Goobye data cards & netbooks, Hello tablets!

For six rounds of mobile field testing, we have tested both smartphones (Android) and data cards. The data cards were run through netbooks running Windows OS. In the beginning, performance was not radically different between the two, but the the declining use of netbooks and data cards, and the increasing use of tablets, we see stark differences now between the two access methods.

For the next round of testing, planned to start at the end of April, we will be replacing the data cards and netbooks with Android tablets, specifically, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 LTE, with 8" screen and 1200x800 resolution.

Ag-Tech Hackathon April 17-19

As part of our continuing outreach with regional and community stakeholders, we've been discussing using CalSPEED to test broadband in unpopulated agricultural areas. One related project is coming up next week at West Hills College, Coalinga: Apps for Ag.

The idea came out of discussions at the AgTech Roundtable. From the Apps for Ag website:

"The concept is simple: bring commercial agricultural producers (aka growers) together with software developers to collaboratively build solutions to real-world challenges. We hope there are some quick solutions that present themselves immediately and to which the answers are straight-forward. We also hope that these events lead to some long-term partnerships (aka startups) which can tackle the more difficult problems."

"Apps for Ag is a pro bono organization. Our purpose is to build technical solutions to grower’s problems, so that growers can more effectively and sustainably feed the world. Our mission is to do this by hosting a series of hackathons where the two worlds of AgTech can collaborate."

"We plan to build this into a series of events. The location will change each time. We foresee future events held in places like Salinas, Silicon Valley, Fresno, Imperial Valley, Sacramento, Chico, Santa Barbara. We would even like to see this grow outside of California and the U.S."