Does anyone know what the economics of this look like for the Tanklink guys? Maybe $30/month works for a storge tank but it does not work for a home alarm system or a Brookstone Weather Watcher (currently using paging network). They not only need to open the network to 3rd party devices but also need to come up with pricing models that work for low bit-rate or infrequent use applications. In a perfect world they would let you aggregate your air-time and bandwidth from multiple devices under a single account. Here's an example. I have a vacation home and do not have broadband (borrow wireless from my neighbor when I need it). I'd love to have a wireless video camera that could jump on the Verizon network when someone drove down my driveway and send me some pictures. I am not going to pay $30/month for that - I would pay an extra $5 per month/per activated device and for bandwidth when I used it. They have the tower infrastructure in place, it seems like they would want to get some more recurring revenue to raise ARPU from these types of applications.

The W20 looks like a winner. I am returning an Nikon S2 even though I'm a "Nikon" guy - it is marketed as being "splash proof" which doesn't really mean much other than having a gasket on the battery compartment and a rubber cover for the docking connector. My main gripe was lousy picture quality though I also want a camera I can take skiing, cycling, hiking or boating and not have to worry about it.

MJK