SISAREA » wireless

Apple Magic Trackpad official, shipping now for $69

Vlad Savov — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:30:00 +0000

It's not like Apple could very well keep it a secret anymore, so today we're being treated to the official unveiling of the Magic Trackpad. This wireless touch input receptacle -- already thoroughly leaked, trademarked, and FCC-approved -- has just made its debut in, of all places, Apple's Store app for iOS 4. It's basically exactly what you'd expect: a glass-covered, aluminum-shelled replicator of the glorious multitouch experience on offer in Apple's MacBooks, only for the desktop. The Trackpad is battery-powered, communicates via Bluetooth fairy dust, and is ready to ship out right this minute for a dollar under 70 bucks.

Gallery: Apple Magic Trackpad

Apple Magic Trackpad official, shipping now for $69 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Public safety agencies want D Block for themselves, FCC still seeking auction

Darren Murph — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:18:00 +0000

The 700MHz 'D Block' has been the subject of much debate over the past few years, primarily because the FCC's master plan to auction it off -- yet require the winner to open up the waves for public safety use on command -- didn't exactly pan out. Post-failure, the agency made clear its plans to host up another auction or two in order to accomplish the same goal via slightly different means, but now public safety entities are coming forward with a healthy amount of opposition. Rob Davis, head of the San Jose Police Department, puts it bluntly: "If they auction this spectrum, we've lost it forever." These public safety officials also have allies in Congress, with many worried that auctioning off the spectrum may lead to an inability to accurately wield bandwidth in a hurry if needed during a national emergency. The FCC plan also alleviates the cost issue, but public advocates have a solution there as well -- they say that if given the 'D Block' outright, they could "lease excess airwaves to commercial carriers since they would not always need all of it." Of course, that's a pretty big assumption about the willingness of carriers to lease space, and we suspect a lot more back-and-forth will go on here in the coming months. Oh, the drama.

Public safety agencies want D Block for themselves, FCC still seeking auction originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source R&D ships Wisair-based Warpia Easy Dock wireless docking station

Darren Murph — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:01:00 +0000

It took 'em a few months, but Source R&D is finally ready to save your desktop replacement from those awful cables that are typically required when connecting a bona fide monitor, keyboard and mouse to a laptop. The Wisair-based Easy Dock works with Macs and PCs, with a single USB transceiver used to connect your mobile machine to (just) two hard-wired USB peripherals and a single DVI monitor (with a resolution cap of 1,400 x 1,050 or 1,440 x 900). She's available now for $149.99 at the links below, but make sure you're okay with the aforesaid limits before pulling the trigger.

Continue reading Source R&D ships Wisair-based Warpia Easy Dock wireless docking station

Source R&D ships Wisair-based Warpia Easy Dock wireless docking station originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Walmart to add RFID tags to individual items, freak out privacy advocates

Darren Murph — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:23:00 +0000

Walmart's been pushing RFID for years now, using it to better manage the company's vast inventories and understand where products are and how fast they're approaching. Now, the mega-retailer is about to take things to another level, and it just might push competitors into getting with the program. As of now, there's limited consumer-facing benefit to tracking pallets in transit, but a Wall Street Journal report suggests that Wally World will be placing radio-frequency ID tags on individual clothes. The initiative is slated to kick off next month, and it's expected to help apparel managers know when certain sizes and colors are depleted and need to be restocked. In theory, having this ability will ensure that consumers never see their desired size or hue as sold out, and if the clothing trial is successful, the tags could be rolled out to a near-infinite amount of kit. Of course, privacy advocates are all wound up about the idea, though it seems as if most sniffing concerns could be dealt with if the tags were removed as customers departed the store. Unless you're leaving in a hurry, that is...

Walmart to add RFID tags to individual items, freak out privacy advocates originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Wall Street Journal, Reuters | Email this | Comments

Qi wireless power standard finalized, universal contactless chargers look closer to reality than ever

Vlad Savov — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:34:00 +0000

The Wireless Power Consortium took a big step forward this past week with the confirmation that its precocious Qi interoperability standard has been finalized. Composed of three documents setting out the interface, performance and compliance requirements, the new dictum has set itself the not inconsiderable challenge of making wireless charging universal, so that any Qi-approved phone can soak up juice from any Qi-verified base station, dock or omnitool. This first spec is limited to devices requiring no more than 5 Watts, an appropriately humble early goal, though cauldrons are already bubbling with ideas for laptops and the like. We just hope the impressive list of big time companies on the Consortium will succeed in taking Qi into the mainstream -- who here hasn't dreamt of their phone being compatible with the Touchstone?

[Thanks, MrStringTheorist]

Qi wireless power standard finalized, universal contactless chargers look closer to reality than ever originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T readies new calling plans for July 25, nothing changing at the core

Darren Murph — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:38:00 +0000

Well, well -- what have we here? It looks as if AT&T is fixing to rebundle its wireless plans starting on July 25th, obviously with intent to push those newly created data packs onto folks who may otherwise be inclined to pass right over. Furthermore, these new plans encourage users to select unlimited messaging, which -- as everyone and their third cousin knows -- is highway robbery. But then again, it's not like you're about to kick your texting habit, so you might as well pony up. So far as we can tell, the actual value propositions aren't changing (for example, a single user Nation Plan with 450 minutes, unlimited messaging and a 2GB Data Pro plan will cost you $84.99 either way), but it's clear that AT&T's aiming to narrow its offerings. The only real question revolves around the packages that include "pay-per-use" messaging -- will the carrier let users add smaller messaging plans, or just force us all to go unlimited or PPU? The 25th is right around the corner, so we ought to know for certain soon enough.

Update: We've scooped the family plans as well. We've also confirmed that nothing at all should be changing (you can still add select messaging plans to PPU options) in terms of pricing -- it's mostly just reshuffling the furniture, if you know what we mean.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Gallery: AT&T's new calling plans: effective July 25, 2010

Gallery: AT&T's new family calling plans: effective July 25, 2010

AT&T readies new calling plans for July 25, nothing changing at the core originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UK defense firm pumps data through solid submarine walls

Sean Hollister — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:51:00 +0000

Wireless power may still be on the drawing board, but wireless data is here today, and a UK defense contractor has figured out a way to pipe the latter through several inches of steel. Using a pair of piezoelectric transducers on either side of a watertight submarine compartment, BAE's "Through Hull Data Link" sends and receives an acoustic wave capable of 15MHz data rates, enough to transmit video by essentially hammering ever-so-slightly on the walls. BAE impressed submarine commanders by streaming Das Boot right through their three-inch hulls, and while metadrama is obviously the killer app here, the company claims it will also save millions by replacing the worrisome wiring that's physically routed via holes in a submarine's frame. See the company's full US patent application at our more coverage link.

UK defense firm pumps data through solid submarine walls originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile’s HSPA+ blankets 85 million Americans in warm ‘4G’ comfort

Tim Stevens — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:04:00 +0000

The 4G wars are really getting fierce, and we love the smell of bandwidth in the morning. The latest volley comes from T-Mobile, taking this opportunity to let us all know that its HSPA+ network is more pervasive than any other 4G offering in the nation, currently covering 85 million people in the States and growing to 185 million by 2011. Of course, HSPA+ isn't true 4G in that it's (theoretically) slower than LTE and WiMAX, a point that AT&T is surely still grumbling about. But, sometimes you have to go to war with the network you have, not the network you might want or wish to have at a later time.

Continue reading T-Mobile's HSPA+ blankets 85 million Americans in warm '4G' comfort

T-Mobile's HSPA+ blankets 85 million Americans in warm '4G' comfort originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 07:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple shows Nokia’s N97 Mini can be force choked, too (video)

Sean Hollister — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 03:21:00 +0000

Nokia claims it always prioritizes antenna performance over physical design, and we'll take them at their word, but that apparently didn't exempt one Espoo handset from Apple's grip of doom. Here's the Nokia N97 Mini going down for the count, from a full seven bars to two. Of course, Apple doesn't mention whether calls or data drop when the handset's held this way. Video after the break.

[Thanks, Lyndon W.]

Continue reading Apple shows Nokia's N97 Mini can be force choked, too (video)

Apple shows Nokia's N97 Mini can be force choked, too (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft patent application cuts controller cords, sews them back together

Sean Hollister — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:11:00 +0000

Wireless gamepads are more convenient, but for latency, copper trumps 2.4GHz. What to do? Build hybrid controllers that can instantly cut the cord. It seems that's what Microsoft's thinking, as the company applied for a patent on just such a controller in March, using infrared, Bluetooth or RF technologies alongside a wired (possibly USB) connection and switch between the two "without permanent disruption to an ongoing game." Of course, dual-mode controllers have been around for months in a slightly different form -- Microsoft's own Sidewinder X8 and the Razer Mamba did the same for the high-end gaming mouse. It also doesn't bode well that this particular application clearly describes the original chunky Xbox.

Note: As some of you have surmised in comments, this is similar to how the PlayStation 3's controllers work, though they hardly perform the task seamlessly. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit doesn't interrupt a game, but only uses the physical cable to charge a controller's battery pack.

Microsoft patent application cuts controller cords, sews them back together originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Being Manan, SlashGear | USPTO | Email this | Comments