wireless

When my doorbell goes ding dong and the dogs go crazy, the last thing I want to do (aside from shushing my beasts) is actually talk to the person at the door who I probably didn't even want to talk to in the first place. Unless it's the pizza guy.

Fortunately, a Wi-Fi-enabled doorbell called DoorBot could make the mystery of a random household visitor a thing of the past. The $169 high-tech door device features a built-in camera (with infrared for nighttime support) that captures live video of the person who presses the button. From there, a notification pops up on the owner's device that gives the option to display the video feed on the app (works with iOS and Android tablets and smartphones).… Read more

Dish, the satellite-TV company, may start a mobile-phone service through Sprint Nextel's network, if it goes through with a rumored deal proposed by the wireless carrier, Bloomberg reported today.

Sprint has asked to partner with Dish in order to get access to Dish's currently unused mobile airwaves, unnamed sources told Bloomberg. In exchange, Sprint would let Dish offer its wireless service to its customers. The possible partnership was discussed "in recent months" and would let Dish get into the mobile phone game, something the satellite-TV company has been looking to do, without building its own network. … Read more

When DVD rentals don't work, maybe sell... mobile phones? Rumor has it that Blockbuster is getting into the phone hawking business at its retail stores, according to Bloomberg.

What seems like a random choice might actually be a conscientious maneuver by Dish Network, which bought the struggling movie rental chain last year. Dish is primarily a provider of satellite-TV service, but over the past year it's been making moves to get into the wireless business.

Recently, Dish launched Blockbuster Mobile and started selling smartphones online. Blockbuster Mobile works with Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon and offers devices including Samsung'… Read more

Smaller wireless carriers should be dancing in the streets tonight after a federal appeals court rejected Verizon's arguments against the Federal Communication Commission's wireless data roaming rules.

Earlier today, the U.S Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., upheld rules that the FCC had enacted a year ago that will require large wireless operators such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless to strike "commercially reasonable" roaming deals on their 4G LTE networks with any wireless operator interested in using a competitor's network to expand territory.

Verizon took issue with these rules, which are … Read more

Though "new" to the market, the entry-level ZTE Groove from Cricket Wireless feels dated already.

First, it's called Groove -- which no one says anymore except when referring to that Madonna song. Second, it ships natively with the outdated Android Gingerbread 2.3.

Other than that, it features Muve Music, Cricket's music subscription service that lets you stream thousands of albums and songs.

The 3G handset also has a 3.2-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 3.5-inch HVGA touch screen with a 480x320-pixel resolution.

It's powered by a 1,500mAh battery that has a reported … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Justin wanted to like the modern take on The Rockettes at Friday's showing, didn't.

- Father of SMS reflects on 20th anniversary of first text.

- News Corp shuts down The Daily.

- These companies hate your guts.

- StickNFind Bluetooth stickers are the best idea you didn't think of.

- Apple trying to patent wireless charging.… Read more

One of the fascinating things about living in this era is observing how everyday products can become far more useful with a little infusion of technology.

Konica Minolta today debuted a desk lamp with an ace up its sleeve: it features a built-in induction charging pad for devices that support the Qi wireless charging standard (such as the Nokia Lumia 920 and many other products). It appears to be the first of its kind. … Read more

More bad news for AT&T.

Consumer Reports has released its annual carrier ratings. And just as it had in the last two years, AT&T landed in last place, far behind the top major carrier in the roundup, Verizon Wireless.

Verizon Wireless fared somewhat well in the study, earning relatively strong marks on voice and data. The only bright spot in AT&T's review was its 4G LTE network, which actually beat out its chief competitor in this year's study.

Sprint and T-Mobile USA landed between Verizon and AT&T.

For its part, … Read more

If you're looking for a mapping app that won't eat up your data plan and will give you results lickety split, Skobbler's ForeverMap2 may be that app.

The navigation technology startup hopes to give Google Maps a run for its money with its ForeverMap2 app that works both online and offline. The company today launched the ForeverMap2 app for Android devices.

The app uses mapping information from the open-source project OpenStreetMap, which has built maps via crowd-sourcing. OpenStreetMap is a free editable map of the whole world started in 2004 that allows anyone to view, edit, and … Read more