Author: Eliza Villarino

The VoIP sector in Bangladesh is under threat. The technology, though used widely in many countries around the world, is illegal in Bangladesh and will likely remain so as the government hopes to shield the state-owned telephone company, the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board, from any competition. And its future becomes bleaker now that the...

Researchers at the Technische Universitat Darmstadt have found a way to crack 104-bit WEP, a typical security tool for 802.11b/g/n networks. The team used a 1.7GHz Pentium-M machine to compute the success rate of grabbing the key. The attack needs sufficient traffic, so the researchers made the protected network generate packets. At 40,000 packets, the...

Following approval by the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration, AirCell announced it will bring in-flight Internet service in airlines, which passengers can avail of starting early next year. In 2006, the airplane cabin communications company shelled out $31.3 million to own spectrum formerly used for pricey air-phone service, which it will now...

Some security experts doubt that Skype is the best way to go for businesses. According to Gartner research director Lawrence Orans, Skype's reliance on a proprietary signaling protocol makes it vulnerable, as standard firewall products cannot be used to secure it. The code, he said, has problems and Skype "has not shown enterprise-level capabilities in...

Boston-based Skyhook Wireless is integrating GPS from SiRF Technology with its WiFi Positioning System. The original WiFi Positioning System constitutes a database of public and private access points, which currently number 16.5 million, in 2,500 cities in the U.S. Skyhook plans to offer the new combined service to major wireless providers this year. With this...

A French regulation could impede the adoption of 802.11 Draft N standard in Europe. France was the first country to demand compliance with the latest version of the dynamic frequency selection - a mechanism enabling a WiFi system to move away from a channel once radar is detected - that European regulator ETSI released in...

Skype renders a virtual classroom for people wanting to learn a new language. London-based stand-up comic Tommy Campbell sits down for Mandarin lessons, three hours every week, with Lily Huang, a mother of one and a qualified English teacher who resides in the Chinese province of Hainan. Huang charges $20 per hour of lesson, which...

For 11 weeks through June 15, Motorola is running a program that will enable early-adopter cities to receive credits for exchanging their wireless gear for Motorola's "HotZone Duo" products. Under the Superior Wireless Access Program, Motorola will pay $500 for each old unit exchanged with a single-radio HotZone Duo node and $750 for those wanting...

Icron Technologies unveiled its maiden wireless USB hub, which it will sell for $395.00. Icron chief executive Robert Eisses expects the product to be popular despite the price. "We sell a CAT-5 USB extender for $695. We sell a lot of them. We expect to sell a lot of these, too," he said. WiRanger Cable...

Intel is working on a form of long-distance Wi-Fi, which would allow users to get signals within a 100-kilometer radius. According to Intel Research Berkeley director Eric Brewer, the technology uses "regular Wi-Fi hardware but with modified software." The new technology is intended for emerging markets, where communications systems remain lacking in villages. Intel plans...

Wi-Fi has become a staple technology in Australia. Sean Casey, business development manager of Intel Customer Solutions Group, considers the country a mature market, considering the uptake of the technology among consumers and businesses. Casey said the integration of a functional standard into handheld devices and laptops is driving the popularity of Wi-Fi. Part of...

This week, carriers and equipment vendors are converging in Orlando, Florida for the CTIA Wireless 2007 trade show. Mohammad Shakouri, vice president of marketing for the Wimax Forum, expects WiMax to be the main topic of talks, similar to what happened in the 3 GSM World Congress in Barcelona last month. Some vendors plan to...

Qualcomm Inc. has developed a modem chipset for its CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. B, which it claims can deliver average downlink data rates of 9.3 Mbps via the 5 MHz spectrum. The company expects the Qualcomm Mobile Station Modem MSM7850 chipset to enable mobile TV, music streaming and VoIP calls. The device, which is due for...

EM-SEC Technologies plans to sell a wall paint that can bar or hold in WiFi radio signals. The EM-SEC Coating System provides an "electromagnetic barrier for the containment of wireless networks" that, according to Robert Boyd, vice president and director of technology at the Hampton, Virginia-based company, "reduces the threat from electronic eavesdropping and blocks...

King's Toyota reported a 48 percent growth in sales since July 2006, a development that Gerry Carmichael, its general manager, mainly ascribed to the showroom's new wireless VoIP system from Spectralink. According to Carmichael, because the system operates with the existing switchboard and voicemail, it allows him to reach a sales or service person anytime...