Author: Eliza Villarino

Rotani has unveiled VideoPuck, an new program designed to provide noise-free WiFi for the IPTV market. The new software can be integrated in the the firmware of standard access points and set top boxes and promises to address WiFi interference problems during IPTV multicasts. Rotani co-founder and executive vice president Nicholas Funke said European IPTV...

Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs believes offshoring of manufacturing capabilities and eroding intellectual property rights pose as threats to the wireless broadband network development. Jacobs made the statement at the fall meeting of the National Association of Manufacturers, the biggest industrial trade organization in the US. He noted the continuing degeneration of young engineering talent in...

Intel plans to incorporate 802.11n into the new version of its Wi-Fi/WiMax chipset. Kedron is expected to be five times better, with data throughputs that are 30 times higher than the 2003 version. The company is now conducting a cooperative testing with major LAN networking suppliers, namely Netgear, D-Link, Linksys and Buffalo, to ensure interoperability...

The ZigBee Alliance is updating its standard, which promises more choice and control. The update is designed to stop a single point-of-failure on the network and enables OEMs to generate groups of devices while letting individual devices to belong to multiple groups. The enhanced Zigbee, which the company plans to release to the public in...

A new survey by the Institute of Directors (IoD) suggests an increasing popularity of wireless technology among small and medium-sized firms. It shows a 20 percent rise in the use of wireless equipment -- from 57 percent in 2004 to the current 77 percent -- by firms. Wireless access to email, WiFi hotspot use and...

The USB Implementers Forum has launched the Certified Wireless USB Compliance and Certification Program, which will allow vendors to have their UWB-based Wireless USB products certified for product interoperability. Although vendors can perform self-tests, they must submit their products for testing to a Certified Wireless USB test lab before they get certification. Intel's Wireless USB...

Researchers at Lucent's Bell Laboratories are developing software that can alter a WiFi chip so that it can work on all types of radio appliances. They believe that most of these appliances contain outdated chips, which are wired to a sole frequency. The goal is to make a chip that can move across all frequencies...

T-Mobile plans to sell new handsets that can make calls though WiFi hotspots. According to sources, the company is testing the service using a Samsung SGH-T709 along with a D-Link TM-G5240 router in the Oregon/Washington area. The carrier also hopes to introduce another product called "My Favs", which will allow subscribers to choose five numbers...

WiMax spectrum owners have created their own organization. The WiMax Spectrum Owners Alliance currently comprises Unwired Australia, Network Plus Mauritius, UK Broadband, Irish Broadband, Austar Australia/Liberty Group, Telecom New Zealand, WiMAX Telecom Group, Enertel and Woosh Telecom. WISOA secretary general Patrick Cruise O'Brien said the group differs from the WiMax Forum in the sense that...

At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, Intel CEO Paul Otellini announced that the company will integrate WiMax into its 5th generation Centrino chips by 2008 as part of its goal to make the technology as 'ubiquitous' as WiFi. In view of plans by Sprint and Clearwire, Otellini believes WiMax will virtually extend over...

Nomad Digital has won the contract to provide wireless Internet access on Virgin Trains. The company will launch the new service, which will be based on WiMax technology, on its West Coast Main Line route next year. Aside from allowing passensers to surf the Internet and download digital data, the new network is also expected...

Over the last few months, interest in WiMax has intensified as indicated by commitments from various companies to develop networks and offer services using the technology. According to Joe Nardone of Intel, initially, "the industry as a whole had a lot of doubts and was very skeptical of WiMax," but "now with Sprint and Clearwire...

Voice over WiFi is set to become a mainstream technology in view of the current developments in the market. Nokia has unveiled handsets that would run Wi-Fi voice along with 3G and GSM operations. In Singapore, SingTel is now offering dual-mode service that will allow Nokia E60, E61 and N80 phones to perform VoIP calls...

A group of high-speed wireless operators and spectrum owners has launched the WiMax Spectrum Owners Alliance in Paris. The organization comprises Unwired Australia, the Austar Australia/Liberty Group, Network Plus Mauritius, UK Broadband, Irish Broadband, Telecom New Zealand, WiMax Telecom Group, Enertel, and Woosh Telecom. It hopes to formalize by December the first international WiMax roaming...

Panasonic announced it will offer wireless Internet service to airlines and the plan is to sell the service for $10 per flight. It is eyeing companies like Lufthansa, which used Boeing's failed Connexion service. Panasonic strategic marketing director David Bruner said the firm is "determined to avoid one of the things that brought Connexion down”...