Author: Eliza Villarino

The Wi-Fi Alliance is scheduled to start certification of wireless routers, networking cards, microchips and other products supporting draft 802.11n standard. The final version of the specification, which is due to be released next year, boasts speed that is five times higher than the current "g" version. The technology uses multiple antennas and promises better...

With plans by over 200 operators worldwide to deploy WiMAX this year, it is no wonder TeleGeography Research touted 2007 as "the year WiMAX finally comes of age." This is particularly true in Asia. Nortel is collaborating with Toshiba and a unit at the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to provide WiMAX service...

Meru Networks has unveiled its new enterprise-class wireless LAN products that comply with the IEEE 802.11n draft standard. These include a two-radio access point, a five-blade controller and new software for handling wireless data traffic, which Meru will bring to the Interop Las Vegas show later this month. These products, according to company, allow for...

Learning Chinese is now made easy by Skype. Stephanie Xu from Beijing has been teaching Chinese for over a month now and lauded the high sound quality of the VoIP application. Xu charges 80 renminbi for her online tutorial sessions or 20 renminbi less than what her offline students pay. The reason: it saves her...

People who work in and visit the City of London can now have broadband Wi-Fi connection anytime, thanks to a network provided by The Cloud, Europe's largest Wi-Fi network operator. "We feel it is important to provide this technology to maintain our position as the world's leading international financial centre," remarked Michael Snyder, who chairs...

Vonage has petitioned the U.S. Appeals Court for the Federal Circuit to defer its appeal and order a retrial of its patent dispute with Verizon. The company cited the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the KSR International v. Teleflex suit, which stated that the current test for patent obviousness is too stiff for suspect patents...

With the ease in cracking the Wireless Equivalent Protection (WEP) code, many experts have recommended the use of Wi-fi Protected Access (WPA) to secure home wireless Internet networks. Unlike WEP, which hackers can breach in as little as 60 seconds, WPA appears to be a formidable protocol. "We have had a very close look at...

Scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology are offering their WiPeer software for free. The downloadable application can wirelessly connect computers within 300 feet of each other inside buildings and within 900 feet outdoors without the use of routers. Through the wireless link, users can exchange photos, perform online chats, and send 700MB files in...

Sir William Stewart, head of the Health Protection Agency in the U.K., wants a probe on whether the use of Wi-Fi in schools poses any danger on students. Such action is also being sought by the Professional Association of Teachers -- the group has called on Secretary of State for Education Alan Johnson to launch...

Sir William Stewart, head of the Health Protection Agency in the U.K., wants a probe on whether the use of Wi-Fi in schools poses any danger on students. Such action is also being sought by the Professional Association of Teachers -- the group has called on Secretary of State for Education Alan Johnson to launch...

Locating a HotSpot has been made easy by the new Asterisk WiFi Hotspot Finder plugin. All you need to do is get Asterisk -- an open source VoIP phone system -- and install it in your PC. You also need to have a VoIP-to-POTS (normal phone service) provider, a phone system, and the Flite voice...

Uganda will see its first WiMax service by the fourth quarter of 2007. Wateen Telecom is nearly done with a similar network in Pakistan, where coverage will extend over 22 cities. Its sister company, Warid Telecom, will start offering GSM service at the same time as the WiMax implementation as "the licence in Uganda covers...

Lexmark printers are going wireless. The company, along with Ipsos, carried out a study showing that half of 9,000 respondents in 18 countries consider wireless networking as the biggest time-saving technology, beating broadband, faster computers and smart cards. The conclusion led Lexmark vice president Najib Bahous to state that "wireless is the technology wave of...

A new study by In-Stat shows that more Americans prefer WiMax over 3G and Wi-Fi. Of the 1,200 surveyed, 50 percent affirmed they are willing to leave their current broadband provider for another if the latter can offer a wireless broadband package. In addition, many lose their interest in 3G/cellular due to the price of...

Mac users can now download the new version of Skype for their OS. According to Skype's website, the new 2.6 beta offers "improved audio quality" and enables users to transfer calls to their contacts. The call forwarding ability is exclusive to this version. Other new features include typing indicators, dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF) signals in Skype-to-Skype...