Altough not very different then some of the more off-shore Wi-Fi initiatives in the (at least) US, I really like this example of ubiquitous wireless internet in India. Let's see if we can make something like that happen in, let's say, the Med.
"A lake in North India famous for its tourist houseboats has become one large wireless hot spot. A Times of India report called Lake Dal in the state of Kashmir "the first Wi-Fi enabled lake in the country, and perhaps the world". Tourists flock to the picturesque lake for its rustic tranquility, but those who prefer to stay connected can now also browse the Web and check email while afloat on native houseboats, said the report."
Article in the Ocean Navigator Online discussing (subscription required) the challenges when retrofitting yachts that were designed decades ago. A special focus is on the electrical systems, given the different needs and possibilities for navigation, communication and entertainment.
"The refit yard tasked with updating an older vessel's electronic equipment will often find a daunting undertaking. Flat-panel displays, keyboards and hard drives are simply difficult to incorporate into 1960s cabin styling, which was designed when this gear could only be seen on episodes of Star Trek and Lost in Space."
"Now enjoy the portability of powering iPod in your car/boat; the ability to use a single power supply for any FireWire bus-powered devices; and the convenience of charging cell phones, PDAs and MP3 players on the road with an USB charger."
Since boats are increasingly stuffed with electronics (instrumental, entertainment, camera's etc), it might make sense to network your boat. And if you do so, consider to create a wireless network since not many boats are built with network drops in every room, let alone on deck.... Another compelling reason is that more and more marina's provide internet access via a Wi-Fi access point, and some companies even offer it up to 30 miles at sea. Business Week runs a 'basics' article on when and how to setup a wireless network. Of course boats have specific requirements, this is a topic I will cover later on.
"Why should I even consider a wireless network for my home? The first question is really why you would want any sort of network. The most common reason is to allow more than one computer to share a broadband Internet connection. Increasingly, though, the home network is moving beyond PCs to include consumer-electronics devices (for example, to obtain electronic TV program guides), game consoles (for online multiplayer gaming), and home-security and heating-and-cooling systems (for control and monitoring)."
Instead of stuffing your small on-board refrigerator with sixpacks, you might consider this new product developed by Heineken and Krups. It will save precious space, and will serve 20 nice cool beers from 1 keg.
"How does it work? Consumers insert the proprietary, compact, 4-litre Heineken keg in the BeerTender appliance, which keeps the keg at the right temperature and in optimal condition for a period of three weeks after the first beer is tapped. Beers taste just like they do in a real bar, minus the smoke and corny jokes."
Would you like to have on-board access to your complete DVD and CD collection without losing any valuable space for CD-racks, etc? Molino Media Mogul is a good example of a device that could help you do that.
"Ever wish you could store full, uncompressed copies of all your Music CDs, Movie DVDs, Home Videos, and Digital Photo in one place? Now you can. Molino Networks, a California based company, has just launched their iteration of a true digital media server named the Molino Media Mogul. An A/V receiver sized device that can store and playback up to 50 DVDs, 500 CDs, 10,000s of digital photos or hundreds of hours of home movies, which are available for instantaneous playback through a connected TV, A/V receiver, or home-theater system via an easy-to-use graphical menu system."
A new wireless standard called ZigBee might especially catch on in the maritime sector. It will enable, a.o., navigational instruments to ccommunicatie wirelessly (with a PC) and has very low power requirements. Furthermore, it will make it very easy to use devices like a PDA or even a cellphone as a wireless monitor. There are similar proprietary things available, but I think a standard based approach will win in the end.
"What you need is a tiny, cheap, low-power wireless device that's only job is to send or receive a few bits of data now and then. That's why ZigBee was created. Designed for home, building, and industrial automation, ZigBee, like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, is a catchy buzzword for an ungainly sounding wireless standard -- in this case, IEEE 802.15.4.
ZigBee, which operates at 2.4-GHz, is two-way so it'll be able to log your house's electric, water, gas usage, and send it to your computer for analysis. (That way, you'll have documented evidence next time you yell at your kids for leaving the lights on.) Because ZigBee has a range of only about 30 feet, and sends data in infrequent bursts, batteries could last for a couple of years without having to replace them. Light switch and thermostat manufacturers have joined the ZigBee alliance, along with the usual suspects, such as Philips, Motorola, Intel, and Hewlett-Packard."
Since mobile phones are a great way for coastal sailors to stay in touch with the rest of the world, it might be wise to protect them, just like some of the other on-board gadgets, like say an Apple iPod. Vaja is a company that sells cases for gadgets, and you can even have them custom made.
Further to the discussion on how to create enough power resources for all electric appliances on board, Ocean Navigator has another article, elaborating (subscription required) in more depth on how to acquire the necessary energy.
"An onboard supply of 120-volt alternating current used to be a luxury available only on large boats. Today, technology allows us to enjoy the benefit of AC power on a boat as small as a canoe, provided we understand and respect some simple facts about available sources of energy and the conversion of energy from one form to another."
Although it has a slow uptake, the NMEA 2000 standard is gaining ground (subscription required). However, it will not be the only networking technology used on yachts, since especially entertainment functionality will require a different performance.
"The NMEA standards committee did look at basing the successor to the 0183 standard on Ethernet, which can easily transmit data in the 10-megabit-per-second range compared to CANbus' relatively sedate 250 kilobits per second. But the committee decided against it since Ethernet-based systems have higher electrical power needs than a CANbus system. 'CAN is a type of Ethernet, but it doesn't have the power requirements,' Anderson said. 'We have a strong eye to cost (when choosing a system). And we didn't want to drive up the cost, especially for small boats.' Because of its limited bandwidth, an NMEA 2000 network can't be used to move around video, radar or electronic chart images. However, that is where proprietary high-speed systems like Furuno's Ethernet-based NavNet and Raymarine's HSB network can be used in conjunction with NMEA 2000 to handle data-heavy applications."
"One company that has embraced NMEA 2000 is Teleflex Morse, which offers a fully compatible NMEA network called MagicBus, along with a variety of instruments and controls. "We started five or six years ago and looked at where the next-generation boat would go," said Teleflex�s Kern. "We were struck by the idea of an open architecture standard. As we progressed, we became more and more convinced it was the right solution. We feel this architecture has the best chance of being around down the road."
Altough not very different then some of the more off-shore Wi-Fi initiatives in the (at least) US, I really like this example of ubiquitous wireless internet in India. Let's see if we can make something like that happen in, let's say, the Med.
"Now enjoy the portability of 
Since boats are increasingly stuffed with electronics (instrumental, entertainment, camera's etc), it might make sense to network your boat. And if you do so, consider to create a wireless network since not many boats are built with network drops in every room, let alone on deck.... Another compelling reason is that more and more marina's 
"Ever wish you could store full, uncompressed copies of all your Music CDs, Movie DVDs, Home Videos, and Digital Photo in one place? Now you can. Molino Networks, a California based company, has just launched their iteration of a true digital media server named the Molino Media Mogul. An A/V receiver sized device that can store and playback up to 50 DVDs, 500 CDs, 10,000s of digital photos or hundreds of hours of home movies, which are available for instantaneous playback through a connected TV, A/V receiver, or home-theater system via an easy-to-use graphical menu system."
