wireless

While companies like Sling and Orb tout their ability to place-shift TV from the living room to the cell phone screen, a new study released Monday says that only 5 percent of Europeans expressed interest in watching TV on their mobiles in the next 12 months. Apparently, Europeans are more content with simply making voice calls and buying music, whereas 20 percent of surveyed Asian consumers say they'd watch TV on the really small screen.

Overseas users are all fine and dandy, but what about you? Would you be interested in watching TV on your cell phone?

The Macalope has very little to add to this Daring Fireball post on David Maynor's crappy prestige for the MacBook wireless trick (part of the prestige is timing, David) other than to note that Mr. Gruber's "frog that can recite the alphabet" analogy misses the mark. Because the horny one can tell you categorically there's no such frog (he's been to all of the mythical creature meetings and he's never seen one) and -- despite the blatherings of numerous silly pundits -- no one outside of Slashdot commenters was claiming that OS X … Read more

First, federal regulators rejected a start-up's bid to gain exclusive access to unused radio spectrum in order to offer a partially free wireless broadband network.

Now, as promised, the Federal Communications Commission is seeking formal public comment on whether it would make sense to permit the sort of scheme proposed by Silicon Valley-based M2Z Networks or others that previously expressed interest in operating a slice of the 2.1 GHz band.

The FCC also wants to know what sort of technological approaches should be allowed on that spectrum and whether it should auction the spectrum, offer it on an … Read more

Two top consumer groups are backing legislation aimed at giving consumers more freedom over their cell phone contracts. The Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America announced their support yesterday for the Cell Phone Consumer Empowerment Act of 2007 (aka the Cell Phone Bill of Rights), which is sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.).

Though the bill centers on limiting early termination fees for cell phone contracts, the consumer groups are focusing on another provision that would prohibit any customer fees not expressly authorized by federal, state, or local governments. "Most wireless … Read more

Networking equipment maker Cisco Systems said Tuesday that it plans to buy privately held Cognio, a company that has developed technologies to better manage wireless spectrum.

Financial details of the deal weren't disclosed.

Cisco said Cognio's technology that detects, classifies, locates, and mitigates sources of radio frequency, compliments its existing portfolio of wireless technologies. And it will allow corporate network managers who have deployed Cisco's wireless technologies to better manage their wireless spectrum to minimize interference.

"Wireless spectrum is a strategic asset for our customers, and its management is key to the robust delivery of mobility … Read more

Fact is, all of the wireless speakers I've reviewed for CNET still use speaker wires to do what speaker wires always do, deliver audio signals from power amplifiers to the speakers. And since wireless speakers have built-in power amplifiers, they need to be plugged into an AC wall outlet. So where a standard speaker has one wire, the wireless speaker has at least two! The "wireless" part refers to the system's ability to wirelessly transmit audio signals from the front of the room to the surround speakers.

The two wireless transmission systems, infrared and radio frequency, … Read more

First with Net neutrality and now with so-called "open access" rules for forthcoming wireless networks, there seems to be no end to the discord between Google and Verizon.

The latest evidence of tensions surfaced when Verizon Wireless this week quietly filed a petition asking a federal appeals court in Washington to "review" rules set to apply to an auction next January of the coveted 700-megahertz wireless spectrum. Earlier this summer, the Federal Communications Commission decreed that consumers must be allowed to use whichever mobile devices or applications they please on about a third of that chunk. … Read more

Early terminations have long annoyed cell phone subscribers, but now they're beginning to annoy Congress as well. On Friday, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) introduced a bill that would give subscribers greater freedom to leave cell phone carrier contracts before the agreements expire.

The Cell Phone Consumer Empowerment Act of 2007 would allow subscribers to cancel a contract for any reason up to 30 days after a new agreement is signed or an existing contract is extended. Klobuchar said the bill is all about fairness. "Early termination fees are a family budget buster," … Read more

We just spotted the LG VX8350 on Verizon's Web site, which looks to be Verizon's latest V Cast Music device. Though it has a rather understated design, it appears to have external music player controls to go along with the phone's built-in music player. Aside from that, it has a pretty impressive multimedia feature set that includes a 1.3-megapixel camera, a microSD card slot, stereo Bluetooth, EV-DO support, plus access to Verizon's broadband services like V Cast Music and V Cast Video. The LG VX8350 is available now for $79.99 after a two-year service … Read more