Phone operators balk at plans to loosen mobile networks
CNET Sep 27, 08 8:12 PM CDT
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Google renewed its battle for open cell phone networks this week by filing for a new patent, CNET reports. The search giant filed to free smartphones from network-carrier agreements so users can tap into whatever connection is strongest and most affordable. But carriers mostly resist the notion, saying tight networks are needed to ensure quality and security.
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Researchers find a way to stabilize mobile internet access
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Aug 25, 08 6:20 PM CDT
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Researchers at Microsoft and two US universities have designed a system to give drivers better Wi-Fi connections, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. The technology, presented last week in Seattle, allows a moving computer to hook into one Wi-Fi station as an "anchor" while using other stations as support. Researchers say this will avoid "hiccups" that occur when traveling computers jump from station to station.
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But others think it's the 'neighborly thing to do'
San Francisco Chronicle Aug 18, 08 2:10 AM CDT
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Failing to protect personal wireless service with a tough password and encryption can open the door to disaster. That's the warning from "wardriver" security gurus who cruise the streets looking for unguarded service to highlight the problem, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Wardriving was also used by an international ring of hackers recently busted for snatching 40 million credit card numbers from poorly safeguarded wireless networks operated by retailers.
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Which means services for customers should get better
USA Today May 30, 08 8:46 AM CDT
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The number of Americans signing up for cell phone service is slowing down after more than a decade of explosive growth, reports USA Today . Within a couple of years, experts say, just about everybody who wants a cell phone will have one, meaning good news for consumers as companies focus on luring each other's customers away instead of signing up new ones.
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"White space" would increase wireless Internet access
Wall Street Journal May 23, 08 11:46 AM CDT
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Google co-founder Larry Page urged Congress and the FCC this week to open up access to unused television airwaves to broaden the reach of wireless Internet. Page asserted that the unused waves, called "white space," would increase Wi-Fi range in rural areas and help provide Internet capability to the entire country, reports the Wall Street Journal .
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TV, wireless hires will offset white-collar landline losses
Wall Street Journal Apr 18, 08 2:23 PM CDT
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As it adjusts its business model to lowered demand for landlines, AT&T will lay off 4,600 employees, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company plans to create about the same number of new wireless, broadband, and TV jobs, a trade-off that will create savings through dropping more senior, white-collar workers. "There are parts of the business that are growing and others that are not," a spokesman said.
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Systems already 'open enough,' he says
Associated Press Apr 2, 08 6:42 AM CDT
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The head of the FCC has rejected a request from Skype to open up wireless networks to outside devices, AP reports. The Internet phone provider wanted wireless operations included in a 1968 FCC decision that required AT&T to open up its network beyond its own devices that paved the way for the introduction of things like fax machines and modems.
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FCC auction passes $4.7B threshold; it's
a win for Google
MarketWatch Jan 31, 08 10:17 PM CST
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Google’s hopes of forcing a piece of the national radio spectrum into becoming an open access wireless network came a step closer to fruition today, Marketwatch reports. The bid price on the “C block” of 700 Mhz spectrum hit $4.7 billion, enough to trigger FCC regulations that will require the spectrum to support mobile devices not made by the network’s owner.
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OPINION
Apple profits can withstand unaccounted for gadgets without loss
ComputerWorld Jan 28, 08 8:41 PM CST
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An estimated 1.4 million iPhones that have been either inventoried or clandestinely unlocked may not pose a significant threat to techno-juggernaut Apple's overall profit. The "missing" phones could force stock prices to dip, "but if you look at Apple," reassures analyst Ezra Gottheil, "It's solidly profitable without the iPhone. The iPhone just takes it up to another level."
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Pa. community reels from cyber-exposure
Morning Call Jan 25, 08 5:57 PM CST
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Pornographic cell phone pictures of students have been spreading like wildfire at and beyond Pennsylvania’s Parkland High School, the Morning Call reports. The images, two separate pictures of undressed girls and another of a couple making love, have apparently circulated widely. ''My boyfriend, who's not even in high school anymore, got the pictures at work,'' said one Parkland senior.
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Easier now for hackers to snatch data from thin air
Wall Street Journal Jan 17, 08 3:05 AM CST
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Wi-Fi hotspots multiplying around the nation are boosting convenience for internet users on the go, but are also making life easier for hackers, the Wall Street Journal reports. Hackers at hotspots in hotels, airports and cafes can pluck other users' financial details and company information out of the air.
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Partnerships help company ready new wireless network
Washington Post Jan 10, 08 1:17 PM CST
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Sprint has unveiled new corporate partnerships to help meet its goal of deploying its WiMax wireless broadband network in DC, Baltimore, and Chicago by April, the Washington Post reports. The wireless provider has joined with several companies to provide online storage, security, and mobile devices for WiMax, which offers speeds comparable to DSL at ranges far greater than typical wireless networks.
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Rival picture slingers are finally heading
to market
Associated Press Jan 3, 08 11:04 AM CST
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Electronics companies are finally going to get rid of that ugly cord running from your lovely HDTV to its cable box. At least three different wireless high-definition technologies will be duking it out beginning Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and manufacturers promise you’ll be able to buy them by next Christmas, the AP reports.
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US approves wireless ID that may spark identity theft
Associated Press Jan 1, 08 4:53 PM CST
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New wireless passport cards will make it easier for Americans to cross borders between Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean—but privacy groups worry that thieves will be pinching personal data off the new ID, the AP reports. One critic called the cards "inherently insecure;" officials say safeguards are built in and personal data won't be on the cards' chips.
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