Stories by Stephen Lawson

Judge rules against BlackBerry maker

A US federal judge won't hold up court proceedings in NTP's patent lawsuit against Research In Motion (RIM), opening the door to a possible injunction that would stop sales of BlackBerry mobile email devices and shut down BlackBerry service, at least in the US.

Convergence – the next step

The latest buzzword in telecommunications isn’t a box, an application or a service. Instead, IMS (Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem) is a way of organising all those elements and more.

HP, Philips join to push new RFID standard

Hewlett-Packard and Koninklijke Philips Electronics have teamed up to push adoption of a worldwide standard for RFID (radio frequency identification) systems, the companies announced at the EPCglobal U.S. Conference in Atlanta.

London is global Internet bandwidth capital

London is the biggest international hub city on the Internet, according to a report by research company Telegeography, which also said international Internet traffic is growing faster in Latin America than in any other region.

Distance detection may make wi-fi ‘secure’

Intel is developing a way to locate a wi-fi user, by timing how long it takes for packets to travel to and from a wireless access point. This could prevent users outside a house or office from accessing a wi-fi network indoors.

ITunes phone launch expected next week

Apple and Motorola are expected to team up with Cingular Wireless next week to introduce an iTunes mobile phone that can store and play digital music.

Intel, Cisco team up on Wi-Fi enhancements

Intel and Cisco Systems have joined forces to improve the Wi-Fi experience, initially by delivering better technology for VoIP and for enabling users to automatically connect to the best nearby network.

Windows worm beginning to spread

A variety of worms that exploit a Windows vulnerability disclosed last week are hitting many systems worldwide, reportedly including some at cable network Cable News Network (CNN), and could reach critical mass in the next several hours, according to antivirus vendor Trend Micro.

Third-party technologies enhance Skype

Skype Technologies' strategy of welcoming third-party vendors is spawning numerous extensions to its popular Internet telephony service, which is beginning to branch into videoconferencing, data collaboration and mobile wireless calls.

New ITU standard boosts speed of DSL

Faster broadband is closer to reality with completion of the latest International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standard for DSL (digital subscriber line), which is already in the playbooks of two major U.S. carriers.
The specification, called VDSL2 (Very High Bit Rate DSL 2), can deliver as much as 100Mbps (bits per second) both upstream and downstream, according to an ITU statement. That bandwidth, many times current DSL speeds of just a few megabits per second or less, could handily deliver voice calls, videoconferencing, high-definition TV and video on demand over existing copper phone lines, according to the standards body, an agency of the United Nations.

Vendors, carriers join Intel with WiMax plans

Intel's commercial launch of a WiMax wireless broadband chip on Monday brought out several equipment vendors planning products based on the chip as well as service providers saying they will hold trials of the technology.

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