God bless those Europeans: Across the EU, more than 120 million people have never been online. How do they cope without Facebook and YouTube? More »
You’d think everything would come Wi-Fi capable these days, but I still spend more time digging the correct USB cable out of my rats nest of a desk drawer than I do actually transferring files. No thanks, not when the CloudFTP will impart wireless connectivity to any USB device. More »
A Wi-Fi network’s range is limited by the transmission power, antenna type, and environmental obstacles (i.e. trees). So, if you’re out in the boonies where the signal is spotty, you may be SOL. Unless, of course, there’s a baking pan handy. More »
Apple and Canon may’ve thrown their weight behind Intel’s Thunderbolt, but HP’s playing it safe for the meantime, as they “haven’t found a value proposition yet”, and that “everybody seems to be content with the expansion of USB 3.0″. [MacWorld]
From the way people are already drooling over tonight’s tweetable, hyper-connected Super Bowl ads, you would be forgiven for thinking that the famed Lombardi Trophy will be awarded to an ad agency, instead of the usual football-playing recipient. More »
The Gadget: HP’s Mediasmart Connect, a networked receiver that plays back H.264, DivX, XviD, MPEG-2, WMV video, photos, and even connects to your Media Centre to act like an extender. It’s also expandable space-wise with HP’s Pocket Media Drives, and supports 10/100 Ethernet and 802.11a/b/g/n. It comes in a glossy piano black finish which attracts dust and fingerprints as easily as an actual piano.
Samsung’s Nabee system is a way of adding Wi-Fi sync-up capabilities to simpler digital cameras that lack them. It uses the Alereon AL5000 wireless USB chipset that operates at 3.1 to 10.6 GHz over a 30-foot range and has two parts: a small dongle that goes into the camera’s USB socket and one that goes into the PC. It’s due out in December, though there’s no info on pricing. [FarEastGizmos]
The 802.11n standard for Wi-Fi may still be technically a draft specification, but the IEEE has now completed the 802.11r specs, making a new standard for Wi-Fi roaming. Why should you care about this? It’s designed for those moments when a Wi-Fi-connected device moves between hotspots, something the original 802.11 specs didn’t have in mind. Typically a transition between spots involves a drop and re-associate delay of around 0.1 seconds, which is enough to drop a VoIP call: 802.11r allows re-association with the new Wi-Fi source in less than 0.05 seconds, which should keep your call connected. The specs and also cover security associations and reservation of QoS resources for roaming Wi-Fi connections and have been under development for four years. [DailyWireless]
