Australian Olympians go wireless in anthrax scare - News - Communications

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Australian Olympians go wireless in anthrax scare

By David Hellaby, ZDNet Australia
February 07, 2002
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Australian-Olympians-go-wireless-in-anthrax-scare/0,130061791,120263349,00.htm

Australian Winter Olympians have been provided with secure wireless-equipped handheld PCs after being banned from opening snail mail because of the on-going anthrax threat in the United States.

The Compaq iPAQ Pocket PCs are equipped with a secure wireless location-based system developed by the appropriately named Melbourne company, Icewrx.

The solution will provide a safe alternative to mail and allow athletes to send and receive email, view both video footage of news from home and streaming video of the main Olympic events, as well as to chat with other team members, check scheduling, team statistics, scores and weather forecasts, receive bulletins and alerts, and even keep track of dietary requirements.

Australian Olympic Committee eCommunications manager Ryan Wells said the safety of the athletes was critical.

-In the wake of the anthrax scares in the US, we needed to find an alternative to regular mail during the games.

"This wireless mobility technology provides traditional wireless services, such as email and Internet connectivity, but has the added features of real- time streaming video, community tools and entertainment services."

Athletes will be able to access information throughout the Salt Lake Village and a mobile unit equipped with advanced hardware and secure software technology will be used optimise bandwidth and minimise network congestion.