Mixed Signals
Any sufficiently advanced information is indistinguishable from noise
Tuesday 4 March 2008, 2:56 PM
More hot news from xG!
"We selected Cambridge Consultants for their expertise in innovative product development, and their ability to get product to market quickly. They have proved to be an excellent fit for development on our first vertical application," said Rick Mooers, Chief Executive Officer of xG Technology. The TX60 will initially be commercially available through independent local operators in the U.S."
Fantastic! Could this be the chance I've been looking for to find someone to talk to me about the reality behind xMax's carefully constructed cone of silence? I don't want to know much, really, a few performance figures that may reflect on actual experiences, or a prediction of such figures, or... you know.
Anything.
I contacted Cambridge Consultants (a company I've encountered at various points during my career, including working alongside a couple of their bods in the distant past. They're old school). After all, it had also put out a press release saying how wonderful it was to work with xG, with the traditional 'for further details, contact' at the bottom. Grand.
At first, it looked promising. My initial enquiry produced the normal promise of a hook-up with a spokesman: there were some things it couldn't talk about, but in general it was happy to discuss what it was bringing to the party.
Fair enough. I said sure, whatever, and just wondered idly whether CC was doing any of the RF work, or whether it was doing all the non-xMax side of things and leaving xMax itself to xG. I wasn't going to ask anything tricky, like if there aren't any handsets yet what exactly has xG rolled out to the (unknown) ISPs who've got (also unknown) services running to (yes, unknown) customers.
I was happy to talk to CC about whatever it was that CC felt able to talk about.
There was a pause - perhaps long enough for messages to flit across the Atlantic - and then no, sorry, it's probably too early to talk about anything at all, but they'll be happy to do so later. When the time is right. Yet again, an xG-based press release leads only to the brickiest of brick walls.
Come on chaps, I like fab wireless stuff. Why are you hiding? It's getting weirder than a Carl Hiaasen novel.
So, my quest continues. Perhaps I should give up on getting hard technical information, and set a lower, more achievable goal. Like finding an xG-related press release that leads to something -- anything -- more substantial than 'no comment'.
But I'd better get a move on. I'm due to retire in around twenty five years.
PreviousComments on this post
I wasn't going to ask anything tricky, like if there aren't any handsets yet what exactly has xG rolled out to the (unknown) ISPs who've got (also unknown) services running to (yes, unknown) customers.
Hey Rupe, you probably were munching on some donuts as the co. announced BASE STATIONS that were being rolled out to MAP....your anti reporting efforts have also failed to notice these two dealers, www.mypassport.com and www.farreachtech.com So the only unknown here is exactly how much weight you will gain before your blow yourself up.
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XGT has, I think, not been honest to the market several times and as Rupert says: all these press releases and NOTHING has materialized. XGT sent out a press release saying they've "shipped" base stations, another stupid move to try to cheat the market they're actually doing something. It turned out to have been "sent" to a company called Passport, run by a former fruit and vegetable dealer that went bust. No to talk about FarReach, a company that hardly exists - try to check it out...you'll find nothing
Beware of XGT and it's supporters - start by looking at a chart and then go through the press releases. Done with that and if you have some technical knowledge you should read this, telling you that xMax doesn't work as promised if it now works at all:
http://www.ka9q.net/
Look at the bottom of the page and you'll find some relevant technical data about this "amazing" company
The strange thing about xG and xMax is that months ago they conceded to their technical critics. I published a simple link budget for their Nov 2005 Florida demo and showed they weren't demonstrating anything exceptional. Their consultant, Prof. Stuart Schwartz, confirmed the numbers I was using in a report he wrote in 2006. xG themselves confirmed my conclusion by publishing a bit error rate vs Eb/No (signal-to-noise ratio) curve that showed xMax to be right in the middle of the standard stuff. No "thousands of times less power", just ordinary performance. Actually a little worse.
So they've conceded the argument, although not in non-technical language. One wonders what people are still arguing about.
This leaves the one intriguing part of their business model, the provision of commercial voice services over metropolitan areas with unlicensed spectrum. It's a risky move that will probably fail. But I wish them well.
This IS a Carl Hiaasen story ...
xG just won't talk to anyone about the technology - except in terms like this "xG Flash Signal is a revolutionary, patented system design that improves communications at the core level the physical layer. This powerful technology is the essential building block that enables dramatic signal range improvements and power savings - for virtually all existing and future communications applications and devices".
How can that be squared with the admission that KA9Q extracted, that _at_best_ xMax will be equivalent - not dramatically improved - to existing techniques? (I think it's likely to be much worse, especially in shared bands, but... who knows?).
So there are still enormous contradictions. Every time xG puts out a press release, I hope to learn something that would allow me to resolve those contradictions. Every time, so far, I'm disappointed.
As for the business model - well. I don't know what the investors, bankers and business partners have been told but I can make no sense of it. I remember Mooers telling me that quite possibly they'd be launching in Europe first - where we don't have any appropriate unlicensed bands.
I have never seen anything like this - at least, not that ended at all well.
The question is: How long can they keep this up before xG goes the way of iDigi, and Bobier et al. move on to their next "venture".
The total failure of xG to counter their critics' assessments speaks volumes. For a while one goofball was claiming that there were secret documents clearly proving that the assessments were wrong, but they couldn't be revealed for IP concerns. And they won't discuss anything with their critics without an NDA. And it's an almost 100% certainty such NDA would prevent any negative public comment whatsoever. These people aren't interested in promoting xMax -- they're interested in clouding the facts of xMax for as long as possible while they issue PRs and promote the stock.
And then you have one particular wack job (the former CEO of one of xG's "customers") scanning the Internet and launching torrents of childish taunts at anyone who dares speak negatively of xG or xMax (watch for his follow-up to this message).
The true nature of this company is mind-bogglingly clear. It'll be interesting to watch it unfold.
More fun and games over at Voip Planet, and an interview with Deputy COO Frank Peake. Among other things I didn't think I knew:
* The company is getting itself publically listed in London for (among other reasons) protection against 'frivolous lawsuits'.
* Handsets $150, $40/mo subscription for 'unlimited mobile calling' or $60 for ditto with international calls to 43 countries. No details (no surprise) about whether these include off-network calls.
and something I did:
"The net result of all that research is Flash Signal, which uses single cycle modulation as a means to boost device range. Its designed to be incorporated into wireless devices as a new physical layer chipset, and Peake says it uses precious little power. Where a traditional handset needs 600 milliwatts to 1 watt, he said, Flash Signal requires 10 to 60 milliwatts."
In other words, the company is still claiming a sixteen- to sixty-fold improvement in performance, while (as KA9Q has shown) admitting that Flash Signal can't do this.
I do hope they clear this up.
Oh, and you might care to have a look at another mysterious xMax entity, Passport Wireless. It too is long on amazing claims and very, very short on detail. Did you know that xMax was 4G? That it'll be delivering HDTV? That it's "unlike anything you've yet to experience"? Tons more up there, very little of which would survive UK advertising regulations - but they do things differently in Florida.
There's nothing on the site about Passport: no names, company history, size, street address. It could be partners with xG, it could be a side-project by an xG staffer, it could be a teenager in Albania making it up as a school project.
No way of telling.
Rupert,
What you donīt know would fill all the libraries in the world.
Get what they are saying....a 16 to 60 fold improvement in performance....Your boy Karn is a false idol. Live it, love it, learn it. The company NEVER admitted to any of the bullshit that Karn maliciously spreads through minions like yourself.
Rupert,
Again showing your utter ignorance of the facts, and what is even more amazing is the fact that you have been following the company for 3 years.
Passport Wireless is EXACTLY the type of co. xG has been looking to partner with in the US, and they have been saying so for a few years, long enough so even the densest of bloggers can get it....regional and semi regional CLECīs, ISPīs and Entrepreneurs, Iīm sure this is starting to sound as familiar to you as mince pie....
As I also said, what you donīt know would fill VOLUMES!!
Keep listening to Karn though, thatīs your speed, a mid level engineer at a company that is being dragged through every court in the country.
As far as advertising in England, take a look at Northern Rock, yep, you Brits are really known for your realism...
Give it up, Rupe.
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Passport is run by an ex-fruit and vegetable dealer that went bust. According to documents from Frank Peak at xG this fruit guy will deploy xMax not only in Florida but also in New Jersey, Virginia and New York - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Rupert,
Passport Wireless appears not to exist at all other than the web pages at http://mypassportwireless.com, and apparently a domain name search shows that the web site is registered to a former fruit and vegetable wholesaler.
And anonymouspunkbeater's support for the claims of 16 to 60 fold improvement in performance belies a certain ignorance all too common among xMax supporters. Current technology is already within some 20% of the theoretical limit. A claim of a ten fold improvement in performance is tantamount to a claim of improving the efficiency of an electric motor from 90% to 110%. The universe just isn't going to let that happen.
