Cellular

Burning Man, the popular desert music festival, is this year featuring a free, solar powered cellular network for the duration of the festival which winds up on Monday. The open source software, OpenBTS (Open Base Transceiver Station) is a low-cost replacement for traditional cell networks. It allows mobile phones to connect to each other if they're all within range of the transceiver, or to connect with any other phones with Internet connection. It utilizes a Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) to create a GSM air interface on any standard GSM mobile phone. The founders of Burning Man, which began this week in Black Rock City, Nevada, have decided to trial the system by allowing the 50,000 or so attendees free access to the network. Read More

Heart disease remains one the biggest killers in the Western world. When a heart attack or heart failure occurs, permanent damage often results, destroying live cells and leaving the patient with irreversible scarring. Now scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) have discovered a new technique to create healthy beating heart cells from structural cells, opening up the possibility of regenerating damaged hearts. Read More

Scientists have begun integrating electronics into biology, but don't bolt your doors in fear of cyborgs and hybrid human-robots yet! Researchers from the Instituto de Microelectrónica de Barcelona IMB-CNM (CSIC), have found a way to implant minute silicon chips into living cells and use them as intracellular sensors. This bio-nanotechnological advancement could tell us a lot about how our cells are working at a nano level, and have widespread implications for early detection of diseases, and new cellular repair mechanisms. Read More

Anyone familiar with a loss of internet connection will attest to the absolute standstill of productivity it can cause, and in an office environment it can near spell disaster if not dealt with swiftly. With a view to counteracting this issue and possibly gearing up towards the shift to increasingly cellular technologies, Netgear has unveiled the Wireless-N 300 router with DSL Modem Mobile Broadband Edition – or rather, the DGN 2200M. The router combines 802.11n wireless with an integrated ADSL+2 modem as well as optional cellular connectivity through an external 3G/4G/WiMAX modem. Read More

Swedish telecommunications company TeliaSonera has launched the world’s first commercially available 4G mobile broadband network. While an international roll out of up to twenty five countries is planned in the next year, the network will initially be made available in the central parts of Stockholm and Oslo, and is designed to provide speeds up to 100Mbit/s - ten times faster than those of the existing 3G networks. Read More

The ability to be not just unwired, but entirely off the grid is getting far more manageable for the road warrior. Cradlepoint manufactures a range of portable 3G and 4G routers ideal for the mobile workforce, so that within minutes you can set up a secure WiFi network and share access from one cellular data modem with an entire team. Now Tekkeon has released a new compact battery that provides six to eight hours of runtime for CradlePoint portable 3G and 4G mobile broadband routers when no power outlet is available. By combining Tekkeon’s new USD$100 rechargeable lithium polymer MP2250 battery with any of several 3G/4G routers manufactured by CradlePoint, users can power a secure WiFi hotspot for hours – anywhere there’s cellular access. Read More