Network

Google to feature Twitter updates in search

By Dario Borghino

17:35 October 26, 2009 PDT

Since it was founded three years ago, Twitter has quickly grown into a social phenomenon used by presidents and bloggers alike for breaking news, political protests, marketing and personal blogging, offering a unique real-time cross-section of today's society. In a recent announcement made by Google's VP of search products and user experience, Melissa Mayer, the search giant said it had reached an agreement with the microblogging service and would soon be able to integrate status updates with its standard search results. Read More

Microsoft launches long awaited Windows 7

By Mick Webb

20:13 October 22, 2009 PDT

After much anticipation and speculation, Microsoft has finally released its long awaited Windows 7 operating system. Aiming to make it easier for users to “do the things they want to do on a PC”, Microsoft’s successor to the largely ill-conceived Vista brings a host of new features to the table. Read More

A cheap way to increase capacity and improve download speeds of strained broadband networks

By Darren Quick

23:19 October 18, 2009 PDT

A new technology that applies the same principles used by ADSL to improve the capacity of data transfer over copper and wireless broadband could potentially increase the data capacity of optical fiber cables tenfold. It’s creators say the technology, known as optical Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (oOFDM), offers an inexpensive way drastically boost the capacity of increasingly strained broadband networks and improve download times around the world. Read More

Cyber 'ants' patrol PC networks against computer worms and other threats

By Dario Borghino

00:46 September 29, 2009 PDT

In looking for highly efficient ways to solve complex problems, we've often seen researchers mimic the solutions found by nature over billions of years: smart fabrics inspired by pine cones, spectrum analyzers modeled after the human ear and powerful search-and-optimization genetic and evolutionary algorithms, to name just a few. The latest piece of news comes from Wake Forest University, where the group dynamics of ant colonies have inspired security software to fight computer worms and other threats. Read More

Belkin Home Base: the box that does it all

By Paul Ridden

16:49 September 17, 2009 PDT

Wirelessly sharing devices such as a printer over a home network has just been made a mite easier with the introduction of Belkin's Home Base. This handy 802.11b/g/n compatible do-it-all box allows connection and access of up to four USB devices, can automatically back up files and share pictures on Flickr or Picassa accounts, and painlessly shares files between computers on an existing wireless network. Read More

Smart Grid City now online

By Paul Ridden

16:18 September 16, 2009 PDT

Boulder, Colorado has just become the world's first city to benefit from an intelligent power supply monitoring system. The Smart Grid City system aims to make outages easier to predict and/or prevent, manage power flow throughout the infrastructure and give customers greater access to energy information and more control over how much they use. Xcel Energy constantly monitors the grid network for any irregularities, allowing the company to fix problems before they happen. Read More

IEEE ratifies 802.11n amendment (at last)

By Paul Ridden

21:29 September 15, 2009 PDT

Seven years after starting to talk about it, and six years after introducing the first draft, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) has finally ratified the 802.11n wireless local area network (WLAN) amendment to the base standard. This effectively means that the super-fast routers we've been using in our home networks and for internet access for the past couple of years are now amongst those officially recognized by the IEEE. Read More

Reality Mining: Tomorrow’s forecast predicts humanity’s needs

By Darren Quick

23:54 July 29, 2009 PDT

Researchers will one day be able to accurately predict such things as the economic and social effects of billions of new Internet users in China and India, or the exact location and number of airline flights to cancel around the world in order to halt the spread of a pandemic, says Indiana University’s Alessandro Vespignani. This capability will be possible thanks to “reality mining”, which involves the collection of data from machine-sensed sources to provide knowledge about aggregated human behavior. 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

Cisco PVC300 Internet camera brings Big Brother to small companies

By Alan Brandon

17:06 June 11, 2009 PDT

Cisco’s new PVC300 Pan Tilt Optical Zoom Internet Camera provides a suite of surveillance features aimed at small companies who want to keep a watchful eye on their employees and business property. Designed to operate on existing wired networks, the PVC300 provides two-way audio, motion activated recording, automatic alerts and full-motion live video that can be viewed from virtually anywhere on an Internet-enabled PC or mobile phone. Read More

Movie studios look at the big picture (and small) with Epix service

By Paul Best

20:10 June 10, 2009 PDT

A triumvirate of major movie studios – Lionsgate, Paramount and MGM – is planning to launch a new TV service called Epix that will screen recent catalogue titles in HD. But what’s interesting is the group's move to bundle it with a Hulu-like on-demand, commercial-free service that streams the same films in 720p HD. Read More

Healthmap.org – charting global public health threats

By Mike Hanlon

01:03 May 15, 2009 PDT

Tapping the Internet – including personal Web searches, news reports, blogs, chat rooms and social networking sites – is fast becoming a way to get a complete, up-to-the-minute view of public health threats, say researchers from the Informatics Program at Children’s Hospital Boston (CHIP) in a Perspectives article published Online First by The New England Journal of Medicine on May 7, 2009. In an accompanying sidebar, they describe the use of HealthMap.org – a freely available Web site that aggregates, categorizes, filters and displays real-time information on emerging infectious diseases – in tracking the current H1N1 swine flu outbreak.


 Read More

Golden-i Bluetooth headset with virtual PC display

By Darren Quick

23:04 May 11, 2009 PDT

Mobile phones and laptop computers have made traditional 9-to-5 workdays a thing of the past for many workers. That ability to work from any location, however, can be a double-edged sword. The flexibility to be freed from the office also means that work is increasingly encroaching on people’s recreation time, as they find they are never really off the clock. That situation looks set to worsen, or improve, depending on your perspective, with the introduction of the Golden-i from Kopin Corporation. The Golden-i is a Bluetooth headset that provides a 15-inch virtual display with a hands-free, natural-speech-recognition interface for wireless remote control over a range of devices including mobile phones, PCs, company networks and wireless systems. Read More

LaCie releases new high capacity network storage drives

By Darren Quick

22:27 May 7, 2009 PDT

With the advantage of freeing up a server to concentrate on tasks besides file serving, Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices have become an increasingly popular option for small offices and home users over the last few years. LaCie has two new high capacity NAS solutions for anyone considering going this route – the Big Disk Network and d2 Network. The d2 Network supports up to 1.5TB capacity, while the Big Disk Network combines two drives in a RAID 0 setting, for up to 4TBs of storage. Read More

AOL’s Socialthing aims to simplify your digital life

By Darren Quick

22:24 May 4, 2009 PDT

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are designed to make keeping in touch with friends and family easy, but as the list of such sites continues to grow, the task of keeping up to date with all that data can quickly lead to information overload. "Lifestreaming" applications designed to simplify the process by aggregating data from multiple sources are now emerging. AOL's Socialthing is the latest lifestreaming app to join the ranks of FriendFeed, Tumblr.com and the recently announced Vine from Microsoft. Read More

Greener computers talk in their sleep

By Darren Quick

23:48 April 27, 2009 PDT

Computers are often left running so they stay connected to a network or the Internet – be it to ensure remote access, availability for virus scans and backup, maintaining presence on instant messaging (IM) or voice-over-IP (VoIP) networks, or for file sharing and downloading. Although such tasks mean the PCs are relatively idle, they remain in awake mode and draw more power than they really need. Now computer scientists at UC San Diego and Microsoft Research have created a plug-and-play hardware prototype for personal computers that induces a new energy saving state known as "sleep talking", which provides much of the energy savings of sleep mode and some of the network-and-Internet-connected convenience of awake mode. Read More

OnLive streams HD games to any old PC or Mac

By Darren Quick

01:03 March 27, 2009 PDT

Cloud computing is a concept that has been touted as the next generation technology for some time and with major players such as Google, Microsoft and Apple now heartily embracing the idea it seems its time has finally come. While the advantages of the approach have long been recognized, the Internet speeds required to make it feasible have meant that cloud computing has remained a blip on the horizon until recently. But with high speed connections becoming more and more available around the world companies are rushing to get on the cloud bandwagon lest they be left behind and miss out on the ‘next big thing’. And it’s not just the standard office applications like word processing, spreadsheets and databases that are making the move. The world of gaming could also be headed for a shake up as Palo Alto-based OnLive tests the water in providing on-demand games streaming over a broadband connection. Read More

Ericsson claiming a major breakthrough in broadband - 500Mbit/s over copper lines

By Paul Evans

17:19 March 22, 2009 PDT

The next generation of Super Broadband DSL is just around the corner. Swedish Telecommunications giant Ericsson has demonstrated 500-Mbits/s transmission rates over copper cabling by using new crosstalk cancellation or "vectorized" VDSL2 based modems. The data rate is over 20 times faster than the fastest ADSL2 services currently on offer in most countries. With products using the technology likely to be available by the end of the year, this will open up the possibility of broadband services such as video-on-demand over IPTV networks. Read More

The ultimate in top-tier social networking: Facebook for the filthy rich

By Darren Quick

01:27 March 17, 2009 PDT

Groucho Marx famously said he wouldn’t want to be a member of any club that would have him as a member. That means he probably wouldn’t have been rushing to join Affluence.org, even though he’s one of the select few with would’ve had enough cash to meet the entry requirements. Described as, “Facebook for the filthy rich”, by its founder, Scott Mitchell, Affluence.org requires members to have a verified net worth of at least USD$3 million or an annual household income of USD$300,000. 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

NewerTech offers cheap, fast wireless solution

By Darren Quick

21:19 January 29, 2009 PST

The MAXPower 802.11g/b Wireless USB 2.0 Stick Adapter from NewerTech is a Plug and Play 802.11g/b wireless adapter that enables owners of USB 2.0/1.1 equipped Macs and PCs that haven’t yet gone wireless to affordably upgrade to wireless home and office networking. The solution is designed for Macintosh desktop and notebook computers, such as PowerMac G4, iMac G4, PowerBook G3/G4 and iBook G3 models that didn't include built in wireless or have a non-working AirPort card. Read More

MAGNET Beyond project envisions the 4G wireless world

By Kyle Sherer

16:26 November 17, 2008 PST

Anticipating a future in which individual consumers have hundreds, or even thousands of wireless devices, the EU-funded MAGNET Beyond project has designed a wireless network structure that will easily and securely link them all. The 4G “Network of Everything” would be a secure multi-network, multi-device, multi-user personal network that gives users constant access to all their devices, no matter what the distance is between them. Read More

Sun Unified Storage Systems offer simplified, cost-effective data management

By Darren Quick

23:54 November 11, 2008 PST

Sun Microsystems has introduced the first products in its Unified Storage System line-up with the promise of breakthrough diagnostics and troubleshooting capabilities, optimized performance, one-fourth the energy consumption, simple installation and configuration in under five minutes and up to 75% cost savings compared to competing storage systems. Read More

Distributed network of laptop accelerometers used as seismic detector

By Noel McKeegan

15:38 November 4, 2008 PST

We're often surprised by the unforeseen applications that emerge when lateral thinking is applied to new technology - and this is certainly one of them. The Quake-Catcher Network aims to create the world’s largest earthquake monitoring system by linking internet-connected computers. The key to the system is its ability to take advantage of Sudden Motion Sensors or Active Protection Systems that are already found in many recently manufactured laptop computers. Day-to-day, these sensors are designed to protect the computer's hard disk from vibration, but by running specially designed networking software they become a far-reaching, low-cost solution for a seismic detection and early earthquake warning system. Read More

Iomega StorCenter ix2 home network storage solution

By Noel McKeegan

01:11 October 17, 2008 PDT

Iomega appears to have hit the mark in terms of both usability and affordability with its StorCenter ix2 network storage solution. The "dictionary sized" unit offers home and small-business users Gigabit Ethernet connectivity and up to two terabytes of storage on two high-performance SATA-II drives, which can be configured a simple four-click set-up. It also includes print server capability, security camera support, Bluetooth file uploads and a built-in media server that allows it to be used as a home multimedia hub. Read More