Every journalist has had the problem – the story’s ready to go, but the WiFi isn’t.
At Saturday’s Verizon Wireless gadgetry session, company reps showed off a new toy that can help with that problem – it’s called the Verizon Jetpack, and it gives you a WiFi connection anywhere in the country.
The phone-sized jetpack works like a router, so the user can connect up to 10 devices at once. Verizon representatives explained, though, that it’s not a replacement for a home WiFi connection; it’s more of an on-the-road tool. It runs off Verizon’s 4G network.
Verizon invited V3con attendees to check out the jetpacks and use their connection at the conference. It has about a 100-foot range, so attendees could connect and roam the Japanese American National Museum’s Central Hall to mingle and tweet without their WiFi breaking.
At $50, the jetpack is too expensive right now for Tina Yun, a recent Cal State University, Fullerton graduate. Yun came to the conference after reading about it on the angry asian man blog.
“It’s definitely useful for (people) more into journalism and social media,” said Yun, who’s considering a career in journalism. She used the jetpack connection during the session, and said it works more quickly than her phone’s 3G network.
But not everyone checking out the jetpacks was a journalist. Laurel Eu works for the Food and Drug Administration, and said it’s important for older generations like hers to learn about technological advances.
“Government agencies are getting so active in social media,” Eu said.
Eu’s next task? Getting her iPad back from her son and daughter, so she can test some of her new tech knowledge.
-Sonali Kohli, V3con blogger
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