wireless - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• NSW gets world's largest Wi-Fi network

  NSW will soon have the largest centrally-controlled wireless network in the world with Wi-Fi covering every school in the state, according to the NSW Department of Education and Training (DET).

• Sony to launch first TransferJet devices this week

  Sony will launch the first laptop containing the new TransferJet short-range wireless system on Saturday. Sony hopes TransferJet will replace cables for shifting data between gadgets, but the technology's success will depend on its use in products from the big-name consumer electronics companies that have pledged to support it.

• Cisco downplays WLAN vulnerability

  Cisco Systems downplayed a vulnerability in some of its wireless access points, reporting Tuesday that there is no risk of data loss or interception.

• Nortel accepts Nokia Siemens bid for wireless assets

  Nortel Networks has entered into an agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks to sell its its wireless network infrastructure business assets for $US650 million, it said on Friday.

• Data transfer rates to jump with Bluetooth 3.0

  A standards group on Tuesday approved specifications for a new Bluetooth standard that speeds up wireless data transfers between devices like smartphones and laptops.

• Finger print scanners latest weapon for NSW police

  The NSW government has spent more than $5 million issuing police with portable digital fingerprint scanners to stop criminals weaseling out of fines, arrest warrants, court appearances and breaches of bail.

• Security risks rise as smartphones become smarter

  As wireless devices become more numerous within businesses, their convenience will be counterbalanced by an increasing potential for security problems, according to a Gartner analyst.

• 4RF operates around the clock from NZ

  Being headquartered in New Zealand is a competitive advantage, according to Wellington-based wireless equipment supplier 4RF Communications

• Vista, wireless kept off main Olympic IT chores roster

  Microsoft Vista has been relegated to waterboy status at the 2008 Olympic Games, while wireless networking won’t even play a supporting role in Beijing.

• Toybox: Wireless music player connects to your PCs and the net

  Logitech's wireless music player Squeezebox has found its way to Toybox headquarters. The first thing I noticed when happily carrying it home on Friday afternoon was how light it was. After some extensive testing in my home test lab, I must say I don’t have many complaints.

• Toybox: Keyboard works a treat from the couch

  Microsoft sent Computerworld its wireless Bluetooth entertainment 7000 keyboard and mouse to test. Initially, I thought this ultra-thin keyboard was going to find a new home on my desk, but after testing it I found I was mistaken.

• Tasmanian education to upgrade wireless

  The Department of Education in Tasmania will implement new wireless networks to replace some 800 existing access points across a number of state schools and its internal ITS department in Hobart.

• CSIRO wins another round in US wireless case

  A US federal court in Texas has granted the Australian science agency, the CSIRO an injunction to prevent infringement of its wireless network patent by the Buffalo group of companies in the United States.

• Three of the best in mobile, wireless and telco

  As it happens, the finalists in the Mobile, Wireless and Telecommunications Solutions category of the Computerworld Excellence Awards fall neatly into each niche: Kiwibank, and its Mobile Banking; Canning and Associates Limited, with its WIZWireless rural/remote ISP solution; and Spinning Planet, with its global media convergence telephony and internet access implementation.

• Wireless PDAs deliver cinema snacks quick-smart

  Skycity Cinemas has installed wireless access points in its plush Gold Class cinemas in Auckland and Wellington, so waiting staff can take orders via PDAs and wirelessly transmit them to the kitchen.