It appears airline passengers aren't as eager for in-flight Wi-Fi as proponents thought they would be. Boeing, creator of Connexion in-flight Wi-Fi service, has put a hold on future expansion of the service and may even sell or terminate the program. Connexion currently offers wireless service onboard 72 extended-flight planes, but the fee of up...
Front Porch, a messaging solutions provider, has created PorchLight, a TCP/IP appliance that manages a network's content insertion while users are browsing the Internet. Alerts and paid advertising such as payment-due notices and credit card renewal messages show up as pop-ups or redirections, grabbing the attention of users in a way that e-mail just can't...
Taipei could be the first city to deploy a city-wide Wi-Fi network. Wi-Fi hotspot directory JiWire Inc. has dispatched a team to test the network, which supports 4,000 hotspots that could service 90 percent of the city's population numbering 2.8 million. People can gain access to the network by subscribing to Q-ware Systems, Inc. and...
A study by researchers at Indiana University found that nearly half of Wi-Fi networks are "horribly insecure" as they do not run any form of encryption. The results of the survey, which involved 2,500 access points in Indiana, were disclosed at the Workshop on the Economics of Information Security at the University of Cambridge early...
If you can spare 5 bucks for a $60 router and you don't mind sharing your wireless connection with other users, you might want to become a "fonero." Foneros are folks who agree to install $5 routers from Spanish start-up FON and then agree to allow other FON users to share the wireless access point...
Intel is set to unveil Rosedale 2 -- a chipset that can support fixed and mobile WiMax -- at the upcoming Wireless Communications Association International (WCA) 2006 meeting in Washington. The chip is intended for use in modems and residential gateways but the company is aiming to extend its application to picocell base stations. Later...
The Certified Wireless USB is now ready to hit the market. This was the overall message of a recent conference on the technology. The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) also said the next-generation Certified Wireless USB Peripheral Development Kit (PDK) is now complete. This cheaper, fresh model provides new features and is expected to be available...
The lack of certification has not deterred the deployment of Mobile WiMax, as indicated by what is happening in Australia. Around 50,000 Unwired Australia users and several subscribers of TV operator AUSTER in the city of Wagga Wagga are now roaming seamlessly between two Mobile WiMax networks equipped by Navini Networks. The Texas-based company has...
Municipal wireless broadband networks may be offering their citizens free or inexpensive Internet access, but they aren't expected to win over the broadband market. While citywide networks may be better than dial-up, they might not match the speed and quality of only slightly more expensive DSL. Telecom and cable companies still have an edge, and...
Wireless security just got a whole lot more complicated. Researchers from ISS, using freely available tools, have found that the drivers for some wireless devices are vulnerable to attack. Using lorcon, a wireless packet fuzzer, they were able to get wireless cars to fail in interesting and sometimes frightening ways. They are holding back details...
Samsung is getting ready in a big way to jump on WiMax. They are preparing a GSM/WiMax phone as well as PCMCIA cards and base stations for fixed and mobile WiMax. The first products should be seen in the first half of 2007. Via [techworld.com]
WiMax seems poised to dominate the mobile wireless market in the coming years. CDMA and 3G chip developers are getting serious interest from thier customers about WiMax. The keys seems to be the diverse ownership of WiMax technology patents, many companies own them, rather than just one as is the case with CDMA. Given the...
Despite the excitement over WiMax, the technology is not expected to enjoy a large initial uptake. According to Motorola Asia-Pacific chief Simon Leung, WiMax users in Asia will number 3.8 million, most of them in Japan and South Korea, by 2009. One concern is how this technology, which promises to be faster and more extensive...
Wardriving may be a thing of the past once WiFi access points are scattered throughout the country and Internet access is free to all, but until then, moochers beware. A man was arrested in Vancouver, WA, after periodically parking in front of a coffee shop over a three-month period to use the shop's WAP (without...
Samsung is first out of the gate with a dual mode CDMA/WiMax phone. Details are scarce, but it appears to use a Korean variant of WiMax called WiBro. No details on availablity but it is a step in the direction of convergance. Via [vnunet.com]