Hailing a Taxi -- and the Internet

BY RICH HALL

The next time you hail a taxi in San Francisco, keep your eyes open for a purple cab with a bright yellow "Yahoo!" emblazoned on the side. Catch it and you can cruise the streets of San Francisco and the Internet at the same time. Yahoo! and NEC's Computer Systems Division have joined forces with Ricochet Wireless Modem and Internet Service, and the Luxor Cab Company to introduce the World's first Internet taxi. NEC provides the computer, the MobilePro 800 Handheld PC Pro. Ricochet provides the wireless modem and acts as the Internet Service Provider. Yahoo! helped organize and bankroll this service and gets its name on the taxicab.

Yahoo! and NEC's Computer Systems Division have joined forces with Ricochet Wireless Modem and Internet Service, and the Luxor Cab Company to introduce the world's first internet taxi.

No extra charge!

Call up Luxor and ask for one of the 10 Internet taxis, or simply hail one of the bright purple cabs on the street. The cab driver hands the lightweight MobilePro 800 to you in the back seat. Open Pocket Internet Explorer and Yahoo!'s Web site pops up you're ready to go. You can access any Web site wirelessly, check out entertainment or dining options, check your e-mail, monitor stock performance and more.

The MobilePro's are powered by an AC power adapter connected to the cab's electrical system, so you don't have to worry about running out of power. In the San Francisco Bay area the Ricochet wireless service covers most of San Francisco County and parts of surrounding counties. Coverage is good within the greater San Francisco area, reaching south to the international airport and north and east to the Bay bridges.

Perhaps the best news is that there is no extra charge for this service. Pay the cab fare, tip the cabbie if you like, and that's it.

The Internet Taxi provides wireless Web browsing via the NEC MobilePro 800 H/PC Pro and the Ricochet Wireless Modem and Internet Service

The shape of things to come

This program is part of the "Yahoo! Everywhere" program, which seeks to make Yahoo! services available in a range of traditional and non-traditional vehicles. The reason it was tested in San Francisco area is because of the ubiquitous presence of the Ricochet Network in the Bay Area, and because the Yahoo! Charity Auctions program supports various programs in San Francisco.

Luxor was showing off its Internet Taxi at an industry show. That, the fact that they have cab service in many major U.S. metropolitan areas, and the focus of the Yahoo! Everywhere program probably means that you'll be seeing more Internet taxis in the not-too-distant future.

The Internet Taxi provides wireless Web browsing via the NEC MobilePro 800 H/PC Pro and the Ricochet Wireless Modem and Internet Service.

The Ricochet Network

Metricom's Ricochet Network consists of a "cloud" of radio transceivers, or "microcells" deployed in clusters from one half mile to two miles apart on structures, utility or light poletops throughout San Francisco and other areas in the United States. The microcells send Radio Frequency (RF) data packets across the network to a Wired Access Point (WAP) which converts the RF packets for transmission to the Internet Protocol (IP) wired backbone to other major networks (Internet, LANs and on-line services like AOL, CompuServe). Any Ricochet modem with subscription service can access the Ricochet network while in a network-covered area.

The Ricochet Network supports Windows CE devices as well as Windows 95/98 and Mac OS portable computers. For additional information including coverage areas please visit the Ricochet Web site at www.ricochet.net/.