Voice over WiFi is set to become a mainstream technology in view of the current developments in the market. Nokia has unveiled handsets that would run Wi-Fi voice along with 3G and GSM operations. In Singapore, SingTel is now offering dual-mode service that will allow Nokia E60, E61 and N80 phones to perform VoIP calls… 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
Aeroplane Wi-Fi Could Fly Again
Panasonic announced it will offer wireless Internet service to airlines and the plan is to sell the service for $10 per flight. It is eyeing companies like Lufthansa, which used Boeing’s failed Connexion service. Panasonic strategic marketing director David Bruner said the firm is “determined to avoid one of the things that brought Connexion down  Continue Reading
Intel Plugs WiMax In The Jungle
Intel has brought WiMax to Parintins, an isolated city of 114,000 on an Amazon Basin island in Brazil. According to the company, the new network, which covers two schools, a hospital, a community center and a university, is expected to serve about 1,500 students and 10,000 community residents. Prior to this project, users can only… Continue Reading
Local Shops On Track To Add WiFi Access To Their Offerings
Mission Hill in Roxbury will host the third WiFi access point in Boston Main Streets districts. The first two hotspots are located in Roslindale and Washington Gateway Main Streets. According to Mission Hill Main Streets director Maggie Cohn, the project benefits small businesses in two ways: they will have free access to the Internet and… Continue Reading
Wi-Fi Gives Kids Access To Unchaperoned Net
New portable gaming devices with wireless capabilities like Sony’s PSP (PlayStation portable system) and Nintendo DS are raising concerns among parents. Parents have less control on these gadgets unlike with PCs, which allow them a number of options to restrict or monitor their kids’ activities, such as installing Net Nanny, a program to block pornography… 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
Q&A: Wi-Fi Alliance Exec Explains About-face On 802.11n Standard
The Wi-Fi Alliance has repealed its earlier decision not to perform interoperability testing of 100+Mbit/s wireless LAN gear through final ratification of the 802.11n standard. Instead, according to WFA Managing Director Frank Hanzlik, the group will undertake a two-phase certification for 802.11n — the first leg will involve certification of products based on the standard’s… Continue Reading
GigaBeam Gains From US City Wireless Build-out
A western US company has purchased 11 of GigaBeam’s WiFiber links with compound semiconductor chips, according to the Virginia-based broadband wireless access equipment vendor. According to GigaBeam chairman and CEO Lou Slaughter, the company’s client “is taking advantage of WiFiber, instead of terrestrial fiber, to build out a metropolitan network at a fraction of the… Continue Reading
Switching From Cell To Wi-Fi, Seamlessly
T-Mobile USA is due to begin offering a new service for mobile phone users that will allow seamless switching between its cellular network and their home Wi-Fi networks. The company will use unlicensed mobile access or UMA to enable the new service. T-Mobile, several blogs reported, has performed a trial of the service in the… Continue Reading
Silicon Valley Wireless Project Moves Forward
The Wireless Silicon Valley Task Force has chosen Silicon Valley Metro Connect to build and run a wireless network that will stretch over 1,500 square miles of the region. Metro Connect is a consortium involving Cisco Systems and IBM. The project, however, still requires the approval of individual municipalities before the construction of the network… Continue Reading
Clearwire Gets More Dough
In the past two months, Clearwire has received over $1.1 billion to develop a nationwide WiMax network. It won $900 million in investment from IntelCapital and Motorola Ventures for the project in July. It secured a further $100 million from two investors and $125 million in debt financing from Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and JP… Continue Reading
Intel Hopes New WiMax Will Reverse Drop In Sales
Intel is banking on WiMax to boost its declining sales. The company will provide the technology to Sprint Nextel Corp., which announced that it will spend $3 billion to create a new network based on the standard. Intel saw a 13 percent annual increase in sales due to its Centrino chips between 2003 and 2005.… Continue Reading
CSR Design For £11 Wi-Fi Phones
Wireless chipmaker CSR has developed a VoIP phone that may be sold for under $20 or just a tenth of the average cost of current models. The company plans to license UniVox to handset manufacturers and sees the release of the product by the second half of next year. The phone uses CSR’s UniFi tri-band… Continue Reading
Industry Spellbound By Future Of WiMax
Over the last few months, interest in WiMax has intensified as indicated by commitments from various companies to develop networks and offer services using the technology. According to Joe Nardone of Intel, initially, “the industry as a whole had a lot of doubts and was very skeptical of WiMax,” but “now with Sprint and Clearwire… Continue Reading