Wi-Fi

Did you know there is a Super Secret Settings menu in Tweetbot for both iPhone and iPad? Don't worry, not many people did. While what the settings actually do in the secret screen may not be all that obvious, there is one setting you might want to take a look at changing.

In the aptly titled Super Secret Settings screen you can enable the streaming of your Twitter feed over 3G. Up until the discovery of this setting, streaming in Tweetbot was only allowed over a Wi-Fi connection. Streaming your Twitter feed means you'll see tweets in real … Read more

It's time to live large, change your fate and flip out:

Nintendo just ordered up a supersized version of the 3DS. Going on sale on August 19 for $200, the 3DS XL is 90% larger than the original 3DS. Nintendo could have taken this product in a new direction for gamers by using the extra space to add a second analog stick. But no, the XL has the same design as the 3DS. It's also a bit odd that Nintendo didn't announce this two weeks ago at E3.

So who would want the 3DS XL? Larger screens … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week readers wrote in with questions about Wi-Fi signal transmission through glass, syncing documents between two systems, an external drive no longer mounting on any system, and how one would go about upgrading the video card on a MacBook Pro. We welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, post them in the comments!

Question: Wi-Fi signal transmittance through glass MacFixIt reader David asks:

What do you expect from your iPad case? Simple protection? Maybe a built-in stand for hands-free reading and movie watching?

Pong Research has you covered, and then some. The company's New iPad Case not only protects and props up your tablet, but also increases 3G and Wi-Fi signal strength and reduces radiation exposure.

If that sounds familiar, you might be thinking of the Pong Research iPhone case that debuted last fall. It, too, promised protection against RF energy emissions.

Of course, the debate rages on as to whether those emissions are harmful to humans. But here's the thing: … Read more

Google is facing renewed privacy scrutiny in Britain, as a U.K. regulator reopens its investigation into how the Web giant's Street View program gathered personal data.

The U.K. Information Commissioner's Office announced today that it was motivated to reopen its probe, after information provided in an earlier U.K. investigation appears to have been contradicted by the Federal Communications Commission, which found in April that Google's data collection had not broken the law.

"During the course of our investigation, we were specifically told by Google that it was a simple mistake, and if the … Read more

The patent-infringement dispute between Microsoft and Motorola Mobility is expected to go to trial after a federal judge today rejected motions for summary dissolution filed by both companies.

The case, in which Microsoft accuses Motorola of unfairly seeking excessive royalty payments for patents used in several of the software giant's products, is now scheduled to go to trial in November, according to a Seattle Times report. The Motorola patents in question cover video streaming and Wi-Fi technology that Microsoft uses in Windows and the Xbox.

Today's ruling was in line with comments made in May by U.S. … Read more

If America's Wi-Fi routers could vote, they'd likely reelect President Obama by about 6 percentage points.

That's just one of the unprovable conclusions I reached after looking at some clever new research by OpenSignalMaps, an Android app that relies on its crowd of users to keep track of all kinds of wireless data signals around the world. The app has gathered a database of almost 75 million geolocated routers worldwide and OpenSignalMaps co-founder James Robinson decided to parse some of that data for sentiments toward the president after noticing how many nearby routers were expressing themselves politically. … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week readers wrote in with questions about enabling TRIM on third-party replacement solid-state drive (SSD) devices, installing alternate Wi-Fi adapters to work around problems with the built-in adapter, using the Lion version of Quicken 2007 on older systems, and using a Time Machine drive for dual use as a storage drive. We welcome alternative approaches and views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, post them in the comments!

Question: Enabling TRIM on third-party SSD devices MacFixIt … Read more

The Buffalo AirStation WZR-D1800H is the first 802.11ac (aka 5G Wi-Fi) router on the market, and Buffalo's WLI-H4-D1300 wireless media bridge is the first 802.11ac client. Since those are currently the only two 5G Wi-Fi devices, it was impossible to get a complete picture of the 802.11ac standard itself by testing them.

However, I was able to quite easily pair them together and experience the 802.11ac connection. Unfortunately, while the connection was very fast, it wasn't close to what the 802.11ac standard has to offer.… Read more