Items tagged with nyc
New York City’s subways have a terrible reputation. Any television show featured in NYC seems to dedicate at least one episode to the notorious transportation system. But New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo is looking to shed that image, and just unveiled a new design for the subway system which includes Wi-Fi, USB Ports, and LCD displays. The governor plans to release 1,025 subway cars and renovate 31 subway stations. These innovations and renovations are part of $27 billion USD, five-year plan by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to renew and expand the subway network. The MTA is using design-build contracts for all 31 stations. This means that a single team will be responsible...
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Late last month, we brought you news that New York City was in the process of installing the first of several thousand LinkNYC hubs that will eventually go up around the city. The LinkNYC hubs will replace the old and outdated phones booths that dot the cityscape and provide blazing fast encrypted 802.11ac Wi-Fi access (up to 100 times faster than traditional public Wi-Fi), two USB charging ports for juicing up your mobile devices (only power, no data delivery), and the ability to make free phone calls to anywhere in the U.S. via a partnership with Vonage. All of this is paid for via advertisements that are displayed on two 55-inch touch screen displays. Manhattan residents will be happy to know...
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If you’re going to make grandiose promises on product rollouts, you had better follow through with them. Nobody likes paper launches and grandstanding, so it’s always nice when such actors get put in their place. Such is the case with Verizon, which promised in 2008 that it would make its FiOS network available to all households in the five New York City boroughs by June 30, 2014. Needless to say, Verizon failed to live up to its promises, and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is here to bust the company’s chops. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office delivered a blistering report outlining an audit of Verizon’s FiOS rollout, and needless to say, the telecom giant should be embarrassed by the results. Even though...
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On Monday, the New City Mayor’s office announced plans to turn old payphones into free municipal WiFi spots. The plan, called LinkNYC, is expected to start offering fast, public WiFi to resident’s by the end of next year. LinkNYC is a public-private partnership between the City and CityBridge, a New York City-based consortium comprised of Qualcomm, Titan, Transit Wireless, and others. The system is called Links, which are hubs that will provide up to gigabit speeds for users and offer services such as free 24/7 internet access, free phone calls within the US, and access to 911 and 311. Users will also have access to a touchscreen tablet interface that will provide access to city services...
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Internet TV is fast becoming a crowded field, but Intel’s not letting a little competition slow it down. The chip maker is opening offices in Los Angeles and New York so it is better placed to make deals with TV networks. Internet TV players like Roku have a multi-year jump on Intel, but that doesn't seem to be giving the chip maker pause. Set-top boxes like the Roku and Apple TV have given Internet services like Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu (not to mention Apple’s own service) an easy way to reach customers’ TVs. With some customers bailing from costly cable and satellite TV subscriptions in favor of less-expensive Internet TV services, Comcast, Time Warner, and others have been...
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Hailing a taxi used to be a frustrating affair, but now, it's as easy as pulling up an app and tapping a screen... in select cities, that is. Uber has taken off in a major way, and it's expanding fairly rapidly. But obviously, the market is big enough for other players to step in, and that's exactly what's happening with the introduction of Way2ride. VeriFone Systems has this week announced the new app, which allows New York City taxi passengers to get in, tap, and get out the moment their ride is over. Way2ride, currently available for iOS and Android smartphones, doesn't require NFC or any other tap-to-pay technologies. Once inside the cab, passengers can pay at any time with a tap of their...
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Guess what, New Yorkers? Next time you're down in the city and are passing underground, your mobile signal might be a bit stronger. If you're working on Sprint's network, that is. Transit Wireless and Sprint today announced that the companies have finalized their contract to bring Sprint's wireless voice and data service to the state-of-the-art wireless network in the New York City subway system. Sprint has signed on to the full scope of the project – all 277 underground subway stations. Wireless customers of Sprint, Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile can expect to begin receiving coverage underground in the 36 stations already online in mid-town Manhattan and Chelsea by early 2014. "As we...
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Internet, anyone? If you're cruising over to the Big Apple, the answer is a resounding "yes." Citywide Chief Information and Innovation Officer Rahul N. Merchant, Department of Parks and Recreation Commissioner Veronica M. White, Chief Digital Officer Rachel Haot, Cablevision Senior Vice President of Government and Public Affairs Lee Schroeder, and Time Warner Cable Vice President of Government Relations for New York City Cathleen Sims today announced the launch of new WiFi service in 32 New York City parks. New Yorkers and visitors can now connect to the Internet for free using their smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other WiFi-enabled devices for free up to 30 minutes each month, and for 99...
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New York City's a special place, but this special? We'll let you be the judge. NYC has become one of the first cities in the universe to grab its own top-level domain, or TLD. The city has been progressing when it comes to integrating technology and making the lives of citizens and visitors alike better through the use of tech, and this is just one step in that overarching goal. .nyc has been approved for use for the city, allowing New Yorkers and visitors to easily find local businesses, services and information online. A .nyc address will show that a business or individual is located in New York City and identify products and organizations serving the New York City community. The City of New...
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New York City's subway system is certainly a boon for locals and tourists alike, and while it's old and oftentimes late, the network of stops is impressive. But, there's one complaint that has grown more and more direct as the digital world has grown: there's, like, no signal down there. Exiting the street and heading down into an NYC subway station means that your phone signal is all but dead, and local government has been working to fix that. This week, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced today that 30 additional subway stations now have wireless voice and data communication capability allowing New York City subway riders to make and receive cell phone calls, send and receive texts and e-mail...
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Who says real estate isn't booming? It is if you're Taconic Investment Partners, Jamestown Properties and the New York State Common Retirement Fund. Google has just announced that they've purchased the former Port Authority Building at 111 Eighth Avenue, at a cost of $1.9 billion. That's a huge, huge amount of money, and it's clear that "Investing in New York" is exactly what Google is doing. Of course, Google has grown tremendously since it was founded. They're so much more than a search engine today. They have Chrome, Chrome OS, Android, Google TV, and tons more. The building has a helicopter landing pad on top, and of course, the Internet service there is likely the best in all of NYC. Google's...
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America's largest and most prominent city now has 4G, at last. Nearly 60 other cities, many that are far smaller than NYC, received 4G from Sprint before the Big Apple, but Sprint has today revealed that NYC has WiMAX. The City has waited for years to become one of the crowd, and many wondered why it wasn't turned on earlier. Of course, the planning necessary to light up 4G in a city this packed, with this many skyscrapers, has to be daunting. Sprint is probably going to make a major 4G push in NYC as the holiday approaches, as they're the only one in the business offering 4G mobile speeds in the city. Verizon's LTE network is likely to compete with it early next year, but for now, the advantage...
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After three years of stalled progress, New York subway riders will soon be able to surf the Web via free Wi-Fi. Transit Wireless, a conglomerate of wireless and construction companies that was awarded a contract back in 2007 to embark on a Wi-Fi project with New York Transit, has come up with the money it needs to move forward with the project. Broadcast Australia will foot the bill that is expected to cost $200 million. As part of the deal, Broadcast Australia will take a majority stake in Transit Wireless. In 2007, Transit Wireless promised to complete the job in 10 years. Now, it will have two years to wire six subterranean stations near 14th Street on Manhattan’s West Side to transmit...
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New York City is home to a lot of wild new technologies. Being as big as it is, tech companies often roll out trials and tests here before anywhere else, and new Wi-Fi technologies are no different. Despite having a wealth of cutting-edge solutions surrounding its citizens, NYC is certainly a place where hardly anything comes free. That's part of the reason why this plan sounds so incredibly good to dwellers, not to mention tourists. NYFI, a well financed neutral host Wi-Fi provider, has submitted a proposal to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York (MTA) to build and operate a new Wi-Fi network on Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road trains. What's unique about this effort (which...
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