Wireless

From the BaltTech blog: Many consumers today use a 3G, or third-generation, wireless network to make calls, watch streaming video, use maps and access the Internet – all on their mobile phones. But now, to keep up with demand, major wireless providers are pouring billions of dollars into their networks to upgrade them to a new, faster, fourth-generation service known as LTE, for Long Term Evolution.

From the BalthTech blog: Big news for fans of Verizon's wireless network: It'll be getting the Apple iPad starting Oct. 28. You'll be able to buy the iPad at 2,000 Verizon Wireless stores nationwide. (Is this the precursor to Verizon getting the iPhone next year, as recent reports suggest?) Interestingly, consumers won't have access to the iPad 3G. Instead, if you want one from Verizon, you could buy an iPad Wi-Fi version plus a Verizon MiFi mobile hotspot. The hotspot uses Verizon's 3G network and generates a Wi-Fi hotspot that you can then use the iPad with.

Maryland drivers take note: A new era of driving while chatting on your cell phone begins Oct. 1. The state is among about a dozen in the country that have banned the use of handheld phones while driving. That means Maryland drivers must avoid calls, or use a hands-free headset or speaker system when talking on the phone behind the wheel, to comply with the law. The new law — in addition to a ban on texting while driving that took effect last year — means a small boon for retailers, car dealers and device manufacturers who have seen sales jump in other states that have enacted similar laws.

A Dayton farmer wants to maximize revenues from his planned grain silo by leasing space atop it to a cellular company. His neighbors in homes along Big Branch Drive oppose the project, saying their cell service is fine and the unsightly antennae will disrupt their view of rolling fields. The Howard County Council will have to weigh the farmer's property rights with those of his neighbors. The council will review lengthy testimony on the issue that highlights the clash between agriculture and suburbia before voting next month.

Doug Spicher's seventh-grade science students focused intensely on the assignment at hand — an Internet-based computer program that allowed them to manipulate the color of a rabbit and its surrounding environment to teach natural selection and species survival. The room at Wilde Lake Middle was relatively quiet. There was no clamoring over shared computers with Internet access. Each student worked on his or her own laptop. "This is much easier, and they have total control," Spicher said while watching his students work diligently on the assignment.

I n Malawi, community health workers are using mobile phones to coordinate emergency care, track patients, improve the use of medications and connect support groups. It's just one example of the growing potential for mobile technology to change lives and improve the health of the poorest and most under-served people around the world. There are now more than 4.6 billion mobile phones in the world - a phone for more than two-thirds of the global population. Surprisingly, most of the growth in the past decade has occurred in the developing world.

For Julie Strange, helping the victims of a devastating earthquake in Haiti was just a text message away. The 27-year-old Towson librarian read on Twitter of an American Red Cross campaign to raise money for disaster relief in the shattered country through text messaging. Within a few minutes, she made a $10 donation by texting the word "HAITI" to a five-digit number - an act of mobile giving that she's done for other charities for a couple of years now. "It's definitely starting to get a little mainstream now," Strange said.