BIG APPLE SUCCESS.Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of taxi customers can thank a Eugene company, in part, for the fact that cab rides in the city are no longer a cash-only proposition. And Eugene's Feeney Wireless also can be thanked for helping the New York cab fleet on its way to becoming a cash-generating, digital advertising medium. Feeney - which also produces mobile wireless computer systems for police cars, utility vehicles and other applications - was called upon late in 2006 to provide a cellular computer router that could be used in New York taxis taxis (tăk`sĭs), movement of animals either toward or away from a stimulus, such as light (phototaxis), heat (thermotaxis), chemicals (chemotaxis), gravity (geotaxis), and touch (thigmotaxis). . The city's Taxi and Limousine Commission ruled in 2004 that all 13,000 licensed cabs be "wireless enabled" by early 2008, so they could accept payment by credit or debit cards debit card, card that allows the cost of goods or services that are purchased to be deducted directly from the purchaser's checking account. They can also be used at automated teller machines for withdrawing cash from the user's checking account. . "They had been experimenting with some equipment, but they really needed the application to be more robust," says Feeney Wireless President Bob Ralston Robert Ralston (born July 2, 1938 in Montebello, California) is an American pianist and organist perhaps best known from television's The Lawrence Welk Show. , whose client - Creative Mobile Technologies - is one of three vendors authorized au·thor·ize tr.v. au·thor·ized, au·thor·iz·ing, au·thor·iz·es 1. To grant authority or power to. 2. To give permission for; sanction: by the commission to produce systems that comply with the wireless mandate, and offer them to cab owners. "I didn't even know it was on the radar, but they contacted us," Ralston says. "I went (to New York) and determined we could do this, but we would have to manufacture some new hardware to do it. Within three months, we had built a new cellular router Cellular routers (sometimes known as 3G Routers) are routers that provide shared Internet access by incorporating a cellular data modem as a WAN interface. They can be deployed as a primary WAN link to a location, though are mostly used as a secondary or business continuity , and had certified it through the (Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. ) and had prototypes back in New York." A router is a computer whose function is to forward information to and from one group of computers to another. In the case of the taxi fleet, each car required a router to move information - wirelessly - between its onboard Refers to a chip or other hardware component that is directly attached to the printed circuit board (motherboard). Contrast with offboard. See inboard. computer system and the host computer system of its cab company. Feeney began manufacturing its Cellular Internet Routing Appliance routers for cabs in the spring of 2007 and filled an initial order for 5,000 of the devices. The company just delivered another 650 and is continuing to crank them out at its facility at 4085 W. 11th Ave. in Eugene. The retail price of the CIRA units is $899, although Ralston says the actual cost to customers is dependent on volume. "We're starting to pull down some very, very large contracts," says Ralston, whose company also recently began supplying the on-board On board usually means to be traveling on some vehicle. For example, Baby On Board. Compare with overboard. Metaphorically, the term on-board is often used to refer to some piece of technology that is integrated in a moving vehicle, for example: Feeney has sold versions of its CIRA routers and mobile computer systems to police departments and utility companies in the Eugene-Springfield area and throughout the West. The company purchases circuit boards for its wireless routers A network device that combines a wireless access point (base station), a wired LAN switch and a router with connections to a cable or DSL service. Wireless routers provide a convenient way to connect a small number of wired and any number of wireless computers to the Internet. from subcontractors and modifies them at its 13,000-square-foot facility in west Eugene. "We fabricate that into our own equipment, and we're doing that right here in Eugene," Ralston says. "Part of the (manufacturing) processes are contracted out, and part of it is done here." In addition to its Eugene headquarters, the company has sales and support offices in Portland, Sacramento, Honolulu, Phoenix and Long Island. Its products also include wireless surveillance cameras used by agencies such as the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was established in 1973 by President richard m. nixon as part of the Justice Department, thus uniting a number of federal drug agencies that had often worked at cross-purposes. and the U.S. Border Patrol. But the system for taxis is the company's newest application of its wireless technology and could become its most wide-ranging - and the one most likely to be seen by ordinary consumers. "What we've been able to do will really be the advancement of a changing technology for corporations, and state and local governments - for turning a vehicle into a true, mobile node of their (computer) network," Ralston says. The taxis' overall wireless computer system includes a wireless router - which is installed in the engine compartment and connects a taxi to the Internet via the Sprint cellular telephone network - along with an encased en·case tr.v. en·cased, en·cas·ing, en·cas·es To enclose in or as if in a case. en·case  ment n. computer and GPS antenna mounted next to
the drivers' seat, and a screen embedded Inserted into. See embedded system. in the back of the
cab's front seat.
Customers viewing the monitor in the back seat can keep tabs on their fare, track their route on a GPS-enabled map and pay with a swipe of a credit card upon reaching their destination. The touch-screen includes options for tips ranging from 15 percent to 25 percent, or allows the customer to enter another figure. But the technological bonanza for companies such as Creative Mobile Technologies is that their new mobile network can also be used to broadcast information - and advertising - throughout the cab fleet. In a deal with NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. and Clear Channel, a taxi entertainment network - known as NY10 - was created to provide news, weather and sports headlines, along with a stock ticker Stock ticker A letter designation assigned to securities and mutual funds that trade on US financial exchanges. and a steady flow of advertising to what the network's Web site describes as "9 million captive passengers a month." "Technology can be great, but you've got to pay for it somewhere along the line," Ralston says. "There had to be some means to take this technology and somehow make it worthwhile." Ron Sherman, the Chief Executive Officer of Creative Mobile Technologies, described Feeney as an essential partner in its wireless computer venture. But Sherman declined to say more about his operation, or to discuss his company's contractual relationships with the cab owners and fleets that have chosen the company as its wireless computer vendor. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. information on the Web site of the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission, a monthly service fee can range from $43 to $200 per month for each cab, but the three competing vendors have otherwise structured their contracts with cab owners differently. One vendor requires cab owners to purchase the systems and another requires a lease arrangement. Creative Mobile Technologies allows cab owners to use its systems without buying or renting. However, the Taxi and Limousine Commission site indicates that "advertising models" figure into the compensation for all three vendors. "Advertising fees may offset costs Costs for which funds have been appropriated but will not be obligated because of a contingency operation. See also contingency operation. ," the Web site says in a portion dedicated to cab owners' questions. "Some vendors are offering systems at minimal costs. "In many ways, signing up for (a wireless computer contract) is similar to cell phone contracts. Each vendor offers different packages, with different fee structures." Creative Mobile Technologies' own Web site touts "free use of our state-of-the-art equipment" along with low monthly charges and no activation fee. "It's simple," the company's Web site says in a message to cab owners. "Advertising helps enable us to provide you with all of the equipment for free. The more advertising that is generated from ad content and commercials that appear on the (on-board computer screen), the more leeway lee·way n. 1. The drift of a ship or an aircraft to leeward of the course being steered. 2. A margin of freedom or variation, as of activity, time, or expenditure; latitude. See Synonyms at room. we have to reduce your already low monthly usage fees. "Our goal is for advertising revenue to reach a point where we can reduce your monthly fees dramatically, and eventually enable you, the customer, to have a new revenue stream for your business." Ralston, the Feeney Wireless president, says the possibilities for mobile wireless computers are endless. He describes his CIRA router as a gateway that enables the marriage of cellular communications, GPS technology and Wi-Fi Internet connections. "It was our company that designed the hardware for (the cabs' computer system)," Ralston says. "It makes the ride more interactive. There's a GPS included in the car, so the (taxi) customer can actually track and see where they're going." The existing systems are even capable of geographically-triggered advertising. For example, as a cab approaches East Houston Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side, a GPS-based program could key a video advertisement for nearby Katz's Delicatessen Katz's Delicatessen, also known as simply Katz's Deli, is a Jewish kosher style delicatessen on the Lower East Side of New York City, located at 205 E. Houston Street, on the south-west corner of Houston and Ludlow Streets, in Manhattan. , a famous New York eatery. "We definitely take cellular technology to the extreme," Ralston says. "We're able to communicate everything we do through wireless technology." Feeney Wireless Founded: November 2000 Headquarters: 4085 W. 11th Ave., Unit 3, Eugene Other offices: Portland, Sacramento, Honolulu, Phoenix and Long Island Employees: 32 Annual Revenue: Not disclosed Products: Cellular routers, wireless security/surveillance cameras, network security appliances Security appliances protect computer networks from unwanted data traffic, intruders, email spam, enforce policies, and may also be used to create and manage VPNs. There are a number of types of security appliances. and other mostly wireless technology |
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