Maximum PC wi-fi RSS Feed

"White Space" Sweeps FCC Vote Tuesday, New Wireless Services Coming

Mark Edward Soper — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:17:15 -0600

Election Day wasn't the only event to make history on November 4th - the FCC made its own kind of history on Tuesday in approving the development of wireless devices that can use "white space" (the unused broadcast TV spectrum between broadcast TV channels, which ranges from 512MHz to 698 MHz). Unlike the close race between fellow senators for the US Presidency, the FCC decision to open up unused TV spectrum was unanimous, ZDNet's Sean Portnoy reports, despite lobbying against the rule by 50 members of Congress and a variety of recording artists worried about the effects of the decision on their live performances.

The decision (available here in PDF format) balances the hopes of companies like Microsoft and Google to make wireless Internet-enabled devices even more ubiquitous than now with the fears of the theater industry that exploiting white space will interfere with wireless microphones that use the same spectrum, and the concerns of the National Association of Broadcasters that using "white space" will interfere with TV viewing.

To find out how the FCC plans to make everybody happy in wirelessland, join us after the jump.

Researchers Working on LED-based Alternative to Wi-Fi

Pulkit Chandna — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 06:29:49 -0500

Wi-Fi is fast emerging as the most popular technology for wireless communication between disparate gadgets, but security remains a major concern. However, researchers at Boston University’s College of Engineering are working on an alternative way of connecting devices that will be innately more secure than Wi-Fi.

They intend to use LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) for wireless communications. If they are able to develop an optical communication technology, LEDs could then be used in the same manner as Wi-Fi access points. These LEDs could also be used as a low-power source of light.

Moreover, an LED-based communication technology will enjoy a distinct security advantage. It will be more secure compared to Wi-Fi due to the inability of light to penetrate through opaque surfaces like walls.

“Imagine if your computer, iPhone, TV, radio and thermostat could all communicate with you when you walked in a room just by flipping the wall light switch and without the usual cluster of wires,” said an ebullient Thomas Little, a BU engineering professor, about the idea. Soon, our networks will quite literally “light up”.

Study: A Wireless Future Beckons

Pulkit Chandna — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:51:44 -0500

A study by market research firm In-Stat has found that our dependence on wires is rapidly waning with the rise in the sales of embedded Wi-Fi devices. The study pegged the sale of embedded Wi-Fi devices around the world at 294 million units in 2007. It expects the figure to leapfrog to 1 billion by 2012.

According to the study, Wi-Fi enabled cell phones will usurp PCs as the most popular (largest) category of Wi-Fi devices. Even digital TVs are expected to interact with a wide gamut of devices using Wi-Fi in the imminent future. As Wi-Fi marches towards ubiquity, there are some compatibility and security issues that need to be addressed urgently.

D-Link DAP-1522 Wireless Bridge/Access Point

Michael Brown — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:53:51 -0500

This multi-function Wi-Fi device is super handy in some applications; utterly useless in others. It’s great if you have an extensive hardwired network and want to deploy a wireless access point and a three-port switch in a room your Wi-Fi router can’t otherwise reach. But it sucks as a wireless bridge because of its extremely poor range.

Eye-Fi Users, Circle October 5th for Big Changes

Mark Edward Soper — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:03:25 -0500

At Photokina this week, Eye-Fi, makers of the first Wi-Fi-enabled SD cards, announced two improvements to its product family effective October 5th:

First, a firmware update will double the photo transfer speed from Eye-Fi cards from the current 350KBps to 700KBps.
Second, users of Eye-Fi cards will be able to add the photo transfer features of their choice to cards that were not bundled with these features.

Here are the new options:

Users of the entry-level Eye-Fi Home card can add web sharing for $9.99/year, making the card equivalent in features to the Eye-Fi Share card.
Users of the Eye-Fi Home or Share card can add geotagging for $14.99/year.
And, users of the Eye-Fi Share card can add automatic uploading at open hotspots or at Wayport hotspots (there are over 10,000 of those) for $14.99/year.

By adding geotagging and hotspot support, users of Eye-Fi Share cards make these cards equivalent to Eye-Fi Explore cards.

The already long list of online photo sharing services Eye-Fi supports now includes Apple's MobileMe and AdoramaPix, effective immediately. Eye-Fi cards are now being bundled with digital cameras at Wal-Mart.com, and will be available at Best Buy stores starting October 5.

What do you think about the ability to add the features you want to Eye-Fi cards? Hit the jump for your chance to sound off.

3 Billion People Need Internet Access, Google to the Rescue

Paul Lilly — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:24:19 -0500

If your ISP goes down during a bad thunderstorm or other unexpected outage, you might find yourself reflecting on just how dependent you've become on this thing they call the interweb. But while most of us only have to suffer through temporary downtime on rare occasions, what about the "other 3 billion" people who lack internet access altogether?

Google hopes to change that, and with the help of Liberty Global and HSBC, the three internet saviors are backing a start-up called O3b Networks (can you guess what O3b stands for?). Initial production of 16 low-cost satellites is already underway and will eventually provide the infrastructure for locales without high-speed networking cable, including emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.

"The O3b Networks system wil completely change the economics of telecommunications infrastructure in the world's fastest-growing markets for communications services," O3b said in a statement.

Look for the service to become active in 2010, with the door being left open for even more satellites down the line.

Trendnet TV-IP422W IP Camera

Michael Brown — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:30:51 -0500

Trendnet’s wireless TV-IP422W IP camera boasts some terrific features, including motorized tilt and pan, but is that enough to knock Logitech’s Wi-Life system off our Kick Ass list? Read our full hands-on review--and check out the software's user interface--after the jump.

New Nikon D90 Features Better Eye-Fi Connected Features

Mark Edward Soper — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:28:52 -0500

Eye-Fi, whose line of Wi-Fi-enabled SD cards caught our attention earlier this year, is back in the news: the new Nikon D90 DSLR joins its stablemate, the D60, as the second Eye-Fi-enabled camera.

What's New in the D90?

The D90, which makes its formal bow at Germany's Photokina trade show in late September, adds the ability to temporarily disable Eye-Fi transfer functions through the camera menu; a useful feature in hospitals, airplanes, or anywhere else where you want to prevent images from flying through the ether.

The D90 also features a 12.3MP image sensor, an optional geo-tagging module, Live View, face priority AF, and a 24-fps 720p movie mode, the first movie mode in any DSLR.

Other News from Eye-Fi

Users of any Eye-Fi Share or Eye-Fi card in any camera can also enjoy free geotagging and hotspot access by joining the photo-sharing site SmugMug, in a deal announced earlier this month.

How about it, DSLR fans? Does improved Eye-Fi support make you more likely to preorder a D90? Give us your take after the jump.