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Stealing Starbucks’ WiFi Customers

Starbucks clients need not pay the usual $10 per day to connect wirelessly. The said fee is charged by T-Mobile for each customer who wants to sign onto its 5,100 hotspots while they stay at U.S. Starbucks. Madrid-based Wi-Fi provider FON is offering a cheaper plan of $2 per day. The scheme allows owners ofContinue Reading

How Skype Is Collecting Private User Data

Kurt Sauer, Skype’s Chief Security Officer, has issued a statement clarifying the company’s process for collecting private user data. According to Sauer, Skype has a license for an EasyBits plug-in manager software framework, which manages the Extras Gallery of Skype for Windows. The EasyBits software houses digital rights management functionality that allows for protection ofContinue Reading

Two Vendors Bridge Cellular And Wi-Fi Nets

Siemens Communications and DiVitas Networks have launched solutions that enable seamless call switching between corporate cellular and wireless networks. The Siemens HiPath Mobile Connect Appliance maintains an SIP registry of all client handsets like dual-mode phones or Wi-Fi VOIP handsets, thus allowing for round-the-clock monitoring of these devices. The appliance links with SIP-based PBX, whichContinue Reading

Music And Video Players Add Wi-Fi Access

Although having Wi-Fi features, sales of Microsoft’s Zune have not taken off. Part of the reason is the lack of networking capabilities like an online store that can be accessed sans a PC, wireless syncing and Internet radio. Sandisk’s 4GB Sansa Connect device provides an alternative to Zune. The $250 gadget uses Zing to allowContinue Reading

People With WiFi Spend More Time Online

A new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project showed that people with home wireless networks go online more often than those with a wired broadband connection. In a survey of 798 Internet users, 72 percent of WiFi users check their email at least once daily while only 63 percent of wired broadbandContinue Reading

Vodacom Looking At WiMax And WiFi Services

Vodacom announced it will expand its offerings to include WiMax and WiFi services. The company recently made an investment in Wireless Business Solutions (WBS) or iBurst, one of only four firms that own a WiMax spectrum. Vodacom has earned a reputation of being unafraid to readily adopt new technologies – it is among the firstContinue Reading

Skype Asks FCC To Open Up Cellular Networks

Skype has filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission to remove restrictions by wireless phone carriers on the kind of software communications applications that their subscribers want to use. The company requested the agency to apply the “Carterfone” decision to the wireless industry. The said rule permits consumers to connect any device to aContinue Reading

Work Begins On 1Gbps Mobile WiMAX Spec

The IEEE has started working on 802.16m, a protocol that promises WiMAX speeds of up to 1Gbps and backward compatibility with 802.16e-2005 or Mobile WiMax. The group hopes to conclude the technology development phase by the end of this year, vote on the spec in 2008, and ratify as well as finalize it by theContinue Reading

Skype Phone Arrives With No String Attached

RTX has unveiled its new cordless Skype handset. Dualphone 3088 removes the need for users to turn on their PCs to enable Skype connection since the base station connects to a broadband router/modem via an Ethernet cable, rather than to a USB link at the back of a PC. When switched on, Dualphone 3088 initiallyContinue Reading

Verizon Continues High-Speed Wireless Data Rollout

Verizon Wireless is upgrading its network with CDMA 1x EV-DO Revision A to enable faster BroadbandAccess wireless data services in several U.S. cities. The said technology delivers downstream speeds ranging from 450K to 800Kbps and upstream speeds between 300K and 400Kbps. BroadbandAccess subscribers pay a monthly fee starting from $60 — if they already haveContinue Reading

Sify Picks Proxim For WiMAX

Sify Limited, India’s leading ISP, has opted for Proxim Wireless’s 5.8 GHz Tsunami MP.11 WiMAX-ready product line to serve as its core platform for last-mile access and other mobile features. The decision came following an eight-month testing and evaluation of products from various vendors. MP.11, which enables WiMAX capabilities for unlicensed frequency bands, houses shock-resistantContinue Reading

Coming Up: Vonage Wireless?

VoIP startup Vonage announced plans to begin offering dual-mode handsets with support for both cellular and Wi-Fi access during the second half of the year. This is the latest in a series of steps taken by the company as part of its diversification strategy. It is selling V-Phone — a VoIP phone in a stickContinue Reading

RSA: Attendees Drop Ball On Wi-Fi Security

Over half of the wireless LAN devices at the RSA Conference were found to be prone to security attacks – particularly “Evil Twin” and “zero day” – during two days of WLAN traffic scanning by wireless security vendor AirDefense. The first type happens when a victim wirelessly connects to a laptop or handheld device masqueradingContinue Reading

Proxim Unveils Mesh Nodes With Wireless Backhaul

Proxim Wireless is now offering WiFi mesh base nodes with wireless backhaul in licensed or unlicensed spectrum. MeshMAX is a system that integrates AP4000MR, the company’s outdoor mesh nodes, with broadband wireless radios for backhaul, which can be either 802.16d fixed WiMAX in the 3.5GHz range or Proxim’s “pre-WiMax” MP11 base station in unlicensed spectrumContinue Reading

VoIP Systems Extend Workers’ Reach

Reducing communication costs is not the only advantage to using VoIP. Some companies are now opting for the technology because it allows them to reach their employees even when they are not in the office or on the phone. Jon Levey, broker/owner of ReMax Real Estate Advocate in Lincoln Park, Chicago is thanking the hostedContinue Reading