Starting October 1, 2007, manufacturers should include security warning stickers on all wireless home networking equipment sold in California. The “Wi-Fi User Protection Bill,” which Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law on September 30, 2006, aims to block unauthorized sharing of open WiFi networks and inform consumers of the dangers associated to using unsecured networks.… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Standards
Wi-Fi? Why Not?
WiFi-enabled phones are the hottest products to hit the market, with Nokia launching several gadgets that it labeled as “multimedia computers” with built-in Wi-Fi capabilities. French wireless operator Orange is now offering its ulink service that will allow customers in Paris to make unlimited local calls with the use of a WiFi phone. T-Mobile plans… Continue Reading
Milestones That Mattered: Wi-Fi Predecessors Date To The Early 1990s
More than a decade ago, an EDN article examined the developments that paved the way for the wireless technology era. A March 4, 1993 feature entitled “Digital wireless networks” foresaw the existence of wireless LANs that could operate over infrared or RF channels and predicted that the Federal Communications Commission would allow various frequency-hopping and… Continue Reading
HP Ships Wi-Fi Equipped HDTV
HP unveiled a $2,199 high-definition LCD TV that has built-in 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi radio and standard Ethernet network connections. The new SLC3760N 37-inch MediaSmart high-definition LCD TV can link up with PCs running HP’s proprietary software. But because the display only has WiFi radio and not a router, users must secure another Wi-Fi connected device… Continue Reading
Schwarzenegger: Yes To WiFi Stickers, No To RFID Safeguards
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that would label WiFi routers with security warning stickers. The law, which will take effect on October 1, 2007, aims to ensure that consumers would know how to activate security setting on a new home networking equipment. Schwarzenegger also vetoed a bill that would restrict the way the… Continue Reading
Wi-Fi Alliance To Certify Pre-Standard 802.11n Products
The WiFi Alliance plans to certify the interoperability of draft-n products ahead of the full approval of the 802.11n standard. Under the two-phase certification program, the alliance will begin testing the products including baseline features from the standard in the first half of 2007 while the next phase will involve the final ratification, which is… Continue Reading
Intel’s Next-gen Notebooks To Feature Nokia Chip
Intel looks to introduce Nokia’s 3G chip and improved graphics support for Microsoft’s Windows Vista in its next-generation motherboards for notebooks. According to Dadi Perlmutter, who heads Intel’s mobility group, the Santa Rosa package will hit the market in the first half of next year. The company also plans a 2007 release for a new… Continue Reading
Noise Free Wi-Fi IPTV
Rotani has unveiled VideoPuck, an new program designed to provide noise-free WiFi for the IPTV market. The new software can be integrated in the the firmware of standard access points and set top boxes and promises to address WiFi interference problems during IPTV multicasts. Rotani co-founder and executive vice president Nicholas Funke said European IPTV… Continue Reading
Intel Superfast Wi-Fi Faces Microsoft Vista Overload
Intel plans to incorporate 802.11n into the new version of its Wi-Fi/WiMax chipset. Kedron is expected to be five times better, with data throughputs that are 30 times higher than the 2003 version. The company is now conducting a cooperative testing with major LAN networking suppliers, namely Netgear, D-Link, Linksys and Buffalo, to ensure interoperability… Continue Reading
ZigBee Alliance Updates Standard
The ZigBee Alliance is updating its standard, which promises more choice and control. The update is designed to stop a single point-of-failure on the network and enables OEMs to generate groups of devices while letting individual devices to belong to multiple groups. The enhanced Zigbee, which the company plans to release to the public in… Continue Reading
Wireless USB Ready For Testing
The USB Implementers Forum has launched the Certified Wireless USB Compliance and Certification Program, which will allow vendors to have their UWB-based Wireless USB products certified for product interoperability. Although vendors can perform self-tests, they must submit their products for testing to a Certified Wireless USB test lab before they get certification. Intel’s Wireless USB… Continue Reading
WiMax Spectrum Owners Launch WiSOA
WiMax spectrum owners have created their own organization. The WiMax Spectrum Owners Alliance currently comprises Unwired Australia, Network Plus Mauritius, UK Broadband, Irish Broadband, Austar Australia/Liberty Group, Telecom New Zealand, WiMAX Telecom Group, Enertel and Woosh Telecom. WISOA secretary general Patrick Cruise O’Brien said the group differs from the WiMax Forum in the sense that… Continue Reading
WiMax Spectrum Alliance Formed
A group of high-speed wireless operators and spectrum owners has launched the WiMax Spectrum Owners Alliance in Paris. The organization comprises Unwired Australia, the Austar Australia/Liberty Group, Network Plus Mauritius, UK Broadband, Irish Broadband, Telecom New Zealand, WiMax Telecom Group, Enertel, and Woosh Telecom. It hopes to formalize by December the first international WiMax roaming… Continue Reading
Ready For WiMAX?
WiMax is expected to enjoy extensive adoption, particularly with the development of chips and equipment based on IEEE’s 802.16 standard. Adaptix recently unveiled its BX-3000 Micro basestation and SX-300 mobile terminals while Aperto already received WiMAX Forum certification for its PacketMAX 100 and 300 customer-premise-equipment (CPE) units. Though only few services exist, more and more… Continue Reading
Faster Testing Could Mean More Certified Wi-Fi
Azimuth Systems has released a new test suite that could reduce the testing time for WiFi products by two-thirds. WiFi Alliance’s Authorized Test Laboratories worldwide will use the AzCert Wi-Fi Certification Test Suite. Azimuth vice president of marketing Jeff Abramowitz estimated that testing will take between four and five hours. Although the laboratories have yet… Continue Reading