Any long-suffering Windows user would have to ask why the industry would put Microsoft in the lead of an endeavor like this when Intel and Hewlett-Packard are available. But last week Google stepped in to help salvage the attempt.
Google, by the way, was jubilant after using its corporate war chest as a club in the spectrum auction to force a big chunk of the 700 MHz band into "open standards" territory. That will allow customers to use a greater variety of gadgets than phone companies now provide - among them devices running Google's fledgling mobile operating system.
Hoping to expand on that victory, the search-engine giant filed a proposal with the FCC last week pledging its influence and finances to develop a foolproof wireless white space system.
