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Communications
Unused TV channels bring broadband to rural U.S.
By Jeff Salton
07:23 October 23, 2009 PDT
Discarded and left-for-dead, old TV broadcast channels (called “white spaces”) that have been freed up by the transition to digital TV in the U.S. are being given new life and used to wirelessly deliver high-speed Internet connectivity to business, education and community users. Under an experimental license granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Spectrum Bridge designed and deployed a wireless TV white spaces network to distribute broadband Internet connectivity in Claudville, Virginia. To ensure the local residents make the most of this new high-speed connectivity, Dell, Microsoft and the TDF Foundation have contributed software and hardware to the local school and the town’s new computer center. Read More
Plasmonics breakthrough promises faster computers and communications
17:14 October 21, 2009 PDT
Plasmonics is a promising emerging technology that attempts to put together the best of two worlds — optics and electronics — to achieve faster computation and communication by making optical devices significantly smaller. In recent research, a team of European scientists has solved a long-standing problem in this field by sending signals over a long distance in a breakthrough that brings this technology much closer to mass production. Read More
Wearable antennas promise shirts with satellite link
By Jeff Salton
03:48 October 5, 2009 PDT
Gizmag has always had an interest in "smart clothing", whether it be a jacket that warms you on icy slopes, a coat that delivers an electric shock to ward off physical threats, vests that double as health monitors or even a concept bra that's supposed to help in the search for a husband. The latest research being conducted in the area involves flexible antennas which can be embedded in clothing, allowing the wearer to communicate with low-orbiting satellites wirelessly and exchange greater levels of information, including GPS positioning. Read More
New advances in excitonics promise faster computers
16:44 October 1, 2009 PDT
Much of today's research in electronics is geared towards obtaining faster computing and higher communication speeds. Researchers at UC San Diego are no exception, and have recently announced they have made another important step towards achieving exciton-based computation at room temperatures. Excitonics exploits the unique properties of excitons instead of the usual electrons, and promises much faster performance by interfacing more naturally with optical communications such as fiber optics. Read More
Honda’s LOOP and HELLO vehicle2vehicle and vehicle2driver infrastructure
By Gizmag Team
10:55 October 1, 2009 PDT
Honda issued a press statement and images of its Tokyo Motor Show exhibits yesterday, raising far more questions than it answered with the brief and cryptic release. One of the primary announcements involved a car2car and car2driver and car2infrastructure communications system named HELLO! (Honda ELectric mobility LOop) and a LOOP portable communication tool that fits in the palm of one’s hand and “allows people and mobility devices to communicate with each other.” The various components of the system look fascinating. Read More
Honda to exhibit 2WD electric motorcycle at Tokyo Motor Show?
By Mike Hanlon
18:19 September 30, 2009 PDT
Honda has released images of several new eco-friendly two-wheelers it will present at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month, including the EV-Cub electric motorcycle, the EVE-neo electric scooter and its previously-announced PCX global scooter, the first two-wheeler to employ an 'idling stop system'. The most interesting of the new eco-bikes is without doubt the EV-Cub, which employs what appears to be car2car and car2driver communications dubbed HELLO! (Honda ELectric mobility LOop) and a LOOP portable communication tool that fits in the palm of one’s hand and “allows people and mobility devices to communicate with each other.” The EV-Cub also appears to have electric motors in both front and rear wheels, indicating that it is almost certainly a two-wheel-drive (2WD) motorcycle. 2WD motorcycles are expected to become commonplace in the future as, like their 4WD automotive cousins, they offer traction advantages on loose surfaces and wet roads and improve rider safety, especially for learners. Read More
Nanoscale lasers continue to shrink, heralding new era in optical science
By Darren Quick
20:28 August 31, 2009 PDT
Breakthroughs are coming thick and fast – or should that be thin and fast – in the field of nanoscale lasers. It wasn’t even a month ago that we reported on the development of a laser emitting 'metal-semiconductor-metal sandwich', made up of a semiconductor as thin as 80 nanometers laying between 20-nanometer dielectric layers. But now researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have reached a new milestone in laser physics by creating the world's smallest semiconductor laser, capable of generating visible light in a space smaller than a single protein molecule. Read More
SY Thalia - an electronic haven on the high seas
By Jeff Salton
07:41 August 13, 2009 PDT
The SY Thalia is a yacht with a difference … while it’s a beautiful looking vessel outside, it’s what’s inside that really takes your breath away. The 159-foot ketch is fitted out with an award-winning array of the latest and greatest AV gear that is usually reserved for luxury homes. In total, the $300,000+ installation has 12 entertainment, video and navigation zones, including five video screens, one of which is a home theater. Read More
Nanoscale lasers are about to get even smaller
20:48 August 4, 2009 PDT
In a collaborative effort between the Arizona State University and Technical University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands, researchers have found a way to make optical lasers much smaller than it was previously thought was possible, making dreams of speedier computers and faster Internet access closer to reality than ever before. Read More
Licensing issues threaten to shut Skype down for good
By Loz Blain
03:02 July 31, 2009 PDT
When eBay bought Skype from Joltid in 2005, the whopping US$2.6 billion price tag didn't include the Global Index peer-to-peer software that the world's biggest Internet Telephony system is based on. And now, Joltid is trying to cancel Skype's license on the Global Index technology in a move that threatens to shut Skype down once and for all. Is it just a canny commercial chess move to force eBay to sell Skype back to Joltid at a huge discount - or is it the end of Skype as we know it? Read More
Help design a car for the future
By Paul Ridden
23:22 July 27, 2009 PDT
C,mm,n (pronounced common) is an open community design project that is not only counting on its members to help design a car but is also tasking them with producing a whole new mobility solution to cope with the challenging demands of the future. The blueprints for the proposed electric car concept and the mobility concepts are freely available under an open source licence and contributions are welcome from anyone and everyone. Read More
Mobile Exchange on Wheels to bolster telecommunications in disaster areas
By Jeff Salton
19:42 July 27, 2009 PDT
Devastating wildfires are burning around the Mediterranean this summer and down south, Australia is still recovering from its worst wildfire season in history in which more than 150 lives and 1800 homes were lost on ‘Black Saturday’. Telecommunications are paramount to helping save lives and direct fire-fighting efforts in wildfires but unfortunately, infrastructure such as mobile and fixed line phones and Internet services are often early casualties in fire ravaged areas. The country’s major telco, Telstra, has launched a portable solution to this issue with the unveiling of a AUD$200,000 Mobile Exchange on Wheels (MEOW) which can be quickly deployed to provide temporary fixed-line communications including broadband. Read More
Google Wave - the end of email as we know it
By Loz Blain
01:31 July 24, 2009 PDT
E-mail has been dawdling along in much the same form since the early days of the Internet. In fact, e-mail now feels like a pretty stodgy, clunky and formal style of online communication. But hold onto your seats, because Google is about to turn e-mail on its head with the release of a revolutionary new technology called Google Wave that's due to start trickling into users' hands this September. Wave combines the strengths of e-mail with the immediacy of instant messaging and the collaborative power of social networking - and wraps that all up into a killer web application that can then be embedded into any web page or used as a private communication system. Sound complicated? It is - but you'll understand it perfectly after watching this ten-minute video. Read More
Contracts awarded for new Space Fence system
By Jeff Salton
00:16 July 21, 2009 PDT
Is it a bird, a plane, a UFO, or a piece of space junk hurtling towards Earth minutes away from catastrophe? Hopefully, before too long we won’t have to guess. The U.S. Air Force has awarded USD$30 million contracts to defense technology specialists Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin to help create the prototype of a new situational awareness network dubbed "Space Fence". The Space Fence system will enable the Air Force to better detect, report and track very small objects in low Earth orbit. Read More
Using mobile phone towers to help predict the next big flood
17:06 July 8, 2009 PDT
Atmospheric humidity can strongly influence radio signals by scattering them in all directions, weakening and making it much harder to detect on the receiving end. A team of researchers from the University of Tel Aviv has now found a new, promising way of exploiting this phenomenon to accurately predict the intensity of imminent floods and other natural catastrophes. Read More
Fragrance abuse - the next internet phenomenon
By Paul Ridden
17:26 July 7, 2009 PDT
Japanese telecommunications company NTT Com is currently seeking volunteers to test a pungent bit of kit which produces different smells at the request of programs downloaded from the Internet. There will be two separate trials of the i-Aroma conducted in Japan from mid-July to the end of August. One course will send out smells matching "the rhythm of daily life" while the other will release odors based on an ancient astrological system. Read More
Samsung's all-in-one HD video conferencing monitor
By Darren Quick
22:08 June 18, 2009 PDT
Video conferencing offers businesses a way to save time and money on travel expenses while providing that all-important face-to-face communication. Samsung, partnering with RADVISION, has developed the VC240, a new all-in-one solution that integrates all the components required for high definition desktop video conferencing into a single unit. As well as operating as a standalone desktop HD video conferencing device without the need of a PC, it can also be used as a high-resolution monitor. Read More
LG to launch 3G watch phone in July
By Darren Quick
01:01 June 5, 2009 PDT
LG’s wristwatch videophone that first piqued our interest when it appeared at CES 2009 has been given a release date. Dick Tracy wannabes will be able to live out their fantasies when the LG-GD910 Touch Watch Phone goes on sale from July. The GD-910 will initially be exclusively available through Orange UK and Carphone Warehouse before hitting Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and Latin America. There’s no announcement as to whether a yellow coat and fedora will be included with the Touch Watch Phone. Read More
Verizon Wireless MiFi Intelligent Mobile Hotspot set for launch
By David Greig
01:51 May 15, 2009 PDT
Version Wireless will introduce the much anticipated MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot on May 17. The credit-card sized MiFi 2200 will allow customers to create a wireless access point with up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices such as notebooks, netbooks, cameras, gaming devices or portable media/MP3 players. Read More
Quick click access to mobile services
By Paul Best
00:56 May 5, 2009 PDT
It’s not only that mobile phones are enormously powerful communication tools – it's the highly personal way we use and customise them that is emerging and catching the attention of mobile operators. Australian communications giant Telstra is one that has seen the need to simplify how we access mobile services, launching a new mobile user interface – called TelstraOne Experience – that lets its customers access their favourite applications and services with one click. Read More
Microsoft wants us to hear it on the Vine
By Darren Quick
04:00 April 30, 2009 PDT
With the Facebook and Twitter social networking juggernaut rolling ever onwards, Microsoft is looking to jump on the bandwagon with its new social web app called Vine. While sites such as Facebook and Twitter use the global span of the internet to let users connect with people from all corners of the globe, Vine makes its focus local, concentrating on keeping users in touch with family, friends, activities and major events in their community, including disasters and emergencies. Read More
Taser AXON wearable surveillance kit – to protect, serve and record
By Darren Quick
22:33 March 24, 2009 PDT
Dashboard cameras mounted on police vehicles have proven their worth in backing up courtroom testimony by providing a video record of incidents – as well as giving reality cop shows a veritable wealth of real life footage. Now a new product from Taser International, the company responsible for the electroshock weapon that bears that name, takes the idea one step further by capturing video and audio of incidents from the visual perspective of the responding officer. Read More
Acer jumps into the smartphone market
By Darren Quick
22:04 February 26, 2009 PST
Perhaps realizing that consumers really don’t have enough choices when it comes to mobile phones, Acer has decided to jump into the market with the introduction of a new line of smartphones aimed at both home and business users. Acer unveiled the first set of phones to make up their Acer Tempo Smartphone series at the Mobile World Congress held recently in Barcelona. Let’s have a look see at the specs. Read More
The (old-school) Bluetooth phone
By Darren Quick
20:27 February 26, 2009 PST
From the, “it’s a cute idea, but who would actually buy one” file comes a Bluetooth Portable Rotary Phone from Sparkfun Electronics called the Blue Phone. That’s right, if that miniature Bluetooth headset you’re using is proving just too damn convenient, then why not opt for one of these. The Blue Phone is compatible with any mobile phone that supports the hands-free protocol and works just like rotary phones from the days of yore – loud annoying metallic bells and all. Read More
Australian telco declares world record network speed of 21Mbps
By Darren Quick
01:12 February 17, 2009 PST
Australia’s Telstra was tooting its horn last night at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with news its Telstra Next G network was declared the world’s fastest national mobile broadband network by the Guinness World Records with speeds of 21Mbps. Read More
Terotech
- November 21, 2009 @ 19:38 UTC
