Sorry, Cricket: Project Fi is too compelling!

A coworker introduced me to Google's Project Fi:

I had read about this briefly but missed the big advantages:

• Refunds of fees for unused data from your data plan
• Make your phone a wifi hotspot at no extra charge beyond the extra data

The plan takes advantage of dual-network phones, currently the Nexus 5X and 6P. These use the wifi network if available, otherwise the stronger of the two of Sprint (CDMA) or T-Mobile (GSM).

The combination of these feature is too compelling to ignore, as I have been paying AT&T $51 per month for their wifi hotspot for over a year. I can turn that off and buy the (required) new Nexus 5X to replace my current Nexus 5 and be still ahead of the game paying off the new phone

$17/month.

I'm just waiting for my invitation as they are apparently rolling this out a few people at a time.

Try it yourself: http://fi.google.com.

Guides through the Cell Phone Jungle, part two: Clay Shirky

I just had a lovely two hours with Clay Shirky's latest book:

The Chinese cell phone company Xiaomi ("Show-me" is the pronunciation) has produced a modified version of Android and a strategy that's produced a startup worth $45 billion in 5 years.

Shirky's writing is a pleasure, hilarious in spots and insightful always:

If you want a two-slide comparison of the difference between the local U.S. and Chinese economies, you could do worse than comparing in-flight catalogs ... On U.S. airlines, the ridiculous SkyMall, recently bankrupted by the FAA's decision to let people keep playing games on their phones as they land, was a glimpse into a market where everyone who could board an airplane already had everything they needed. So what did SkyMall invite Americans to dream about? An outdoor chaise lounge, for dogs. A mirrored door-mounted jewelry armoire. A spatula with an LED flashlight in the handle. SkyMall was shopping for a culture whose middle class thinks, "hmm, I could use a Tetris lamp, and maybe some rechargeable heated slippers." China's daydreams are different. Here's what's on sale in Chinese in-flight shopping magazines: rice cooker, baby thermometer, skillet, vacuum cleaner, iron, paring knife, umbrella. It's like Sears and Roebuck with QR codes. This is shopping for a culture whose middle class thinks, "hmm, I think I need a set of spoons, and maybe a toaster oven."

Five stars. I have to go back and read the rest of Shirky, immediately.

Interesting Tech Roundup

Heat your home with other people's computers for free: nerdalize.com.

A worldwide network of virtual pilots exists, some flying the same routes on
the same schedule as the real airlines.

A price war in cell phone plans is currently going on, mainly due to T-Mobile. This is a good time to renegotiate your current cell phone deal.

A company onlycoin is rolling out a single card that pretends to be all of your credit cards at once. But how are they going to adapt to the chip-and-pin cards coming to the U.S. (finally) in the wake of Target's little problem?

The 50 smartest companies? MIT Technology Review has a list.

Redox Power Systems' PowerSerg 2-80

Affordable fuel cells are coming, finally, in the next couple of years.

That's it for now ... comment on your suggestions for this feature please!