Author: Wayne Slavin

Signs at a McDonald's in downtown San Francisco cordially beckon customers to surf the Web using its wireless Internet service, but no one is biting during a recent Wednesday lunch hour. Via [zdnet.com.com]

Gateway on Thursday unveiled a version of its wireless DVD player that supports the 802.11g standard and can handle content from PCs running Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 software. Via [news.com.com]

A jerk lurking at a hotspot with a public domain sniffer can potentially gain access to all manner of confidential information, including the assets on your enterprise's network. For many users, HotSpotVPN is a viable security solution. Via [internetweek.com]

Need to find a Wi-Fi signal but hate having to boot up the laptop to do it? PCTEL feels your pain. Via [wi-fiplanet.com]

According to a top Gartner analyst, when companies are developing their wireless security strategies, they need to consider far more than whether to deploy Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) or other out-of-the-box security fixes. Via [searchnetworking.techtarget.com]

Hotspot "wholesaler" Cometa Networks was supposed to have opened up a few thousand hotspots by now. However, with actual numbers falling far short of previously announced plans, the company has adopted a "year-by-year" approach to installing its public access Wi-Fi network. Now, in what the company is touting as the "initiation of its national rollout...

With the boom in Wi-Fi growing by the day, Silicon Valley executives seized the chance on Monday to make sure that Uncle Sam will make the right policy moves for the wireless future. Via [news.com.com]

Some wireless equipment vendors believe 802.11a has failed and are already looking to a proposed 108Mbit/s standard to take its place. Via [vnunet.com]

Vendors are offering telephone handsets designed for use over corporate wireless LANs. Via [vnunet.com]

AirMagnet is taking intrusion detection and prevention a step further in the wireless local area network market with a new version of its software that can block and disable rogue users. Via [news.com.com]

The wireless industry has reached that stage where intellectual property issues threaten to overshadow real technology debates. Too many bright start-ups, many facing shake-out and failing to gain significant market presence through effective sales, are turning instead to their patent portfolios and the 'Qualcomm model' of deriving revenue from other companies' licensing fees. Via [theregister.co.uk]...

When Mayor Street announced on Friday that he intends to rig LOVE Park up with wireless access to the Internet, he proved he's thinking along the right lines when it comes to this under-used urban park. Via [philly.com]

Linksys has hit back at the Computing Which? report suggesting that the company's Wireless-G router failed to communicate with Netgear's Wi-Fi bridge during testing at Which? offices. Linksys corporate communications manager, Karen Sohl, says the publication is wrong if it suggests that there's any standards failure by Linksys. Via [theregister.co.uk]

Looking to drum up more business, ACJ Technology is giving a little in hopes of getting a lot. The wireless networking company is developing a network of free Wi-Fi hot spots for Seattle area businesses. Via [wirelessweek.com]

Shares of Calypso Wireless surged nearly 30 percent following news that the company is planning to enforce its newly awarded patent that covers roaming between cellular and wireless local area networks. The company has begun contacting wireless OEMs. Via [wirelessweek.com]