wireless

T-Mobile has finally made the big leagues.

The wireless carrier has has signed a deal with Major League Baseball to beef up certain stadiums with its own brand of wireless technology.

Coming up to bat will be a new wireless "on-field communication system" connecting managers in the dugouts with their coaches in the bullpen. The carrier will replace the old-fashioned wall-mounted phones with new cell phones, giving managers greater flexibility. The dugout-to-bullpen system will start to roll out to select stadiums this year.

As part of the multiyear MLB deal, T-Mobile will also tap into its growing 4G … Read more

Forget contracts, users can now snap up Apple's iPhone 5 at Walmart with Straight Talk Wireless. The major retailer announced today that it will be offering users a contract-free iPhone 5 or iPhone 4 for $45 a month starting on Friday.

"We believe customers shouldn't have to choose between saving money and having the latest technology," senior vice president of Entertainment for Walmart U.S. Seong Ohm said in a statement. "Now customers can have the coveted iPhone with unlimited talk, text and data without a contract."

LAS VEGAS--Wireless peripheral maker Parrot is showing off an update to its Philippe Starck-designed Zikmu Solo wireless speaker system. Due sometime this year, the system doesn't differ much aesthetically from the original model introduced back in 2009. The latest version, does, however, offer improved innards, powerful sound, and a lower price point.

The $999 Zikmu Solo has 2x100-watt output and a built-in 1GHz ARM A8 processor that the company says "controls the path of the coil of the bass loudspeaker in real time" to greatly reduce distortion during playback.

The 2.1 stereo audio speaker system features built-in Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC (for quick pairing). Aside from the array of connectivity features, the Zikmu also jives with DLNA for networked streaming and can even connect with another Zikmu (over Wi-Fi) for even more output. A built-in speaker dock at the top of the device works with older iPhones and iPods with a 30-pin power port.… Read more

Dish Network made an unsolicited bid to buy Clearwire for $5.15 billion, upping the ante for Sprint Nextel, which entered into an agreement last month to purchase the 50 percent of the wireless broadband provider it does not already own.

Dish is offering $3.30 per share for all outstanding shares in Clearwire, about 11 percent more than Sprint's offer, and a 13 percent premium over today's closing stock price. The stock price was up 23 cents, or 7.8 percent, to $3.15 a share in after-hours trading.

Sprint announced in December that the two companies … Read more

Verizon Wireless found a buyer for more of its unwanted 700MHz wireless spectrum.

On Tuesday, Verizon announced it has struck a deal with regional carrier U.S. Cellular to sell its 700MHz A block spectrum licenses in Oklahoma City and in 31 surrounding counties. The licenses cover roughly 1.9 million potential customers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Federal Communications Commission must still approve the transaction.

Verizon acquired some 700MHz licenses in the lower A block in various markets during the FCC's 2008 auction. It also bought the nationwide 700MHz in the upper C block. Verizon … Read more

Imagine charging your cell phone with your tablet or vice versa, no cables or cords required. This futuristic idea is inching closer to reality with device-to-device wireless power technology made by Fulton Innovation.

Fulton Innovation, a subsidiary of Alticor that's been in the wireless power business for more than 10 years, announced and demonstrated its fully functional two-way charging technology Monday night at the Digital Experience CES event in Las Vegas.

The device-to-device power transfer works simply by placing two Qi-enabled devices back-to-back, as showcased in the video below. Developed by the Wireless Power Consortium, Qi is the international … Read more

Unveiled at CES 2013, Seagate's Wireless Plus won CNET's Best of CES for Networking and Storage category for a reason: it's a big step up from its predecessor, the Seagate GoFlex Satellite.

The drive now combines 1TB of storage space, 10-hour-and-then-some battery life, and a built-in Wi-Fi network that supports up to eight concurrent clients in one compact package about the size of a regular USB 3.0 portable drive. Connected clients can stream digital content from it and you can also back up content to it, using a mobile app or a network browser.

And, when … Read more

All eyes will be on Netgear during the company's press conference at the 2013 International CES. The event kicks off at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET) on Monday, January 7, and CNET will be there to cover it live. We'll have a live video stream, along with a live blog chock full of news and analysis, as it happens.

You can tune in to the blog and video stream here:

CES is always a coming-out party for new brands looking to get noticed. For 2013, you can add Bem Wireless (pronounced "beam") to that list. Among the upstart audio company's first products is the Outlet Speaker, a small Bluetooth model that brings a sensible design approach to the increasingly saturated wireless speaker market.

LAS VEGAS--As the name suggests, the Outlet Speaker plugs directly into any standard two-prong power outlet. It's not the first-ever plug-and-play wireless speaker -- the Klipsch light bulb speakers come to mind -- but the $100 Outlet Speaker does get props for being … Read more