[aldo_14]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4353480.stm

Now, this in itself isn't  all that interesting.  But I'm curious as to how many people would be more interested in buying a PSP or DS if they did the same thing in the likes of pubs & shopping centres (actually, I must check some day how good the provision of Wireless access is in Glasgow... maybe we've already got the infrastructure - I think somewhere like Seattle in the US has it for free already.  Must be something to with coffee shops ).

And, in turn, the opportunities for wireless, ubiquitous computing apps it'd throw up.  Perhaps (for some reason this is first idea to come up), having an application that'd notify you when another person you know is nearby (i.e. like an IM, except instead of text/voip messaging, it listens for people using the same wireless point and hence in reasonable proximity).  (granted, you could possibly do that with bluetooth,  et al; I'm wondering if you could use waps to either derive rough position, or maybe avoid any issues of proprietary wireless protocols).

  Or maybe broadcasting special offer coupons for local businesses to mobiles/PDAs/aforementioned handhelds (i.e. you get a decent quality barcode that'd be scanned at the till).

And soforth.  Sort of like a 'ubiquitous e-market', I guess.

But this is interesting anyways, I think.

[Grey Wolf]

Nintendo and McDonald's have had deals since around the release of the GameCube, placing them within the restaurant for the use of the patrons and as an advertisement.

[aldo_14]

Well, in the Us they have.  Not been in a McDonalds in the UK for a while, but AFAIK they've never put, say, consoles in the same way as the US.  I'm more interested in this (i.e. hence posting it) in terms of the potential should this sort of wireless infrastructure become more commonplace- AFAIK it's not seen too much outside maybe coffee shops/bars where they expect office workers et al to be going.

Interested partly in terms of the gaming, but also in terms of the ubicomp potential, though.  I might buy a PSP/DS if there's a realistic chance of mucho PES multiplayer.  Unlikely though (think they're a bit overpriced justnow).