Wireless connections
Research In Motion has announced its first ever multi-band phone to pack Wi-Fi, the BlackBerry 8820 Smartphone.
The slinkiest BlackBerry to date, the 8820 offers a good ol’ fashioned hardware QWERTY keyboard (we like them), a large 320×240 display, trackball controls, onboard GPS (Global Positioning System)and EDGE/GPRS/GSM cellular and Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g) connectivity.
Continue reading BlackBerry 8820 Quadband Smartphone Packs Wi-Fi
iPhone’s appear to be taking out chunks of the wireless network at Duke University in the US.
We won’t get all technical on you by delving in to the tech-laden reasons as to why it _might_ be happening – they still don’t know how it is happening for sure – but the upshot of it is they think the iPhones are generating up to 18,000 requests per second.
Barrages like this are crippling the WLAN kit, as it tries to deal with and make sense of each of them.
Duke have been in touch with Apple about the problem, but so far the communication with Apple has been “one-way.”
Given the number of tech mad loonies that have bought iPhones in the US, it is a little strange that no other sites have recorded the same problem.
For the details on the story, trot over to Network World
Brit audio firm Pure Digital have announced a new affordable and rather dapper DAB and FM clock radio called the PURE Siesta, which offers market-leading standby power consumption and a host of green initiatives.
Continue reading Pure Siesta: A Green Cred DAB/FM Clock Radio
Ofcom has floated a proposal to simplify the process of moving your mobile phone number to another provider and cutting the transfer time to within two hours, a stark contrast to the five days it takes now.
With the two hour goal just over two years away, Ofcom has ruled that the mobile industry must reduce the time taken to a getting-close-to-reasonable two working days, starting on 1 April 2008 (why do UK organisations persist in using 1 April? It’s so open for abuse if problems arise).
Continue reading Ofcom: Cut Mobile Number Transfers To 2 Days
A new Wi-Fi network has been launched in London called Online- 4-free.com, covering around a 13.6 mile stretch of the River Thames, running through the centre of the capital.
Continue reading London Gets Free Riverside Wi-Fi
3G is a bit old hat in Japan. It’s been available commercially there since 2001 thanks to the dominant mobile provider there, NTT DoCoMo.
On Friday, NTT DoCoMo started talking to the world about where they see the standard evolving to. Named in an almost 1970s tribute – Super 3G, has a anticipated maximum download speed of 300Mbps.
Continue reading 300Mbps ‘Super 3G’ Floated By NTT DoCoMo
If you’re needing Internet access for your laptop when you’re out and about and the Wi-Fi’s nowhere to be seen, – and you haven’t been lucky enough to have been using the version that Vodafone has been exclusively offering for nearly a year – you might be interested in the T-Mobile web’n’walk USB modem.
As its name suggests, this wee little fella made by Huawei plugs into a USB port on your laptop, with a once-only auto-installation program getting you up and running in minutes. Two USB cables are included.
Continue reading T-Mobile Web’n’Walk USB Modem
Barclaycard has released details of its new multi-purpose credit card that combines Oyster smartcard, credit and contactless functionalities.
Expected to be launched across London this September, the three-in-one “OnePulse” card will be the first UK credit card to pack Transport for London (TfL) Oyster contactless travel pass technology, giving the capital’s commuters one less card to lug about.
Continue reading Barclaycard’s OnePulse Credit Card Offers Oyster Functionality
Darn clever those Chinese. Not only have they copied the iPhone, but they went and did it _before_ the iPhone was released – this video dates back to 10 May.
The branding it a little confused, sometimes tPhone, other iPhone, but it looks very similar, even down to the much-publicised ‘green balls’ wallpaper.
Now the actual iPhone is out, we can only imagine the quality of the copies that are being bundled into boxes and making their way over to all corners of the world.
With the change of approach to IPR from the Chinese government – they now see their future as a creative nation, so want to protect ideas – copy products like this will be a thing of the past.
Video after the jump
Continue reading Fake iPhone From China: Video
The champagne corks have been popping in the 4 digital group offices this morning, as they hear from Ofcom that they have been successful in their bid to gain 10 national DAB radio licences.
The group, lead by UK TV network Channel 4, has the ambition of providing a serious competitor to the dominant national BBC radio services, to provide a “distinctive and different experience of radio.”
Continue reading 4 Digital Group Gain 10 National DAB Licenses