will be offered as part of Motorola’s advanced wireless broadband data portfolio for enterprise, utility and public safety. MeshNetworks’ systems have been deployed worldwide in public safety, Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) and municipal government applications.

Fortunately I had downloaded some great information from their site before Motorola acquired MeshNetworks in November 2004. So in context to Motorola’s February 2005 press release stating that “Motorola iRadio will provide Internet broadcasters with the ability to extend their services to the places where people listen to and enjoy music the most, such as in the car or while jogging,[/url] we could see how MeshNetworks’ technology will come into play as was stated at the time of their acquisition, with this statement:

The technology also enables network operators to move beyond the limitations of “hotspot” that typically restrict wireless service to within 300 feet of an access point, and instead build hot zones” that offer continuous outdoor coverage over large metropolitan areas.

What had struck me about MeshNetworks in August 2004, in context with the Next Wave of the Internet, was how tests were being conducted in various parts of the country at the time. It was evident even back then how this would play out with consumers in the not too distant future when I read the following:

MeshNetworks, Inc., the industry leader in mobile mesh networking solutions, and Cheetah Wireless Technologies, Inc (CWTI), a provider of mobile broadband wireless systems, today announced the deployment of a MeshNetworks Enabled Architecture (MEA) wireless broadband network throughout downtown Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Traffic Engineering Department and other city agencies, including public safety and code enforcement, will perform an extensive battery of tests to evaluate the network.

“We are looking forward to testing this high-speed wireless data pilot program,” commented Jorge Cervantes, Assistant Traffic Engineer for the City of Las Vegas. “The deployment was very simple and the equipment installed is low-profile and non-intrusive. We are hopeful that a wireless mesh network could be a cost-effective way for the City of Las Vegas to provide a more efficient system to serve its citizenry.”

Cheetah Wireless chose to deploy a MEA network because it uniquely met the operational, deployment and reliability requirements established by Las Vegas. Unlike cellular and other mobile broadband technologies, MEA offers symmetric uplink and downlink data rates of 512Kbps to 1.5Mbps, and provides “always-on” connectivity, even at speeds over 100mph.

Although I can’t link this information back to the MeshNetworks site any longer, you could read more of this statement here, covered by another source at the time.

Anywhere, anytime, on any Device

If we got a dollar for every time we heard that line, we’d all be rich today! But the information that was available on MeshNetworks’ site gave this tired marketing line some much needed validity. So let’s take a look at what their literature actually stated.

Mobile Backhaul

Putting hot spots in motion: mesh-enabled solutions mobile 802.11

Wi-Fi technology alone does not offer the mobile or wide area connectivity required for network access on a moving bus, train, or subway. MeshNetworks’ mobile hot spot solution does. By integrating its MeshNetworks Enabled Architecture (MEA) network with 802.11 access points, MeshNetworks can put “hot spots in motion” for commercial network access providers and public transit agencies. In addition to passenger services, applications such as security video monitoring and driver communications can be provided over the same wireless MEA network.

Target Transit

MeshNetworks offers a mobile backhaul network solution for 802.11 access points mounted on trains, buses, light rail and other public transit vehicles. Wireless ISPs, Hot Spot operators and transportation agencies can expand their services and revenues by targeting new markets in Mass Transit.

Turn hot spots tin hot spots into ‘hot routes’

Instead of limiting 802.11 accesses to stations and stops, MEA technology can extend access into the buses and trains themselves. MeshNetworks offers scalable networking solutions so that individual routes or entire transit systems can be deployed quickly and cost effectively. Additional Wireless Routers and Intelligent Access Points can be added at any time to extend the coverage or increase the capacity of the network.

MeshNetworks provides broadband products that wirelessly deliver megabit connectivity, with burst data rates up to 6 Mbps. High-speed trains, light rail, buses, etc. can offer continuous connectivity along entire routes at speeds of up to 180+ mph.

Transparent networking

Faster than a speeding bullet … maybe

Email, instant messaging and web browsing are just a few of the applications that commuters will enjoy. And since MEA networks support end-to-end IP, VPN software used to access corporate or private LANs works transparently as well.

At the time, this was little more than what was coming—but not yet in the general market. That’s why I began the Next Wave of the Internet Series with the chapter entitled “Apple’s Next Wave of the Internet: Darwin’s leap to MAN,” covering Unwired, an Australian company who had just announced a deal with Apple with some news pending. Unwired was one of two Australian companies that were ahead of America in wireless portability that worked on the very same principles that MeshNetworks had presented above. See the Unwired video here—to visualize this coming revolution as Motorola suggests as beginning later this year.

One of MeshNetworks partners at the time was a company called Cheetah Wireless Technologies, and the following was found on their site:

Cheetah Wireless Technologies, Inc. is in the process of building “true” high-speed wireless mobile data networks based on MeshNetworks, Inc., MEA (Mesh Enabled Architecture). After thorough investigation of existing wireless mobile platforms, Cheetah Wireless Technologies, Inc. (CWTI) has selected MeshNetworks as its Wireless Mobile Broadband hardware provider. Mesh’s MEA solution is the first flexible and scalable wireless network that can maximize performance and bandwidth efficiency for mobile wireless applications. Its self-forming, self-healing and self-balancing routing allows wireless devices to become the network. MeshNetworks’ MEA mobile broadband network offers a tower less, seamless and flexible high-bandwidth wireless solution. All this technology adds up to a high performance network that is 5 to 10 times faster than current 3G technologies, at a fraction of the cost! These benefits translate to faster, more reliable and more efficient wireless service to CWTI customers. Think of it as a T1 in your pocket on the go!

Faster than a speeding bullet—most definitely! See the updated Cheetah Las Vegas Video here.

A new Apple and Motorola era begins

On July 26, 2004 Motorola’s Ed Zander introduced Steve Jobs via Satellite at their MOTOMEDIAMANIA event, beaming with excitement with an iTunes deal with Apple for their 2005 RAZR line of phones:

“We can’t think of a more natural partnership than this one with Apple, the brand synonymous with easy-to-use, legal music downloading, and Motorola, the innovator in mobile technology,” said Ed Zander, chairman and CEO, Motorola. “Being able to transfer songs you’ve purchased from iTunes to Motorola mobile handsets expands the market reach for both of us and drives new revenue for customers, delivering an amazing music experience to millions of wireless users.”

“We are thrilled to be working with Motorola to enable millions of music lovers to transfer any of their favorite songs from iTunes on their PC or Mac to Motorola’s next-generation mobile phones,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “The mobile phone market—with 1.5 billion subscribers expected worldwide by the end of 2004—is a phenomenal opportunity to get iTunes in the hands of even more music lovers around the world and we think Motorola is the ideal partner to kick this off.”

So with the capabilities acquired from MeshNetworks reviewed here today, now under Motorola’s corporate umbrella, we not only see how far Motorola could take their RAZR-iTunes technology and Media platform, but also of how Apple will utilize this platform for their future wireless iPod and beyond within the next 12-18 months—let’s hope sooner. The possibilities are endless. I think you’d agree that deserves a “two thumbs up” rating for Motorola.

A new highly charged Apple-Motorola era is about to begin – within the Next Wave of the Internet!

The Next Wave of the Internet Series
By Neo

One more thing: Check out Motorola’s MeshNetworks site that contains information provided for in this chapter—originally from the former MeshNetworks Inc site.

Next Wave of the Internet Series includes the following thus far:
Part 1: Apple’s Next Wave of the Internet: Darwin’s leap to MAN

Part 2: On the Road to iPod-Live! In 2005

Part 3: Apple Revving-up QuickTime TV Live-Network

Part 4: Apple’s QuickTime Leaps to the Silver Screen and Beyond

Part 5: OS X Tiger’s QuickTime Could Reach More than 3 Billion Users a Day!

Part 6: To follow (rescheduled for another release date)

Part 7: Understanding Apple’s connection to the CELL Processor

Part 8: A Closer Peek at Sony’s CELL Patent: What’s missing here?

Part 9: Apple Patent Reveals QuickTime TV: What the Other Sites Missed

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