Broadband internet arrives in California's Gold Country through white spaces deployment

White Space Arrives In Gold Country

The first commercial application of TV White-Space broadband offers residents of California's Gold Country a 'wealth' of opportunities.

ARCATA, Calif., April 18, 2013

ARCATA, Calif., April 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The rugged landscape of California's Gold Country has been sought after for centuries, but its enchanting features have also obstructed 21st-Century Internet access. Newly-released technology is about to liberate these rural environs, as the nation's first independently-funded commercial-grade TV White Space (TVWS) broadband network is deployed in the area.

White-Spaces are unused TV channels, whose powerful signals can travel over rough, tree-laden terrain. This long-awaited broadband solution avails rural customers to all the benefits of today's Internet. Thanks to the pioneering efforts of an El Dorado County wireless Internet provider, Cal.net, many Gold Country businesses and residents now have access to these previously unattainable resources.

Just ask the local entrepreneur who wants to efficiently monitor her store locations. "I'm finally able to keep tabs on my business from home," states Mrs. Edwards. "For twenty years we've had no decent Internet service were we live. Now we have superior remote access to our office computers, and can finally enjoy peace of mind while saving us many hours of driving."

"Over 59,000 residents in our rural service area have had little or no quality Internet access," explained Cal.net CTO Ken Garnett, who began investigating White-Space technology several years ago. "When I discovered Carlson, their White-Space network equipment was a quantum leap ahead of all other contenders. This new product allows us to serve a large contingent of these people."

"Carlson specializes in rugged territory," noted Jim Carlson, CEO of the Arcata-based RF design firm. "Rural broadband has long been the focus of our efforts, and we knew as soon as the FCC set aside TVWS for broadband that this would be the preeminent solution for rural areas."

A brewery in the quaint town of Camino offers a prime example of TVWS advantages. "This is a very effective tool for my business," states David Coody, owner of the Jack Russell Brewery. "Video conferencing was smoother than satellite, and I'm not hamstrung by its limitations. I'd highly recommend this to other businesses in rural areas."

Carlson and Cal.net formed an alliance and set out to tame the wild territory. Armed with an FCC-granted Special Temporary Authority to validate the efficacy of the product in real-world scenarios, the partners have commenced the world's first large-scale deployment of commercial TVWS products. The project comprises multiple transmission sites delivering broadband to several hundred heretofore un-serviceable subscribers in El Dorado County. The success of their project will help qualify the potential of TVWS and provide a hopeful outlook for millions of other rural Americans awaiting quality broadband.

Late last month Carlson began shipping its RuralConnect system to FCC authorized customers in fulfillment of pre-orders.

About Carlson

For more than a decade, Carlson has led the way in engineering high-speed wireless communication solutions for a broad spectrum of applications by using RF technology to deliver full voice and data connections, no matter how rugged the terrain. More than 20 million people in nearly 200 communities worldwide rely on Carlson radios for their public safety communications needs. Today, Carlson is considered a pioneer of the revolutionary new TV White Space broadband technology.

About Cal.Net

Cal.net is a premier northern-California based Internet service provider, offering services to meet the data communications needs of individuals and businesses since 1996. The company provides wired and wireless broadband Internet access, Web services, and a local co-location datacenter. Cal.net's fixed-wireless broadband service provides quality high-speed Internet to thousands of rural subscribers in El Dorado and Amador Counties, California.

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By: Unknown On 1:35 PM

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InFocus' BigTouch is a 55-inch all-in-one built for conference spaces, classrooms with large desks

Having not seen every single all-in-one PC that's ever been released, we'll stop short of saying the InFocus BigTouch is the largest AiO ever to grace the Earth. That said, it's pretty damn enormous. What we have here is a 55-inch Windows 8 machine -- far larger than you probably have room for on your desk -- and it's intended specifically for classrooms, conference spaces and office lobbies. Basically, any scenario where lots of people will need to see or use the computer at once. Given that, its connectivity options are perhaps more extensive than what you'll find on a regular consumer desktop: six USB ports, two HDMI sockets and two Ethernet jacks (highly unusual, that last bit).

Other than that, this isn't a machine for spec hunters: it will initially ship with a Core i5 Sandy Bridge processor (that's what was available when the product was being developed) and the screen resolution tops out at 1080p, which is fairly low considering those pixels will be distributed over a 55-inch panel. The 120GB SSD, at least, should do just fine for the above uses cases -- we don't imagine folks will need to store more than that. Additionally, the BigTouch is designed to be easily serviceable, and the processor is part of Intel's vPro family, so the system might meet IT requirements anyway. With a price of $4,999, though, we hope your company doesn't have too many conference rooms to furnish.InFocus BigTouch all-in-one PCSee all Show full PR text

InFocus Launches 55-inch Windows 8 All-In-One
Touch PC

BigTouch™ designed for Business and Education Users

Portland, Ore. – March 26, 2013 – InFocus Corp., a global leader in digital display
devices, today announced the launch of its "BigTouch" all-in-one touch screen PC. The
versatile 55-inch BigTouch amplifies the beautiful, fast and fun Microsoft® Windows 8
touch experience for virtually any use customers can dream up.

BigTouch features a brilliant 55-inch 1080p display and five-point touch for multi-
person collaboration, and ships with the Windows 8 Professional operating system
combining the fun of a touch screen tablet with the productivity of a PC. It also includes
a wireless keyboard and mouse, providing convenience and flexibility in a wide variety of
environments and uses.

"Imagine interacting with virtually any content you want on a beautiful 55-inch high
definition touch display," said Robert Detwiler, product manager at InFocus. "The
BigTouch is the ideal product for many customers including educators who are using
education software, software companies that want to demonstrate their applications on
a large scale, or even digital signage companies looking for a display with an integrated
PC. Ultimately, the BigTouch is for anyone who wants the Windows 8 touch experience
on a large PC display."

The device supports Windows 8 touch screen gestures including slide, tap, swipe, pinch
and rotate. Convenient features of the BigTouch include two gigabit Ethernet ports, WiFi,
two HDMI ports and six USB ports, as well as a 120GB solid state hard drive. It also
includes an Intel® i5 processor with Intel vPro™ Technology for embedded security and
manageability.

In addition to offering top-of-the-line projectors, InFocus manufactures the Mondopad,
a 55-inch multi-touch collaboration PC/tablet hybrid that is revolutionizing how people
communicate and work together. It ships with Mondopad software that offers several
collaboration features including video conferencing, digital annotation over documents,
interactive white boarding capabilities, a customizable interface and Microsoft Office
2010 Professional software. BigTouch customers will be able to upgrade to a Mondopad
with the Mondopad Upgrade Kit, available through InFocus.

Pricing and availability
The BigTouch will be available from authorized InFocus resellers for $4,999.

Tags: 55-inch, 55Inch, all-in-one, All-in-onePc, AllInOne, AllInOnePc, bigtouch, infocus, infocusbigtouch

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