wireless

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Verizon Wireless has released a pink version of the RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130, making for a nice little mate to the silver model. We first caught wind of this blush-colored smartphone at CES 2008 when RIM, perhaps without Verizon's knowledge, showed it off at their booth, but all is rosy now. You can grab the pink Pearl starting today for $149.99 with a two-year contract and after discounts and rebates. We suspect Sprint's red BlackBerry Pearl won't be too far behind.

Cisco Systems said Wednesday that is has invested in a U.K.-based company called IP.access, which has developed gear to boost cell phone signals indoors.

Details of the deal or how much of a stake Cisco has in the company have not been disclosed.

IP.access makes devices called femtocells, which boost cell phone signals indoors to provide better in-building cell phone coverage. Femtocells offer wireless operators a cost effective way to improve network coverage. Several wireless carriers around the world have already begun using the technology. Sprint Nextel announced last year it would offer its Airave femtocell … Read more

WASHINGTON--Just a few months ago, Verizon Wireless was protesting "open access" rules requiring mobile operators to let their customers use whatever devices or applications they please.

Now it's inviting gadget developers to swap ideas at a two-day conference in New York City, scheduled for March 19 and 20.

It's all part of the company's new Open Development Initiative, which was unveiled after Thanksgiving. Seemingly in a nod both to regulatory pressure and movement by companies like Google in the mobile space, the No. 2 wireless carrier said it had decided to open up its network … Read more

Update at 10:05 a.m. PST Wednesday: A Copps aide called us on Wednesday to say that his boss didn't intend to give the impression that he opposes new regulations on the wireless industry. He pointed us to a sentence in Copps' speech (PDF) in which the Democratic commissioner said he would "enthusiastically support" the FCC's declaration of "general principles for open wireless platforms" at any time. Copps did then go on to say, as we reported Tuesday, that he would not "strongly object" to industry-led initiatives, "at least for … Read more

BBC on Thursday published an article by Joel Selanikio, a noted public health physician and proponent of using technology to aid health efforts in developing nations. He makes a strong call for software developers to write apps for cell phones. In impoverished areas where wireless networks and mobile phones are nearly ubiquitous, why write Windows applications to help education and other development efforts? Many ordinary people already have a "computer in their pocket," so it makes sense, he says, to start there.

He points to an important difference between the "rich world" and developing countries, namely … Read more

Readers to the rescue!

The first thing you learn when you write about technology is that the people who read your stuff are smarter than you'll ever be. So let me start by saying "Thank you" to all the Linux users who responded to last Friday's post on my travails trying to get Ubuntu 7.10, or "Gutsy Gibbon," to recognize my Linksys WPC300N wireless adapter.

The first suggestions I tried were the ones that didn't entail installing a new app, though ultimately a free download was the fastest and simplest solution. I … Read more

Wireless memory card company Eye-Fi just announced a partnership with Lexar to develop future products. According to an announcement on Tuesday at CES, Eye-Fi will combine its wireless technology with Lexar's flash memory and branding to produce a Lexar wireless SD card.

I spent some time with the original Eye-Fi Card back in November, and was pleased with what I saw. For a first effort at a new consumer device, the Eye-Fi Card worked as advertised and wirelessly uploaded photos to both local computers and online photo sharing sites with minimal fuss. Hopefully this will remain the case as … Read more

Catching Verizon Wireless and Sprint off-guard, Research in Motion showed off some upcoming colored models of the RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 for the respective carriers at CES 2008. The red version will go to Verizon, joining the silver Pearl 8130, while the powder-pink model will land at Sprint along with the purple Pearl. No specific release dates were given, but I'd guess the launch dates aren't too far away--February at the latest.

At a party during CES, we sniffed out potential new technology from Harman International that combines wireless transmission with lossless audio. We stumbled on a display unit using the MyGig entertainment system, built by Harman for Chrysler, labeled Harman Wireless. A Harman representative on the scene said that he couldn't tell us anything about the technology, so we talked to him for as long as we could to try and get a few details. From what we could piece together, Harman is working on a device that will use some kind of wireless technology, possibly WiMax, to receive lossless … Read more