Intel, Palm, others push back-to-school mobile & wireless technology

- Gary Thayer, Editor

August 18, 2005 -- (MobileVillage) -- Mobile and wireless technology vendors such Intel and PalmSource are putting a new spin on their offerings this month, encouraging the use of back-to-school applications on handhelds and notebook PCs.

Similarly, VeriSign is promoting its Wireless IP Connect Service for college campuses, which allows campuses to extend existing VoIP networks for use with mobile devices. The company annoucned that University of Michigan, Northwestern University and Texas A&M are trialing the service.

Intel offers offers four tips for college bound students and parents to help select the right laptop PC:

1. Do Your Homework: Determine whether you need a general purpose wireless laptop PC designed for basic productivity applications (word processing and e-mail) or a system with enhanced multimedia functions. Also, check out the school Web site for special discounts.

2. Know the Network: Consult the campus IT department to find out how to take advantage of your college's wireless network and what areas of the campus are "unwired."

3. Web-Surf Safely: Protect your laptop PC against online security threats by installing anti-virus software, personal firewalls, spyware blockers, adware protection and Windows XP Service Pack 2.

4. Protect the Tech: Bags designed for laptop PCs provide protection from damage. To help keep the laptop PC safe from potential thieves, choose a bag that makes a fashion statement rather than advertising the fact that it's holding technology. A cable lock also keeps laptop PCs in place when they're not being toted around campus.

Laptops and other Internet-capable devices usually do not come with parental controls for filtering out pornography or other adult content. For parents of teens with such devices, here's another useful tip, courtesy of RuleSpace, a provider of parental-control technology used by Yahoo!, SBC and others.

5. Ensure parental controls: Choose an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that offers parental control technology. RuleSpace's technology, for example, is offered as a premium service by ISPs including BellSouth, British Telecom, Rogers Cable, and SBC. The technology is also integrated into search engines from Yahoo! and Inktomi (which is used by Nokia and others), and is even built into certain cable modems from Broadcom.

Palm handheld applications

PalmSource, the maker of the Palm operating sytem, offers some back-to-school suggestions for Palm applications for students, teachers and school administrators:

For students: New applications enable users to view and edit files on a corporate network, school server, home computer and the Internet. For example, with Hands High Software's WiFile Pro application lets PDA users with network connectivity directly access desktop or server based applications, databases, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, MP3 music files, or digital photos.

For those schools focused on engineering, medical, or science fields, powerOne Graph application from Infinity Softworks simplifies TI, HP, and Casio graphing scientific calculator functionality by utilizing the touch screen, larger displays and superior processing power of Palm Powered mobile devices. For more information, please visit handshigh.com and.infinitysoftworks.com.

For teachers: Teachers can spend less time grading and tracking assignments and more time in the classroom focused on the students. Wireless Generation offers its "mClass" line of PDA applications to help educators automate scoring, access real-time assessment results, deliver reporting, and reduce paperwork.

"mClass: Math", for example, is designed to enhance teachers' ability to assess kindergarten through 2nd grade students' understanding of early mathematical concepts and can collect data on their students' development for use in planning of course instruction. "mClass: Reading" offers tools including reading records, accuracy/fluency assessment, and comprehension rubric. For more information, see wirelessgeneration.com.

For school administrators: Principals and other adminisrators can know who, what, when and where students are at all times with Discovery Software's Principalm software, which gives access to student names, ages, phone numbers, parental contact information, and identification numbers. For more information, see principalm.com.

Universities trial WiFi - cellular handovers

In other campus technology news, VeriSign has announced that "selected members" at the University of Michigan, Northwestern University and Texas A&M are trialing its Wireless IP Connect Service. According to VeriSign, the service allows cellular handsets to register as Internet Protocol devices when near a Wi-Fi signal, thus giving users the ability to make and receive cost-effective Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls.

Users will be able to receive and place calls using either the existing campus Wi-Fi network or a commercial wireless carrier network while using a single device and phone number, according to the company.

The VeriSign Wireless IP Connect Service is available to campuses for evaluation and testing.

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