Telecommunications

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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

When it comes to the Internet there is no such thing as too fast, and while Fiber to the Home (FTTH) technology is becoming more and more popular internationally with stats showing more than 13 million FTTH-connected homes in Japan, six million in the US, a similar number in China and nearly two million FTTH subscribers in Europe, it's only just reaching countries with lower population densities like Australia. Read More

Skype has launched version 4.0 for Windows offering full-screen video calling, a new built-in bandwidth manager that optimizes calls in relation to your connection, a new audio codec which promises wideband audio quality using 50% less bandwidth than required by previous versions, plus a number of changes designed to make the user experience easier. Read More

January 7, 2009 As Internet connectivity extends further around the world and broadband uptake becomes almost ubiquitous, Skype finds itself in an excellent position dominating the Internet telephony business with its simple, familiar software and free Skype-to-Skype calls around the world. It's certainly our preferred communication tool at Gizmag, keeping our globetrotting team in touch without any fuss. And now it can be completely divorced from the computer, as Asus has shown with its AiGuru SV1 standalone videophone at the 2009 Vegas CES. The US$300 AiGuru can connect to the net through your home wifi, and with its built-in speaker, camera, screen and microphone, you've got a fully functional videophone right out of the box, ready to connect to the world's biggest videophone network. Read More

Phone conversations in noisy environments present interesting challenges for makers of Bluetooth headsets. And while BlueAnt decided to go with a sophisticated noise canceling algorithm, the Zivio Boom goes about the task of getting a clearer voice out of the microphone in a much more old-fashioned way - with an extendable, bendable Nitinol boom mic that you can position right in front of your mouth. How better to isolate your voice? Read More

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

The all-conquering iPhone is a pretty impressive gadget out of the box - but it's the fantastic App Store that really keeps the honeymoon going, giving users access to literally thousands of downloadable third-party applications. From the sublime to the ridiculous, they're only a few taps away - and a large number of them are free. Useful? Sometimes. Perfect? Rarely. Addictive? Hell yes, show me an iPhone user that hasn't thumbed through the app store late at night and I'll show you somebody who should have bought a Nokia. Here's a few of our favorite freebies - and a couple of things we want to know why we can't have! Read More

The latest metrics data from advertising firm AdMob provides an interesting snapshot of the continuing rise of smartphone usage in the global marketplace. Smartphones now account for more than a quarter (25.8%) of worldwide traffic according to the company's August figures with the Nokia N70 leading the pack with an 11.7% share. In the US, the BlackBerry 8100 is the weapon of choice garnering 14.7% of traffic but the big mover - somewhat unsurprisingly, is Apple's iPhone, which the report found to be the fastest growing device in the world last month putting it into fourth spot in the US where its traffic doubled (7.8%) and ninth globally ( 3.8%). Read More