wi-fi

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Microsoft's Robbie Bach revealed that by the end of the fiscal year in June, they will have reached just over 1 million Zunes sold. The figure meets the sales goals Microsoft predicted at the product's launch last year. Bach was quick to admit that the 1 million mark isn't gangbusters when compared against Apple's recent announcement of 100 million iPods sold. Still, Bach assures that Microsoft's current 10% share of the hard-drive MP3 player market is still a "good start" and that they will continue … Read more

A Michigan man who used a coffee shop's unsecured Wi-Fi to check his e-mail from his car could have faced up to five years in prison, according to local TV station WOOD. But it seems few in the village of Sparta, Mich., were aware that using an unsecured Wi-Fi connection without the owner's permission--a practice known as piggybacking--was a felony.

Each day around lunch time, Sam Peterson would drive to the Union Street Cafe, park his car and--without actually entering the coffee shop--check his e-mail and surf the Net. His ritual raised the suspicions of Police Chief Andrew … Read more

Rumor has it that T-Mobile is prepping the nationwide launch of a Wi-Fi service that would let customers use the technology to make voice calls with their cell phones. HotSpot at Home, which is currently in trials in Seattle, would expand on the carrier's current Wi-Fi network of 8,000 Internet access hot spots. T-Mobile declined to comment on the rumors, which probably means that America's fourth-largest carrier has something up its sleeve.

According to reports, when a caller approaches a hot spot while on the phone, his or her call will transfer automatically to Wi-Fi from the … Read more

Intel's president and chief executive officer Paul Otellini sees cell phones, consumer electronics and emerging markets as the next big engines of growth for Intel.

Speaking at a conference in New York City Thursday, he told financial analysts that he sees three $10 billion chunks of business that Intel could address in the next several years.

The first major opportunity will come from a proliferation of Internet-enabled consumer electronic devices. By 2011, the entire consumer electronics market will be worth $60 billion, he said. Otellini believes that about $10 billion of that market will require technology to connect those … Read more

Chip start-up Eye-Fi believes it's easier to put Wi-Fi into memory cards than into cameras.

The company has created a memory card that includes a Wi-Fi chip. When a picture is taken, the photo is automatically sent to a photo site, according to Ken Elefant, a partner at Opus Capital, which has invested in the company. (Ken told us about the product during a meeting in the middle of April. We then contacted the company, but they declined to comment.) The card fits the standard SD format because the memory chips are stacked.

One element that Eye-Fi is trying … Read more

We've all seen what happens when we give robots an inch--Terminator 2: Judgment Day--but perhaps we should consider passing laws to make robot murder, if not a crime, at least something we socially frown on. The delicate issue is put on trial in this week's Crave Podcast. If that subject doesn't slice your pie, then what about city-wide free Wi-Fi networks? Or does the iAxe 393 USB Guitar appeal to your rockstar daydreams? We review it in this episode.

Other treats include the Crave team's reaction to news that Bob Geldof plans to launch a "Dictionary Of Man" online… Read more

Chicago is shaping up to be a hotbed for new wireless services. The Chicago Tribune reported Friday that EarthLink and AT&T are duking it out for a contract to build a citywide Wi-Fi network. Meanwhile, the city is also going to be one of the first places to get Sprint Nextel's new WiMax service.

The story, which quotes executives from AT&T, EarthLink and city officials, says that Sprint's service is unlikely to compete with the planned Wi-Fi network. Wi-Fi signals travel for blocks, while WiMax signals travel for miles. WiMax also provides service when … Read more

Ever wish you didn't have to get your hands anywhere near those icky-smelling flakes of fish food? Well, here's an answer to your problem. An Egyptian professor, Mohamad Abou El-Nasr, won third prize at last week's Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose, Calif. for creating a home aquarium that allows the owner to remotely control it from anywhere in the world. With the Wi-Quarium, you can adjust the heat, water filter, and lights in the tank, as well as feed the fish on command. You can also watch them on a webcam and obtain e-mail reports of … Read more

The Wii is quickly solidifying itself as the gadget that is perpetually making us think, "Hm, I never thought of that, but it's a cool idea." First the whole Wiimote thing, then Wii Sports, then the Opera browser, then the weather and news channels...this is one gaming console that's full of nutty features and add-ons that might seem wacked out at first, but which inevitably catch on in that kitschy Nintendo way.

And Nintendo's far from finished. Rumors are flying about the latest additions to the Wii, and the video game blogs are scrambling … Read more