Hedgehogging

Hedge*hog*ing v. Interrupting conversations in an office environment by poking your head over the top of the cube.
–All the talk about Alltel being acquired is not settling well with some of the RCR Wireless News staff. The thought that anything might interfere with the carrier’s MyCircle commercials is bursting-blood-vessel-in-the-head angering.
–Need further proof that wireless will someday rule the world? Google’s vice president and (I’m not making this up) chief Internet evangelist Vinton Cerf said that mobile phones, not personal computers, will fuel growth of the Internet in developing countries. Since this came from Google that pretty much makes it true, and since it came from Google’s VP and CIE, it has some sort of religious backing.
–Wireless management services provider mindWireless released a report earlier this week that claims Sprint Nextel’s CDMA network actually is the most reliable wireless network in the country. The much-beleaguered carrier nipped in ahead of Cingular’s legacy AT&T Wireless network and Verizon Wireless. While every carrier besides Sprint Nextel is sure to argue with the report’s methodology, you gotta admit it’s nice to see Sprint Nextel leading any positive report.
–Madrid, Spain-based “social router” company Fon announced plans to give away free wireless routers to anyone living next to a Starbucks, which I believe would be around 83 percent of the U.S. population. Fon said the plan is to allow people to charge $2 for Wi-Fi access and undercut Starbucks’ current $10 access fee for Wi-Fi service. As Fon says on its Web site, “A savvy patron of your Starbucks need only pay $2 a day for your Wi-Fi. They’d have to be a grande drip to pay the $10 Starbucks charges. Each customer who chooses you puts $1 into your latte fund. Cha-ching.” All I can say is: Brilliant! Now the next step is to pass out free base stations to everyone who lives next to a cellphone tower.
–Living the high-life? RCR Wireless News newbie Matt Kapko was invited last week to hang out on Willie Nelson’s tour bus for what was explained as research on a new mobile router product. This week Matt is scheduled to sit in on a Snoop Dogg recording session at the Amp’d Mobile studios. Did we mention that Matt also lives in SoCal where it’s always sunny and 72 degrees? While Matt is a great writer, he is not making many friends with the rest of the RCR Wireless News staff.