wi-fi

What does the Earthlink shake-up mean for the future of city wifi?

Update: SFGate reported this morning that Earthlink will be withdrawing their contract with the City of San Francisco to provide wireless internet. It is unclear what the City's plans for future broadband development are at this point in time.

It was almost four years ago that Philadelphia became the first major city in the US to announce their plans to blanket their city with wi-fi connectivity. It was a big deal, and other cities followed suit using a variety of approaches.

After Pennsylvania passed legislation prohibiting municipalities from getting into the wireless business, Philadelphia partnered with Earthlink to develop a wireless infrastructure that offers free service in certain parks while offering wifi in private homes and business at market rates with subsidies for the poor. In San Francisco, where I live, the bid was awarded to a partnership between Google and Earthlink. With today's news that Earthlink is restructuring its company and losing the head of it's municipal wi-fi intiative, it remains unclear what the future of Earthlink's projects will be and what effect this news will have on the future of other city-wide wi-fi initiatives.

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Wi-Fi Toshiba PVP loosed on Japan

We still love our dear Toshiba Gigabeat S portable video player, but its definitely beginning to look its age. Lucky for us, Toshiba has announced the release of a seeming successor to the S-series called the Gigabeat T401, which is due out in Japan the first week of September. No word on when (or if) this latest video-worthy Gigabeat will hit the States, but we're optimistic after Toshiba's latest stateside release of the tiny Gigabeat U.

The Gigabeat T401 keeps the styling of the Gigabeat S but ditches the bulk of hard-drive storage in favor of leaner and … Read more

EarthLink to lay off 900

Internet service provider EarthLink said Tuesday that it would lay off approximately 900 employees as the company restructures in an attempt to boost its sagging stock price.

EarthLink will lose about half its staff in the restructuring as it shuts down operations in Orlando, Fla.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Harrisburg, Pa., and San Francisco. It will also substantially reduce its presence in Pasadena, Calif., and Atlanta, the company said in a press release Tuesday.

The reductions are expected to cost the company $60 million to $70 million. But it will save EarthLink $25 million to $35 million through the remainder of 2007, … Read more

Wi-Fi Net radio is idiot-friendly

Anytime a product is described as "idiot-proof" it gets our attention, providing that we're able to understand the big words. Throw in Wi-Fi and music, and it's a no-brainer. (We're beginning to sense a theme here.)

All three of these elements come into play with the Revo Pico Wi-Fi radio, another example of what we call the "Radio Free World" revolution. Claiming to be "the world's first portable Wi-Fi Internet radio," it automatically connects to wireless broadband networks and streams Net transmissions.

The radio has a rechargeable battery that lasts … Read more

Live from Hot Chips 19: Session 6, Wireless

This is the seventh in a series of posts from the Hot Chips conference at Stanford University. The previous installments looked at technology and software, process technology, multicore designs, IBM's Power6 efforts, Vernor Vinge's keynote address, and Nvidia. Other CNET coverage may be found here. This is sort of an experiment for me; I usually prefer to have time to review my work before I publish it. If you see anything wrong, please leave a comment!

This session has two presentations--one from SiBeam describing wireless HDTV transmission for home use, the other from Broadcom on new 802.11n Wi-Fi technology.

The SiBeam presentation is easily summarized: It describes a chipset that sends uncompressed HDTV video over… Read more

Extend your Wi-Fi reach while on the road

Maybe we've seen too many spy movies, but when we first heard about the Wi-Fire, a portable Wi-Fi booster, we imagined some sort of collapsible parabolic antenna, maybe with an accompanying mini-tripod so it can sit next to you on your desk. In fact, the 3x4x3/8-inch directional antenna is rather boxy, and it attaches to your laptop's lid much like a Webcam. According to manufacturer hField Technologies, the Wi-Fire can connect to an 802.11b/g access point as far as 1,000 feet away, giving you the opportunity to roam beyond the range of your laptop'… Read more

Apple updates Airport Extreme Base Station with Gigabit Ethernet

Apple announced today a new feature on its 802.11n-based Airport Extreme Base Station. Its Ethernet ports have all been upgraded to Gigabit Ethernet. Sadly, it still offers only three LAN ports, whereas most wireless routers offer four. Otherwise, it's basically the same product we reviewed, at the same price point.

American Airlines riding Wi-Fi wave

We asked and, with any luck, we shall receive. A few weeks back we were bemoaning the lack of Wi-Fi aboard U.S. airlines after finding that Qantas had plans for on-board wireless Internet access. But American Airlines appears to be on the same flight path, teaming with AirCell to test broadband services next year on the carrier's Boeing 767-200 planes. Now if the airline would just incorporate the kind of gadget-laden chaise lounges that United is planning, we'd be in hog heaven. In Economy Class, thank you very much. Speaking of flying, what are those pigs doing … Read more

Samsung SGH-P260 potentially in fall lineup

We've heard that Samsung has come up with yet another slider, dubbed the Samsung SGH-P260. It looks a little like the Samsung SGH-D807, but what sets it apart is that it is a UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) phone with built-in Wi-Fi. This feature lets it make calls via Wi-Fi, and the phone can also switch between wireless hot spots and GSM cellular airwaves automatically. Other features include a 262,000 color display, a 2-megapixel camera, 256MB of internal memory, a microSD card slot, an MP3 player, stereo Bluetooth, and more. No word on carrier, but since it is a … Read more