Dave Mock has published what I believe is the first authoritative book on Qualcomm and how it got to be the success that it is today. The book is titled The Qualcomm Equation and I hope to have a review shortly.

If you've purchased a Treo recently from Cingular and are having problems, read this post...

Two weeks ago I took the plunge and purchased the Treo 650 from Cingular. I don't have to repeat the many glowing reviews this device has received. What did it for me was knowing that there would be a Wi-Fi plug-in available later this year. Here's one that's on the way.

The first week with the Treo was mostly positive. Syncing is a challenge with any device, particularly if you are a Mac user. PalmSource gave up supporting Macs last year, so I had to go to a third party to get software to sync my calendar and contacts. As a Mac user, I'm accustomed to these little exercises.

After about a week the troubles began. I would go to dial a number and the phone would reset on me. Just like that. The screen goes black and then it boots up again. For a moment there I had a flashback to my Windows Me days.

To make matters worse, the voicemail phone number would change on me randomly, displaying everything from international numbers to a string of zeros.

So I went to the Cingular and PalmOne Web sites and found nothing of help. There was clearly a software glitch - perhaps a conflict between the SIM card and the Palm OS. This is in many ways the worst possible problem, because it falls in between the cracks of the device manufacturer and the carrier. In fact, when I finally did get ahold of Cingular, they initially told me that I had a faulty device and that I should return it.

Then I discovered Treo forums here and here. And I quickly realized that I wasn't alone. Between the forums I estimate that I have found close to a hundred people who have buggy Treo 650s. Granted, it's very hard to tell what's a legitimate bug or software conflict or naive user, but based on reading these countless postings, I can't help but think that Palm and Cingular rushed out this handset a bit too quickly.

One user goes to Cingular the other day and finds that corporate has sent an email to all dealers telling them that the SIM card is causing problems. The dealers have been sent a stack of Axalto SIM cards to exchange with the existing Gemplus SIM cards.

So once I heard this I went over to my local dealer and was met with a blank stare, until I found the manager who just happened to have read the same email that morning. They swapped the cards and the problem went away, sorta.

I had to go home and do a hard reset, that is, erase all the settings and software I had set up, and the phone worked again. Needless to say, I was relieved, until I ran a sync operation and all the old files and settings were pushed back onto the Treo. Suddenly, the same old problems came back to life. Once user on the forum said I need to reinstall my backup software as well (which for me meant reinstalling two applications all over again). Instead, I tried to remove just the backup files and this seemed to do the trick.

It has been three days and I've only had on random reset.

I've been in touch with PalmOne PR and hope to have more information soon. What I want to know is this:

1. How severe is this problem? How many people need to be changing SIM cards?
2. Why didn't PalmOne and Cingular notify everyone the minute they discovered this problem? How many people right now are waiting on hold with Cingular cursing their Treos?
3. Did Cingular pull the Treo off its Web site yesterday because of this problem or because of supply shortages? They'll probably say it's because of shortages, but I can't help but wonder.

Anyway, I hope this isn't a big problem, though it certainly has been a big one for me. And I'm still wondering if I should just return the thing the get on with my life (I've wasted a good 10 hours on hold, at the dealer, and futzing with the device). But, most of all, I hope other frustrated Treo users out there read this post and get to their dealer if they're having problems.

David Isenberg gave us the the Rise of the Stupid Network. Ambient Devices is giving rise to the stupid device.

While wireless phones get smarter, other wireless devices are getting dumber.
The Ambient Orb represents what I believe will be a growing segement of wireless devices -- those that do a great deal less, but do it really well.

Ambient Devices is in many ways a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). It owns no network; instead, it leases network access from another carrier (MetroCall's paging network).

The orb literally needs no instruction manual because it ships programmed to do just one thing, such monitor the stock market or the weather. You just plug it in and it does the rest. Now, if you want to the orb to represent different data streams, such as the pollen count or a specific stock, you need to set up an online account with Ambient.

I would like to see Ambient extend this functionality to home wireless networks and consumer devices. For example, I would like to have some orb by the back door that glows if I've left any appliance or light on in the house - so I don't end up leaving that house and then coming back twenty minutes later. I would also like smoke detectors that change color based on how much battery life is left.

I'm sure they're working on it...

I've been putting the new Canary Wireless Wi-Fi detector through its paces and it is clearly a big improvement over other Wi-Fi detectors. Still, I think it's just a bit too bulky to find its way into my pocket on a regular basis.

It's quite a bit bigger than it appears here:

A close-Up of the LCD screen:

It does provides a great deal more information than any other detector, like signal strength and SSID. And the device does a nice job of turning itself off to conserve power.

But the size is a sticking point with me. And the LCD screen desperately needs a backlight; and because the LCD is recessed you'll need direct overhead lighting to read the display properly.

Waiting for cellphones to offer Wi-Fi detection
The HP iPAQ provided the first glimpse of a handset that could function as a decent Wi-Fi detector. But we need more handsets to begin supporting Wi-Fi, despite carrier reservations. I was disappointed at CES to find that Blackberry still has no projected date for a Wi-Fi-enabled device. And although the Treo will have an "official" Wi-Fi plug-in later this year, I'm not hearing much enthusiasm from the Palm people regarding embedding the technology. Benq demoed a device at CES, but it wasn't ready for prime time.

So I'll keep waiting and, until then, will occasionally carry along my Canary Wireless.

Another hotel chain has announced that it would offer free Wi-Fi. Microtel Inn & Suites said it will offer free Wi-Fi in all hotel rooms, along with free domestic local/long distance across all 275 locations. Despite what the hotel's press release says, this is not a "first" in the hotel industry. Far from it, this is a global industry trend that continues to gain momentum.

Hotel GMs know that people are making hotel choices based on Internet access in general and Wi-Fi in particular. And GMs are learning that it is easier to bundle "free" access into the room rate than try to nickel and dime the guests. I can attest to that; I recently stayed at two business hotels in Japan, both of which offered free in-room Internet access and free Wi-Fi in the lobbies.

The higher-end hotel chains (Four Seasons, Fairmont, Ritz) continue to hold their ground on paid Internet access, but I don't believe even this will last.