wifi

Wi-Fi Direct lets devices talk to each other (podcast)

It's long been possible to connect Wi-Fi-enabled wireless devices to each other via a network or an access point, but the Wi-Fi Alliance has announced that is has begun certifying Wi-Fi Direct products "capable of making device-to-device connections." In other words, instead of your laptop sending documents to your printer via your network as is now the case, the new technology will make it possible for the laptop to speak directly to the printer.

To find out how it all works, I spoke with Wi-Fi Alliance spokesperson Kelly Davis-Felner.

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3D cell phone

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Barnes & Noble gets set to launch Nook Kids aimed at ages 3 to 8

Microsoft gives some indication that Windows 8 will be along in about two years

A 3D cell phone launches in India

Amazon.com is going to allow book lending on the Kindle

Google admits to gathering e-mail addresses, passwords, and URLs when collecting Street View images

Google adds new languages to Voice Search for Android

And Google adds World War II imagery to Google Earth

Ustream is going to allow pay-per-view broadcasting

The Sony Walkman cassette player is no more… Read more

Wi-Fi Alliance now certifies Wi-Fi direct products

First demonstrated at CES 2010, Wi-Fi Direct has taken another step to become part of the Wi-Fi usage spectrum.

The Wi-Fi Alliance, the group that tests and certifies Wi-Fi products to make sure they interoperate, announced today that it has begun certifying products capable of making Wi-Fi-based device-to-device connections and designating them Wi-Fi Certified Wi-Fi Direct.

Traditionally, Wi-Fi clients need to connect to a central place, called an access point, before they can connect to one another in their "infrastructure" mode. Other than that, they can also connect in pairs via a mode called "ad-hoc," which … Read more

Print iPhone photos

If you own an iPhone, iPad, or iPod and a Brother multifunction printer, now you can print and scan from one to the other. Specifically, Brother iPrint&Scan lets you send photos from your device to your printer over your home Wi-Fi network. You can choose an existing photo from your album or snap one on the spot with the camera.

The app also supports full-color and black-and-white scanning from your all-in-one to your iPhone. That's a great way to capture photos and documents for on-the-go viewing. Scanned items can be saved to your photo album, e-mailed in … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1280: New Kindle undercuts iPad by $360 (podcast)

Why buy a $499 device to read books when Amazon's new Kindle will do it for $139? We debate. Also, Facebook building a font of all knowledge with Questions. Plus: How to hack ATMs.

TigerDirect.com has the Samsung BD-C6500 Wi-Fi Blu-Ray Player for $224, after $25.99 Instant savings.

Save $25.99 on the Samsung BD-C6500 Wi-Fi Blu-Ray Player from TigerDirect.com >> Regular price is $249.99 >> Sale price is $224 >> Savings $25.99 (10.40%) >> Click here for deal

Microsoft Hohm connects to home power monitor

If you're cranking the air conditioner a lot this summer, a product bundle using Microsoft Hohm will tell you a lot about your upcoming energy bills--maybe even more than you want to know.

Microsoft on Tuesday announced that it has tied its Hohm Web home energy-efficiency application to an electricity monitor called PowerCost Monitor. The combination, which uses a home broadband connection, lets people view home electricity from the Web or from the tabletop electricity monitor.

Whole-home electricity monitors show you how much electricity a house is using at a given moment and how much it's costing you--sort … Read more

On Facebook, don't panic!

In 2008, the Loaded crew took a road trip to interview Janis Wolak at the University of New Hampshire's Crimes against Children Research Center. Wolak, a UNH professor, co-authored a study about "Internet predators," which showed that they do not fit the stereotype of thuggish basement-dweller using force, abduction, or deception to lure young teens into sexual relationships.

On the contrary, research shows that Internet sex offenders coax teens into relationships slowly, gaining their trust over time. Once the relationships become obviously inappropriate, teens feel that they have been complicit and are therefore less likely to report … Read more

Starbucks' winning combo: Caffeine and Web

NEW YORK--Grabbing a little pick-me-up for those late-night code-writing sessions or World of Warcraft marathons might be about to get a little easier.

The ubiquitous coffee house chain Starbucks started offering free Wi-Fi on Thursday, so I went to go check out the new service. A few people here, at the Starbucks located at the intersection of East 96th Street and Madison Avenue, were trying to log on to the Web with mixed results.

When Web access was actually up and running, pages sometimes took minutes to download. And it's not as if the network appeared overwhelmed. This is … Read more

Why Hulu Plus is a nifty addition

I am excited about Hulu Plus. I have already requested my invite in earnest!

I've heard some belly-aching about the fact that the service costs $9.99 per month, yet there will still be ads. My take on this: get over it!

We pay a lot of money for cable TV and cable TV does not filter out ads. Why would we expect that $9.99 should buy us commercial-free content? This is expensive premium content that we will be getting with Hulu Plus, and a lot of it. Also consider that you have to pay an extra $9.… Read more