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Did you know there was a Digital Inclusion Summit going on? We already know the FCC isn’t best pleased about the fact 93 million Americans are making do without access to home broadband, and this latest event was an opportunity for it to dish some more info on its forthcoming National Broadband Plan. The major obstacles to broadband adoption identified by the FCC were noted as cost, computer illiteracy, and a sheer lack of awareness about the benefits the web offers (outside of cute kitties). The big Plan will be delivered to Congress a week from today, and its suggestions will include the creation of a Digital Literacy Corps, who’ll be performing missionary duties among the unenlightened, and the big whopper: a proposal to “consider use of spectrum for a free or very low cost wireless broadband service.” Yeah, if you can’t jump over the cost hurdle you might as well eviscerate it from existence. Quite naturally, such radical plans have been met with much grumbling opposition, and Business Week reports that it may be years before the full reforms are implemented … if at all.

FCC will consider ‘free or very low cost wireless broadband’ service originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember that Wisair-based wireless display adapter that we knew was headed for Macville? Looks like she has arrived. Source R&D has just introduced a universal docking station of the wireless variety, and better still, it’s completely plug-and-play with Windows 7, Vista, WinXP and OS X (Leopard / Snow Leopard). The Warpia Easy Dock is a pretty simple setup; just plug a transceiver into a free USB socket, attach two USB peripherals and a DVI monitor to the base station, and enjoy the luxury of using a real-deal keyboard, mouse and LCD when your laptop is at home. Unfortunately, the resolution of monitor is capped at 1,400 x 1,050, so you certainly won’t be taking fully advantage of that Dell UltraSharp U2711 you just took delivery of. It should be available momentarily for the tidy sum of $149.99.

Continue reading Source R&D brings Wisair-based wireless docking station to Macs and PCs for $150

Source R&D brings Wisair-based wireless docking station to Macs and PCs for $150 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You’ve probably seen sketches like the one above promising you complete cable independence since what, 1996? We’re not about to tell you this is the one technology that finally delivers on that utopian dream, but it’s surely one of the zanier attempts at it. By converting “ultra fast laser pulses” into radio frequency waves, the researchers claim they’ve overcome a significant hurdle to making wireless communications ubiquitous — signal interference. The rapid (each laser burst lasts a mere 100 femtoseconds), pulsing nature of their approach purportedly makes their signal extremely robust, while intended operation at around 60GHz means their microring transmitters (diagram after the break) will be able to operate within spectrum space that does not require a license — neither from the FCC nor internationally. Applications for the microrings would include things like HDTV broadcasts and piping data into vehicles, although we won’t be seeing anything happening on the commercial front for at least another five years. Typical. If you just can’t wait that long, a few Japanese companies you may have heard of are preparing their own 60GHz wireless devices for the second half of this year.

Continue reading Microring transmissions are sure to resonate with people who hate wires

Microring transmissions are sure to resonate with people who hate wires originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We all know by now that AT&T has secured the rights to furnish US iPad owners with 3G connectivity, but apparently the market desire for that service won’t be quite as big as we might have expected. That comes straight from Randall Stephenson himself, AT&T CEO and eternal believer in the power of i-branded devices, so it may have some legitimacy to it. Surely Randall’s dearest wish would be to announce his network is about to be overwhelmed by new subscribers, and the rather cooler news has already caused a small dint in AT&T’s stock price. Then again, this is hardly shocking news given that 3G on the iPad can be had on a month-by-month basis without contract, and in truth any subscriptions related to it would have to be achieved by AT&T’s own ingenuity — which, judging by its CEO’s comments, won’t be suffering any undue exertions any time soon. Not only that, Randall’s also taken the opportunity to advise us that higher data rates are likely for intensive users of unlimited 3G data plans — whether on the iPad or on smartphones. Way to endear yourself to the masses, dude.

AT&T CEO: iPad will be mostly used on WiFi, won’t drive many new 3G subscriptions originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Rapoo 2900 wireless keyboard sports touchpad, Bluetooth, and that ineffable Rapoo charm

Rapoo 2900 wireless keyboard sports touchpad, Bluetooth, and that ineffable Rapoo charm originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What’s cute, cuddly, and makes all sorts of bizarro noises when it senses wireless waves? Yoshi Akai’s Wireless Catcher, of course! This analog synth contraption is simplistic in nature and complex in design, utilizing an onboard antenna to sense WiFi signals and then alter the sounds being outputted depending on signal strength and direction. It’s not exactly the symphony that Bach forgot to write, but it’s certainly beautiful in its own nerdy way. Have a look at the video past the break, won’t you?

Continue reading Yoshi Akai’s Wireless Catcher senses nearby wireless waves, makes music (video)

Yoshi Akai’s Wireless Catcher senses nearby wireless waves, makes music (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Time’s running out for the FCC to present its National Broadband Plan to Congress next month, a set of sweeping regulatory changes geared at making broadband widely and readily available to every nook and cranny of the country — and as the day of reckoning draws near, chairman Julius Genachowski is starting to talk specifics about how the Plan’s going to look. At a speech hosted by the think tank New America Foundation today, Genachowski revealed a few key initiatives geared overall to reach the goal of reclaiming a whopping 500MHz of spectrum to apply toward wireless broadband data over the coming decade. A big part of that puzzle will be something called the Mobile Future Auction where existing spectrum owners (ahem, TV broadcasters) could be given the opportunity to voluntarily — emphasis on “voluntarily” — sell off their airwaves in exchange for a portion of the auction proceeds; it’s claimed that as much as $50 billion in value could be “unlocked” by more efficiently using some of this spectrum, where only about half is currently being used in even the most populous markets. They’ll also be making some moves to encourage more innovation with unlicensed spectrum — an area that has already brought about paradigm-shifting technologies like WiFi and Bluetooth at 2.4GHz — and proposing the launch of a Mobility Fund as part of the Universal Service Fund’s reboot to help build out infrastructure in underserved areas. It all sounds ambitious, yes — but if some of the claims the FCC and others are making about projected wireless data utilization over the next few years are even close to true, drastic action appears to be well-justified.

FCC’s Genachowski previews broadband plan, demands half gigahertz of spectrum for the task originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Nokia Research Center has another tech tease that gives us a glimpse into one of our many possible mobile computing futures. The so-called, Explore and Share concept starts by placing an N900 onto a “writer” that’s tethered to a PC at a retail store. At that point, the PC recognizes the handset and serves up a number of options to the purchaser. For the purposes of the demo, an unnamed Finn selects an album that downloads to the handset in less than 10 seconds. Less than 10 seconds, wirelessly! If we assume that the 18 track Bruce Springsteen album is somewhere between 100MB and 200MB then we’re looking at a 10MBps to 20MBps transfer rate. Nokia doesn’t admit to what tech it’s using, referring to it only as “a new radio technology.” It’s certainly not NFC which tops out at 424kbps, or Bluetooth 3.0 + HS which tops out at 3MBps. It also negotiates much faster than WiFi (though that could just be editing trickery). It’s closer to Wireless USB’s real-world data rates of around 15MBps or TransferJet’s 375Mbps effective throughput. Or as a long shot, maybe Bluetooth 4.0 which targets 60Mbps (theoretical) transfer rates. Regardless, it’s fast so we have to agree with Nokia when it deadpans: “Sounds great. Doesn’t. It.” Check out the action after the break.

Continue reading Nokia’s Explore and Share concept uses super fast, mystery wireless

Nokia’s Explore and Share concept uses super fast, mystery wireless originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Want your stolen gear back? Don’t call some gung-ho superhero who’s as likely to blow up your small grocery store as he is to catch those perps, call GadgetTrak instead. The little startup company has grown since we last heard of it back in 2007, and is now operating a $25 per year tracking service that has delivered a statistically significant 95 percent success rate on reuniting gadgets with their owners. Available for Mac OS and Windows laptops, as well as mobile phones (BlackBerrys, WinMo, and iPhone) and even removable USB storage, the software’s intelligent enough to remotely activate your webcam and ping the incriminating info back directly to you — no data is sent to GadgetTrak. Check out some recent news coverage of the software and its implementation in local schools after the break.

Continue reading GadgetTrak retrieves 95 percent of stolen laptops, puts RoboCop to shame (video)

GadgetTrak retrieves 95 percent of stolen laptops, puts RoboCop to shame (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leave it to Google to make even the FCC’s ambitions look meager. But hey, for the vast majority of Americans who will never have access to an ISP with 1Gbps, we’ve got nothing but kudos to send to Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski. As the story goes, the FCC has unveiled a plan this week that would “require” internet service providers to offer “minimum home connection speeds by 2020,” with a delectable 100Mbps figure being throw around. Currently, US internet speeds average just under 4Mbps, and the nation as a whole ranks 19th in the world. Naturally, companies that provide internet are balking at the idea, suggesting that consumers would revolt if they were forced to pick up the tab for all the network improvement efforts that would have to take place. Of course, Cisco Systems now appears to be the FCC’s best bud, but we’re guessing we don’t have to explain the logic behind that one. In related news, the same entity is purportedly mulling a plan to “pay broadcasters to vacate airwaves it could use to alleviate network strain caused by the surging use of smartphones,” which ought to make just about everyone happy. Well, most everyone.

FCC seeks faster internet for America, more spectrum for wireless data originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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