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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Web TV coming to the cloud this summer

From TG Daily -

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Comcast and Timer Warner have been negotiating with cable networks such as USA, MTV and TNT to put their broadcast shows online. The shows will not be delivered for free but instead will give paid cable subscribers a new way to access streaming video content online, building upon the basic cloud concept of computer use - web-based TV following you wherever you go,

Individuals who currently watch their favorite shows via Hulu and other similar sites would most likely lose free access. Subscribers instead would be allowed to watch up-to-date cable television programs online and over time, via mobile media playback.

It is yet unknown whether each provider would have their own site or if a single site would be set up where users could be verified via their own cable provider.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Meraki releases triple-radio 802.11n outdoor WiFi node




From Ars Technica -

San Francisco mesh networking startup Meraki has introduced its $1,499 MR58 WiFi router. Designed for outdoor use, it has three separate 802.11n radios each of which can be used for front-end networks or backhaul, while meshing with nearby networks. Both omnidirectional and directional antennas can be separately used with each radio.

Comparable products from competitors list for $5,000 (street, over $3,000) not including back-end management hardware, and lack the 802.11n support for distance and throughput.

Founder Sanjit Biswas said the new router would be used in "high-end hospitality and apartment complexes as well as educational campuses of all sizes. They're looking for something that can help them deliver something like the backhaul of a DS3 or FiOS connection."

Monday, February 23, 2009

FinallyFast.com 2 Minute Commerical

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Palm Pre / WebOS UI running on Palm Centro via TealOS

"The Palm Pre (WebOS) UI elements running on a Palm Centro, complete with thumbnail imaged "cards", customizable background images, visual effects, and popup "wave" launcher. This is a demo of TealOS, a product by TealPoint Software that emulates the WebOS look and feel on PalmOS devices at www.tealpoint.com/softos.htm "

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Comcast: 50Mbps speeds to 65% of territory by end of 2009

From Ars Technica -

Comcast recently announced it hopes to roll out wideband Internet connections to 65% of its footprint in the US this year. It has already introduced beefed-up DOCSIS 3.0 speeds to more than 15 million homes and businesses, roughly 30% of its footprint, and its goal is to eventually get its entire footprint up to a minimum of 12Mbps.

Comcast first introduced DOCSIS 3.0 in April 2008, pricing the 50Mbps tier at $149.95 per month. The newly renamed Extreme 50 service is now a bit cheaper at $139.95 (upstream speed is 10Mbps). Its other new service tier is Ultra, which offers speeds of up 22Mbps down and 5Mbps up for $62.95. Most current Comcast customers will at least get a speed boost from DOCSIS 3.0. Performance broadband customers will see their speeds doubled to 12Mbps/2Mbps up, while Performance Plus subscribers get a boost to 16Mbps down. Comcast's newly implemented 250GB monthly bandwidth caps will also remain in place for its DOCSIS 3.0 deployments.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Universal charger for phones plan

From BBC -

The world's biggest mobile phone makers and network operators have backed plans to create a universal phone recharger instead of the incompatible proprietary units currently used. In addition to using the standard micro-USB connector, the charger will consume 50% less stand-by energy.

The majority of new handsets will support the re-charger by 2012.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Motion detecting SIM card opens new world of possibilities

From Engadget -

Oberthur Technologies has introduced at the Mobile World Congress a motion detecting and handset-independent SIM card, SIMSense, which effectively retrofits older pones with an accelerometer. Its features certainly open up a world of possibilities including allowing a user to simply shake the phone to send out a pre-set SMS message or to navigate the menu by tapping for moving the phone itself - a la iPhone.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Southwest Airlines doing inflight Internet trials




From Gadling -

Southwest Airlines has announced their first inflight WiFi trial. The service is installed on one of their 540 planes, with an additional three planes to be equipped by March. Access is provided by Row 44 - who opted for a satellite-to-plane system, unlike the technology in use by Aircell who use a ground-to-plane system.

Southwest also partnered with Yahoo! to create a custom homepage for each flight. The page contains destination information, a live route map as well as a collection of Yahoo! games.

Southwest, the largest US carrier in terms of passengers, is the last of the major carriers to commit to providing inflight wireless Internet access.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Amazon Kindle 2 announced: $359 on February 24




From Engadget -

Amazon has announced its Kindle 2 ebook reader with the exclusive Stephen King novel UR. At 0.36" the second generation model is much thinner, it is even thinner than the Apple iPhone. In addition, it also features Read to Me, which reads any content back to you. Other improvements include 7x more storage, a 20% faster and sharper 16-level e-ink display, 25% longer battery life (but battery is still non-removable) and a 5-way navigation joystick.

Amazon's Whispernet service also added Whispersync bookmarking, which lets you retrieve boomarks from any any other Kindle automatically. It still only available in white (the pink Kindle here is just a one-off PR model). The new version will still cost $359

Video and more photos here.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Korea to have I-Max home viewing by 2012

From TG Daily -

The Korea Communications Commission has announced it plans to spend $24.6 billion over the next five years to increase the nation's Internet broadband infrastructure to support country-wide 1 Gbps Internet access, and wireless services of 10 Mbps (about 10x faster than current highest-end offerings), which will generate 16x clearer TV signals and allow for at-home viewing of I-Max films.

For comparison, in the US today, a typical cable subscriber gets less than 16 Mbps, while fastest broadband services max out at 60 Mbps.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Exploding cellphone kills Chinese man

From Engadget -

A man shopping in a Lenovo store in mainland China has been killed after a mobile phone in his chest pocket exploded, severing arteries and leading to massive blood loss. The make and model of the phone and battery have yet to be identified. This is the seventh high-profile case of an exploding phone in China in the last six years.

Cloning passport card RFIDs in bulk for under $250

Uploaded by RegisterDanGoodin -

Ethical hacker Chris Paget demonstrates a low-cost mobile device that surreptitiously reads and clones RFID tags embedded in United States passport cards and enhanced drivers' licenses.