Posts filed under 'Wireless Tech'
The SoundWorks Radio CD from Creative brought to you by Evesham, is a hi-fi breakthrough in tabletop audio for the home. Built with the expertise of the designers at Cambridge SoundWorks, the specialist audio division of Creative Labs, this innovative system delivers sound that fills a room so effectively that listeners often look around for separate external speakers!
But to say that the SoundWorks Radio CD is just a table radio doesn’t do it justice; it’s much more. Think of it as a home stereo wrapped inside a little box. It can play 10 hours of music on a single MP3-encoded CD-ROM, features a superb AM/FM radio with a total of 24 presets, has two alarms and, most importantly, offers great sound.
One of the keys to great sound is getting the bass right. This is where Creative SoundWorks’ engineers earned their musical chops, because they invented a way to fit a powered subwoofer with its own vented enclosure into this very small, compact package. A powered subwoofer provides the deep bass foundation upon which true full-range sound is built. The result is a unique music system that delivers room-filling sound of a quality that will exceed your expectations, but not your budget.
October 19th, 2006
Logitech have produced a rather expensive keyboard, but unlike some of the more ridiculous attempts at pimping up electronic devices, this one is beautiful to behold.
Lets start with the looks, because the appeal starts to fall down when functionality comes into play.
The diNovo Edge is laser-cut from a single piece of black plexiglass. Then, as if that weren’t enough, Logitech have embedded it into an aluminium surround. Icons are backlit in orange or green, but cunningly are invisible until illuminated. Most impressively, the whole thing is only 3/4 inch thick.
“The diNovo Edge is the most beautiful and elegant keyboard we´ve ever made,” said Denis Pavillard, vice president of product marketing for Logitech´s keyboards and desktops. “It elicits an immediate emotional connection the first time you see it — and that connection only gets stronger when you place your hands upon it. The diNovo Edge delivers a premium experience in every way, from how it looks in the office or living room, to how it feels and performs in the hands of its owner.”
With Bluetooth, the diNovo Edge can connect directly, without the included USB micro-receiver, to PCs that have built-in Bluetooth technology. For computers without built-in Bluetooth technology, people need only plug in the micro-receiver to a USB port to connect the keyboard to the PC; the keyboard and receiver are pre-paired during manufacturing so that they automatically connect when plugged in.
Now, we haven’t actually seen a diNovo edge in the flesh, let alone actually used one, but there’s a nagging concern about the fact that functionality has been compromised over design. For a start, where’s the numeric keypad? Not there, that’s where. Then, what the heck is that thing that looks a bit like a thermometer on the right hand side? It turns out that’s the volume slider and a touchpad that attempts to combine horizontal scroll, vertical scroll and clicking all into one. TechSmec.com has its doubts.
Nevertheless, this is a keyboard designed for the living room, not the office, and minimalism is king in that setting.
You would expect to pay a lot for a keyboard like this, and you’d be right. The diNovo edge is expected to retail at $199 when it launches in the USA and Europe in November.
October 3rd, 2006
Bluetooth is pretty cool, despite the fact that it has spawned that most laughable of people - the headset (even when it’s really not necessary) wearer. Now there’s a new kid on the block in the short-range wireless district in the form of Wibree.
Wibree uses a lot less power than bluetooth, so it can be used in smaller devices and that opens up a lot of new possibilities. It is implemented either as stand-alone chip or as a Bluetooth-Wibree dual-mode chip. In fact, it can use the same hardware as bluetooth so costs are low. Wibree operates at a range of up to 10 meters and with a data rate of 1-Mbit per second.
Nokia is behind the new technology and they think it has lots of potential uses in devices that were traditionally too small for bluetooth, such as wristwatches. They hope to bring it to market in 2007.
“Wibree technology is an important development that opens up new market opportunities and a whole new range of possibilities for mobile users. Our aim is to establish an industry standard faster than ever before by offering an interoperable solution that can be commercialized and incorporated into products quickly,” said Dr. Bob Iannucci, head of the Nokia Research Center.
If you were wondering what the derivation of the word ‘Wibree’ is, so are we. Nokia has remained tightlipped about it so far.
October 3rd, 2006
Logitech today unveiled the Logitech Wireless DJ Music System, which makes it easy for people to stream any digital music from their PC to any stereo system or powered multimedia speakers anywhere in their home and control it all from the palm of their hand.The Wireless DJ Music System connects the PC to a home-entertainment center or speaker system using Logitech´s Music Anywhere™ wireless technology. The system plays any PC audio format, including MP3, iTunes® (AAC), WMA, Internet radio, and podcasts. And the stylish, long-range Wireless DJ remote, with its display and scroll wheel, makes it easy to navigate an entire music collection from the couch, the dining-room table, the bedroom — anywhere.
“Today tens of millions of people are using their PC as a digital music hub to centralize their music collections and to discover new music” said Dale Pistilli, director of product marketing for Logitech´s Media Control Group. “But most people don´t have their PC connected to their home-entertainment system. The Wireless DJ Music System gives people full access to all of that great music anywhere in the home and the Wireless DJ remote puts control of that music in hand. It´s a complete yet affordable solution that´s easy to set up and doesn´t require a complicated home network.”
According to a recent worldwide survey by analyst firm Parks Associates, 40 percent of online households play music files on their PC and 33 percent listen to Internet radio streams. However, less than 10 percent of these people are playing this music through their stereo. The music remains stuck on the PC, away from the primary entertainment system or other rooms in the house. Existing solutions that bridge this divide are complex to set up, support only a limited number of music formats, or are priced out of reach for most consumers.
Logitech´s Music Anywhere wireless technology combines plug-and-play simplicity with the clarity of digital audio, and works throughout the home, without requiring an existing wireless network. The transmitter plugs into a USB port on the PC and the Music Receiver/Dock is easily connected to a stereo system using standard RCA connectors, or to powered multimedia speakers using the 3.5 mm headphone jack output. Once the setup is complete, the Wireless DJ Music System sends music streams directly to the receiver, at a range of up to 50 meters (150 feet). The multi-room remote automatically connects to the PC and offers the same wireless range.
What makes the Wireless DJ Music System unique are the Wireless DJ remote and the sophisticated Logitech® StreamPoint™ software. The remote´s blue backlighted liquid-crystal display (LCD) and mechanical scroll wheel make it easy to browse through an entire digital music collection, select a song, playlist or Internet radio station of choice, and see what´s playing on the screen. The Wireless DJ remote also includes an active playlist feature, called the DJ List, which allows people to add songs or albums to the queue without stopping the music — people can pass the remote at a dinner party and everyone can be the DJ. Featuring a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, the remote is quickly recharged in the Music Receiver/Dock and offers up to one week of battery life under normal usage.
The Logitech StreamPoint™ software runs on the PC and aggregates audio files, playlists, and favorite Internet radio stations from iTunes, Windows Media® Player and Musicmatch® Jukebox, creating a unified music library that can be easily viewed and accessed by the Wireless DJ remote.
Pricing and Availability
The Logitech Wireless DJ Music System will be available in the U.S. and Europe in late September. Its suggested retail price in the U.S. is $249.99. Logitech also offers the Wireless Music System Add-On Receiver, for a suggested retail price of $79.99 (U.S.), which allows people to enjoy their PC music in additional rooms (up to a total of 4).
August 10th, 2006
It’s not often that a video-taped demonstration of a hacking technique causes a stir, but that’s exactly what happened when David Maynor, a SecureWorks researcher and Jon “Johnny Cache” Ellch showed how they could take control of an Apple notebook at the Black Hat USA 2006 conference.
In the demo, the two researchers used a Dell laptop running XP to take control of an Apple notebook running OSX. Nothing unusual there, but what made this technique jaw-dropping for the conference delegates was that the Apple wireless card wasn’t looking for a connnection and involved no authentication whatsoever. With a fuzzing attack (throwing wireless packets at a laptop with a Wi-Fi card), the Dell was able to take control of the Mac by installing a root-kit. Then Maynor easily created and deleted files from the Mac desktop in real time.
The demo wasn’t performed live at the conference to prevent malicious delegates intercepting the packets and revese-engineering the attack for their own evil deeds.
Maynor and Ellch were reportedly mobbed after the video was shown by delegates keen to understand how they had acheived the hack.
The researchers stressed that the exploit was not specific to Mac wireless cards, but to wireless cards in general. They used a Mac for the demo because OSX is considered a more secure operating system that Windows and wanted to show how powerful the hack was. Nevertheless, the fact that a Mac was used for the demo has attracted the wrath of Mac fanatics, keen to point out that the wireless hardware inside a MacBook is not made by Apple, as if that makes any difference.
You can watch the video at the Washington Post website.
August 4th, 2006
The northern Finish city of Oulu is the first in the world to try out UMA (unlicensed mobile access) technology in anger. From its population of 128962, 50 families will be using the new Nokia 6136 phone to switch seamlessly between WiFi, VoIP access and standard GSM when not in range of a WiFi hotspot.
“This pilot project is an important step forward in bringing functional UMA technology to the mass market,” Nokia mobile phones research and development senior vice president Peter Ropke said. “Both operators and consumers will be able to garner the benefits of this new technology.”
What are these benefits? As far as the consumer goes it will allow them to dispense with a landline altogther as long as they have a WiFi network at home. Telecommunications companies like the idea as installing WiFi hotspots is a lot cheaper than mobile phone basestations and they will be able to offer network access to remote areas at a much lower cost.
Which brings us back to Oulu. Quite apart from being the home of Technopolis, the first technology park in Scandanavia, Oulu has invested in a free WiFi network across the city centre, making it perfect for Nokia’s trial.
July 30th, 2006
Atheros and Broadcom today announced interoperability between their draft 802.11n solutions. During the last month, the companies have jointly conducted interoperability testing between Atheros’ XSPAN and Broadcom Intensi-fi chipsets. Tests have verified that the wireless LAN (WLAN) solutions work together at throughput speeds greater than 100 Megabits-per-second (Mbps), using mandatory modes of the IEEE 802.11n specification (draft 1.0).
Cross-vendor interoperability testing demonstrates the commitment of Wi-Fi technology leaders to meet growing consumer demand for high-performance products that work seamlessly together. As 802.11n technology further expands beyond PCs and networking gear, into mobile and entertainment devices, interoperability allows consumers to choose a variety of products and brands without worrying about compatibility issues.
This is the first in what is expected to be a series of interoperability tests conducted with leading wireless companies to broaden the scope of interoperable systems. Over the coming months, the testing will lay the groundwork for successful Wi-Fi Alliance testing when the organization’s certification process is finalized.
“The excellent performance demonstrated between Atheros and Broadcom devices shows that the 802.11n draft, when adhered to and properly implemented, supports multi-vendor interoperability,” said Bill McFarland, chief technology officer of Atheros. “As the market moves toward these interoperable 802.11n draft chipsets, consumers will be able to purchase a wide range of networking gear from numerous vendors that interoperate at unprecedented speeds.”
“Multi-vendor interoperability is the clear goal for next generation Wi-Fi because it alleviates the incompatibility and limited selection of products that plague users of proprietary products,” said Bill Bunch, director of 802.11n product management for Broadcom’s Home and Wireless Business Unit. “The progress towards interoperability is a strong validation that the draft 802.11n specification will deliver the benefits of a high-performance wireless ecosystem built on industry standards.”
Atheros and Broadcom will be demonstrating draft 802.11n product interoperability at the COMPUTEX Conference in Taipei, Taiwan on June 6-10, 2006.
June 1st, 2006
Linksys has announced the immediate availability of its Wireless-N Broadband Router (WRT300N) and Wireless-N Notebook Adapter (WPC300N), the first in a line of Wireless-N products available from Linksys that will be built to the 802.11n Draft Specification.
With up to four times the range and up to 12 times the throughput of Wireless-G*, the WRT300N and WPC300N deliver wireless networks with the capacity to surf the web, enjoy multiple streams of high definition video, listen to digital music collections and make Internet phone calls - all at the same time.
“The emergence of high-definition video, along with the growing use of Voice over IP, online gaming, and other applications by consumers requires network bandwidth that greatly exceeds what is available from 802.11g,” said Mike Wolf, principal analyst, ABI Research. “With these products based on the IEEE 802.11n draft specification, Linksys is enabling users to transform their home networks into media distribution platforms and access premium content around the home over a wireless network.”
“A substantial number of products for both homes and businesses will soon depend on compatibility with Wireless-N to reach their full potential,” said Malachy Moynihan, vice president and general manager, Home Networking, Linksys. “Because of the importance of the technology, we have taken the unique step of conducting extensive testing with multiple vendors to ensure that the greatest possible number of them will perform at peak levels when interacting with our 802.11n products.”
Expected to become the next standard for wireless networks, the 802.11n draft specification includes a number of mandatory features that help improve the overall user experience. These features include enhancements to both the speed and range of wireless networks and calls for mixed mode operation and backward compatibility.
Speed and Range Improvements Provide the Freedom to Do It All
Significant speed and range improvements compared to 802.11g are realized primarily through the use of MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) technology, which Linksys has employed in three generations of its award-winning SRX product family.
Like the SRX family, Linksys Wireless-N products utilize multiple radios to simultaneously transmit two streams of data over multiple channels, maximizing network performance. Using multiple spatial streams allows each 20 MHz channel to contain more than one stream of data, greatly increasing its capacity.
The 802.11n draft specification also allows Linksys Wireless-N products to transmit over two available channels at the same time, effectively creating a 40MHz channel that doubles the capacity for applications such as high definition video, audio streaming, online gaming and Voice over IP.
Mixed Mode Operation and Backward Compatibility
Two additional key pieces of the 802.11n Draft Specification are the requirements that products provide both mixed mode operation and backward compatibility with 802.11g and 802.11b. Mixed mode operation designates that, unlike previous proprietary networking technologies, 802.11n networks must maintain optimum speeds when operating with legacy products. Backward compatibility ensures that existing standards-based wireless products are able to work at their respective highest performance levels for that environment.
Security
As with all current Linksys routers, the WRT300N router can encode wireless transmissions with industrial-strength WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption to help protect data and privacy. It can serve as a network DHCP server, supports VPN pass-through, and has a powerful SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) firewall to protect against intruders and most known Internet attacks. Enabling these security features is easy with the Linksys Web browser-based configuration utility.
Pricing and Availability
The WRT300N and WPC300N are available immediately through BestBuy.com at estimated street prices of $149.99 and $119.99 respectively. The products will soon also be available from other Linksys e-commerce retailers, retail stores, direct response, and VAR partners. Additional products from the Linksys Wireless-N family designed for both the home networking and small business will be launched in the second half of 2006.
April 25th, 2006
Belkin has announced its new CableFree USB Hub, the industry’s first USB Hub that does not require a cable to connect to the computer. This Hub allows people to place their laptop anywhere in the room while still maintaining wireless access to their USB devices, such as printers, scanners, hard drives, and MP3 players. This is the first UWB-enabled product to be introduced in the U.S. market. The CableFree USB Hub’s wireless functionality is enabled by Freescale Semiconductor’s Ultra-Wideband technology.
Beginning in early spring 2006, Belkin will offer a four-port hub that will enable immediate high-speed wireless connectivity for any USB device without requiring software. The CableFree USB Hub gives desktop computer users the freedom to place their USB devices anywhere in the room without running long cables. Laptop users gain the freedom to roam wirelessly with their laptop around the room while still maintaining access to their stationary USB devices.
Belkin’s CableFree USB product will be compatible with the more than 700 million USB devices estimated to be in the market today. Indeed, according to market research firm In-Stat, the number of USB devices is forecast to increase to 2.1 billion in 2009.
“We have always focused on ease of use when developing our products,” comments Mark Reynoso, Sr. VP of Sales and Marketing for Belkin. “With the proliferation of USB devices and the increasing demand for wireless functionality, it’s important that we not only continue to bring innovative wireless products to the marketplace, but also to bolster them with easy installation. With CableFree USB, you can now get the ease of USB without wires.”
“These CableFree USB products represent innovative technology, but, more importantly, will extend the capabilities of millions of USB products,” says Martin Rofheart, Director of the UWB Operation at Freescale. “With the convenience of Belkin’s Plug-and-Play solution, consumers will not be burdened by software upgrades in order to achieve wireless functionality for their USB devices. Indeed, Belkin is taking a leadership role in bringing true wireless USB to the market, and we are thrilled to work with them on this initiative.”
About Ultra-Wideband Technology
Freescale’s UWB solutions enable high rate transfer of video, audio, and data streams wirelessly. At rates 100 times faster than Bluetooth(TM) technology and with wire-like quality, UWB brings a new wireless option to auto, consumer electronics, and PC/peripheral manufacturers. Using UWB, for example, an MPEG2 movie or HDTV stream can be broadcast in real time wirelessly. This allows consumers new freedom in the use of multimedia-centric products, as they no longer need to be connected with wires.
January 4th, 2006
If you’re desperate for some PSP wireless goodness, then you might like to look at WiFi MAX for PSP, a no frills solution for creating an internet WiFi access point in your home.
WiFi MAX is a dongle that plugs into a USB port on an internet-connected PC. You can then connect to the internet and play online-enabled multiplayer games with PSP gamers from all over the world. WiFi MAX supports up to five local’ PSP gamers at a time, so you and your mates can all play online at once.
As well as multiplayer games, WiFi MAX also lets you organise your media files and download them to your PC using our exclusive MAX Media Server software. Transfer MP3s, images and video files from your PC to your PSP from anywhere that’s within range of your new WiFi network.
Now, onto the downside. 30 isn’t expensive, but it’s not markedly cheaper than a full-blown wireless router which provides a lot more features. Worst of all, we could find no mention of any security features so for all we can tell, WiFi MAX might be opening up your PC for the whole world to look at.
It certainly looks easy to set up, but for the moment we will be sticking with our tried and trused wireless router.
You can read more (or even buy) here…
December 20th, 2005
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