Always on internet

Some cool news that can only be but good news for us down under - Google may be planning to lay a pacific cable - due to be up and running by end of next year! (by 2009). UPDATE - more details on background to this.

What does this mean? Lots of things - for starters......increased data caps for kiwis and aussies - that's basic supply and demand. It may also mean faster round trips for internet to and from the US.

And what about the last few miles ? Apple are ploughing ahead signing up telcos in Europe to support the iPhone. Its interesting to see how many WIFI hotspots there are in places like the UK and Germany. And with the announcement of free WIFI for iPhone users in 7500 odd hot spots we are getting closer to an always online environment which is cheap for mobile users. This is great news to try and support the best of both worlds in the interim while 3G internet is still too draining on mobile device batteries.

What I can't find the info on yet but will no doubt surface in the next few days will be how much coverage does these 7,500 hotspots actually give you. And what will be the charges for iPod Touch users? That will be a interesting one but no doubt well thought out by the Telcos.

Safari is the killer application on the Touch and iPhone - if a good high speed experience can be offered for next to nothing over WIFI then we finally have information at our fingertips - just think of all the applications - its mind boggling - and bloody exciting for tech heads. Just as the teenagers that adopted MySpace paved the way for the older generation to get hooked on Facebook (I caved in and just signed up - its not bad!), it will be the teenagers with their Touches that pave the way for awesome applications.

Safari 3 is so much faster at rendering complex webpages - I hope it is too on the iPhone & Touch too - early reports show it is. I'm picking it will be the browser of choice within 18 months (more than 30% market share).

Say goodbye to the scientific calculator on the college kids shopping list - say hello to the iPod Touch! Just think about it! Yes the device is a game changer - free college WIFI will have to be offered as well.

End to end internet is almost here - always on internet - always in your pocket.