Wireless

wireless, WiFi, WiMAX, 3G, 4G, EVDO

Wibree joins Bluetooth

June 12, 2007

The ultra low-power Wibree wireless standard founded by Nokia will become part of the Bluetooth specification. Once the spec is integrated into Bluetooth, low-power PAN (Personal Area Network) devices such as watches, toys, consumer health care devices and sensors will benefit from the extra battery life.

Wibree makes minor changes in the media access control layer of Bluetooth to deliver data rates of up to 1Mbit/second while requiring just 10 to 40 percent of Bluetooth's power consumption. Both Bluetooth and Wibree serve a similar range of around three meters, however Bluetooth can deliver up to 3 Mbits/s.

Later it will follow up with a dual-mode spec that will require minor hardware modifications to the classic Bluetooth spec to support the lower-power Wibree.

Posted in Wireless

Windows Vista USB Audio Driver Problem Fixed

May 17, 2007

Windows Vista Ultimate Edition is my latest desktop machine at work and some USB audio devices have given me nothing but problems. While most USB audio devices have installed just fine, since they use the standard Microsoft USB audio class, some devices, such as a Jabra Netcom 9350 wouldn't install correctly. Apparently Vista does mandatory DRM checking for USB Audio Devices. I've heard of many users complaining that their Bluetooth headsets no longer work once they upgraded to Vista due to this new DRM protection.

Posted in Headsets, Microsoft, Mobile Phones, TMCnet, Wireless

T-Mobile plans Wi-Fi calls using dual-mode phones

May 7, 2007

According to the WallStreet Journal, T-Mobile plans on offering cellphones that can roam on Wi-Fi hotspots, with the goal of improving indoor reception and help customers save on monthly cellular minutes. When a user comes in range of a WiFi hotspot, a connected call is automatically transferred onto the Wi-Fi network, with no noticeable change for the user. This of course requires a dual-mode handset. The service, known as Hotspot at Home, has been in trial in Seattle.

Posted in Mobile Phones, Wireless

AT&T Finally Bundles VoIP & Wireless Cell Phone Service

May 1, 2007

According to USA Today, AT&T is promoting their CallVantage VoIP service by bundling their cellphone service along with AT&T CallVantage, a broadband VoIP landline replacement service. AT&T Wireless users can add CallVantage for $19.99 monthly, a $5 discount. I've written about "pure VoIP players" vs. carriers & cable MSOs in the past, including my Death Knell for Vonage, Net2Phone, Packet8, Broadvoice, Lingo? article which I wrote about back in 2004. In that article I argued that Tier 1 carriers could offer advanced features that single-play service providers Vonage, Packet8, Lingo, etc.

Posted in Mobile Phones, TMCnet, Triple Play, VoIP, Wireless

Nokia N95 unboxing

April 30, 2007

Posted in Gadgets, Mobile Phones, Wireless

Skype SMC WiFi phone and FON router bundle

April 13, 2007

Joanna Stern, a staff writer over at LAPTOP, forwarded me a story she wrote on a Skype (SMC) WiFi phone and FON router bundle being offered by Skype, which is similar to the SMC/Skype bundle I recalled seeing on Skype's blog a few months ago - but the added addition of FON support. If you're not familiar with the FON router, it allows you to securely share your wireless signal with others that are part of FON's very large WiFi community to enjoy free WiFi wherever you find another FON router. This opens up a huge opportunity for SMC Skype phone users since the phone doesn't have a web browser to authenticate onto "fee-based" WiFi networks. Stephen Pinches on the Skype blog discusses this in detail today. Joanna from LAPTOP makes this bundle even more enticing when she tells me, "Even better we are giving away10 free bundles to our readers." The 10 free bundles include a SMC WiFi phone, FON router, 500 SkypeOut minutes and a year's worth of free Skype voicemail for $159.

Posted in Gadgets, Mobile Phones, Skype, TMCnet, VoIP, Wireless

iTunes streaming to mobile phone using Slingbox and Apple TV

April 10, 2007

Apple TV has become the ultimate hacker magnet allowing users to use the Apple TV in ways Apple hadn't intended. As discussed recently, Apple TV was hacked to allow Asterisk, the open-source IP-PBX to run on it. Check out the Apple TV Asterisk tut. Now it appears that just a few weeks after launch, CNet is talking about an intriguing new feature for that will allow you to stream music from iTunes on your home computer to your cell phone leveraging Apple TV and Slingbox.

Apple TV

It's a bit of a kludge since the iTunes music has to sync from your PC to the Slingbox and then to your mobile phone.

Posted in Gadgets, Home Entertainment, MP3 Players & Digital Audio, Mobile Phones, PDAs & Handhelds, Wireless

Google Announces Free In-Home Wireless

April 2, 2007

Google is now offering free in-home wireless broadband service as part of their TiSP beta. According to Google, "Sick of paying for broadband that you have to, well, pay for? Introducing Google TiSP (BETA), our new FREE in-home wireless broadband service. Sign up today and we'll send you your TiSP self-installation kit, which includes setup guide, fiber-optic cable, spindle, wireless router and installation CD."

The installation instructions are pretty easy to follow and involve fiber-optic cable, a router, a sinker, and most importantly, your toilet. That explains the name TiSP (Toilet Internet Service Provider)

Check out the speeds you can get:
Trickle The #2 Royal Flush Download speed (max) 8 Mbps
(10X basic DSL) 16 Mbps
(20X basic DSL) 32 Mbps
(40X basic DSL) Upload speed (max) 2 Mbps 4 Mbps
8 Mbps Price Free $9.95/mo. $24.95/mo. Actual speeds will vary, depending on network traffic and sewer line conditions.

Posted in Google, Wireless

Apple iPhone has launch date

March 30, 2007

Posted in Gadgets, MP3 Players & Digital Audio, Mobile Phones, Wireless

P2P GPS Traffic Reports

March 18, 2007

Using P2P technology along with GPS coordinates sent to fellow drivers to calculate the most optimal navigation route is something I wrote about and predicted would one day happen in my "I hate traffic - GPS to the rescue" blog post. Well, according to a BBC article, vehicles may soon be swapping information about road conditions to warn drivers about jams and dangers. A German research project on show at hi-tech trade fair Cebit envisions a peer-to-peer network for vehicles on a road passing data back and forth. Cars or bikes experiencing problems would pass data that would ripple down the chain of vehicles behind them.

Posted in GPS, Gadgets, Wireless

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