| April, 2008 |  |
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Denver’s free Wi-Fi doesn’t grant access to all sites
Denver International Airport is blocking certain websites from its free Wi-Fi network, fearing that some customers could find the sites offensive, according to The Associated Press. For example, The Denver Post writes that if you “want to browse Vanity Fair magazine,” then “you’ll have to buy it at the newsstand, because (Denver’s) Internet filter blocks Vanity Fair as ‘provocative.’ ” The Post says other blocked sites include celebrity gossip site perezhilton.com on and “hipster-geek favorite” boingboing.net.” The Post adds the Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit photos are also blocked, although the paper says that’s “even though the magazine’s bare-breasted cover shot is on prominent display at airport stores, right next to Penthouse and Hustler.”
Airport spokesman Chuck Cannon tells the Post the airport decided to begin using a web-filtering system provided by the Webwasher when the airport switched from fee-based Internet access to one with free access. The Post says Denver “officials preferred to deal with infrequent blocking complaints rather than angry parents whose children walked by a screen showing pornography, Cannon said.” Predictably, there are critics — including the editor of blocked site boingboing.net. “It seems particularly unfortunate that something as symbolic as the city’s airport, a gateway to culture, commerce and the flow of ideas, would be blocked in such a fundamental way,” boingboing.net’s Xeni Jardin tells the Post. “The intent is understandable, but the outcome is bad for Denver.”
New cellphone coaches, monitors heart rate
Adidas and Samsung have teamed up for a new twist in training — a mobile phone that can coach.
The companies announced Thursday a mobile phone that works with Adidas shoes and apparel to plan, track and motivate users in training.
The device directs and motivates users during workouts by combining a mobile phone, heart rate monitor, stride sensor, MP3 player and the voice of an electronic “personal coach.”
MiCoach hits retail stores in Europe this month and will roll out in the United States in 2009. It will cost $304 to $608 in Europe, depending on the service plan users select. U.S. pricing has not been set.
“This is the most advanced coaching system that is out there,” said Andrea Corso, spokeswoman for Portland-based Adidas U.S.
The new Adidas-Samsung collaboration is the latest of several tech-sport partnerships. Most comparable is Nike and Apple’s Nike+, a wireless system that allows Nike running shoes embedded with a sensor to communicate with Apple’s iPod Nano. An update this week allows users to plug their iPods into gym equipment and track their training there as well.
MiCoach is a bit more expansive because it includes a mobile phone and a camera. It also helps runners set goals and then reach them by monitoring their heart rates and telling them when to slow down or speed up to meet a goal for distance, fitness or calorie burn.
“This about getting to the next level, whether that is running a mile or running a marathon,” Corso said.
Adidas will offer equipment and clothing for runners to attach miCoach and the heart monitor to themselves. The sensor can be attached to any shoe.
Emirates says it’s the first airline to allow cellphone calls
Emirates says in a press release this afternoon that it has become “the first airline in the world to commercially launch an in-flight mobile telephone service, affording even greater convenience to passengers wishing to stay connected while traveling. The first authorized mobile phone call made from a commercial flight was made today at 30,000 feet en route to Casablanca, onboard an Emirates Airbus A340-300 aircraft — the first in the airline’s fleet to be equipped with the AeroMobile system.” Emirates CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum says: “As the world leader in innovation for our customers, we are delighted to now offer them the choice of using their own mobile phones to contact friends, family or colleagues while flying with us.”
Emirates says its mobile phone service “will only be activated when the aircraft is at cruising altitude and the cabin crew will have full control over the system, including the ability to prevent voice calls at certain times such as during night flights. The number of calls that may be made at any one time is also limited to a maximum of five or six calls, the same number as for the current in-seat phones used regularly by Emirates’ passengers.”
| April, 2008 | |
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