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Trend: WiMax landscape comes into view
To paraphrase Henry Kissinger: Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you. Similarly, a press release announcing a recent In-Stat study on the future of WiMax says that just because WiMax has been at the center of a lot of attention lately does not mean that it is all hype and no substance. Exactly.
To say that there have been exaggerations on both sides of the WiMax debate is true, but only as true as saying that both a jaywalker and Al Capone are law …
Staccato shows single-chip, all-CMOS UWB solution
UWB came on the scene with much fanfare, but the words "rousing success" would not be the first ones to leap to mind when trying to describe the technology's market success to date. Still, there is movement on the UWB front. Staccato Communications is introducing its Ripcord family of products. Ripcord is the industry's first true single-chip, all-CMOS solution based on the WiMedia Alliance's UWB common radio platform and the Certified Wireless USB specification from the USB Implementers …
New WiFi battle front: Airlines vs. airports
This may not be the equivalent of dumping tea into the harbor, but something is brewing in Boston which may have consequence nationwide. Authorities at Boston's Logan Airport continue their campaign to prohibit airlines in the airport from offering free WiFi in their lounges and VIP suites. The airport authority says it has nothing to do with money, but that it is rather an issue of public safety and management. The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), which charges a minimum of $7.95 …
U.K. Parliament mulls wireless connectivity
Owing to space problems, quite a few members of the U.K. Parliament (it is a matter of seniority) have their offices outside the Houses of Parliament in neighboring office buildings. This means that on a busy day of committee meetings and floor voting, an MP may be away from his or her office for most of the day. Now members of Parliament are demanding that wireless Internet access be installed throughout the Houses of Parliament to give them access to information while on the move …
SPOTLIGHT: Home life without wires around corner
Market research from iSuppli says that by 2009, about 155 million consumer electronics devices will be able to connect to wireless networks. Devicescape is not waiting, feeding its WiFi stack to consumer electronics giants such as Sharp. The latter used the WiFi stack to build a variety of Linux-based consumer electronics devices, including TVs, media adapters and personal video recorders (PVR). Devicescape says devices incorporating its WiFi stacks are easily connected and highly …
ALSO NOTED: Accton to show first WiFi VoIP phone; Nintendo to release WiFi version of Tetris; and much more...
> Taiwanese company Accton is set to show first WiFi VoIP phone. Article
> UTStarcom showed its new GSM/VoWiFi GF200 cell phone last week at CES in Las Vegas. Article
> Nintendo will release a WiFi version of Tetris DS, a reworked edition of the 1985 Soviet puzzle game. The WiFi version will add six new modes to Tetris' …
FierceWiFi January 4, 2006
- WiMax arrives in Russia
- Trend: The emergence of smart WiFi
- Metric: Asia-Pacific WiFi market to grow rapidly
- More UK cities to have blanket WiFi coverage
- Motorola's dual-mode phone allows users more control
- SPOTLIGHT: See mom, no cables
- ALSO NOTED: Ruckus demos streaming over WiFi; Azaire Networks joins WiMax Forum; and much more...
WiMax arrives in Russia
From Russia with love: Airspan Networks has deployed the first-ever Russian WiMax network for MetroMAX. MetroMAX was established in 2005 by private investors to build and operate an IP-based voice and data network in the Samara region of Russia. More than 3 million people reside in the region, which covers about 536,000 sq. km. Samara is an oil producing and refining area, but here is a paradox: The region's GNP per capita is more than 30 percent above the Russian national average, but …
Trend: The emergence of smart WiFi
The growing popularity of WiFi is not an accidental. It is a cheap networking solution which does away with cabling and other hassles. When it comes to more demanding tasks such as streaming videos, however, WiFi in its current state may be less than ideal. There are several reasons for this. WiFi was developed for delay-tolerant data applications, and it relies on higher level TCP protocols for error correction and packet retransmissions. WiFi is also a shared medium which …
Metric: Asia-Pacific WiFi market to grow rapidly
The WiFi market in the Asia-Pacific region will grow to $1.29 billion in 2010, up from $213.2 million in 2004, says a recent In-Stat study. Wireless service providers in South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and China expanded their hotspot coverage, and they are planning to expand it even more. Still, In-Stat's Bryan Wang points out that WiFi roll out in Asia has been "inconsistent," saying there is a need "for a proven successful business model for WiFi technology to fit into the telcos' existing …
More UK cities to have blanket WiFi coverage
The Cloud will bring high-speed wireless Web access to eight U.K. cities and a few London boroughs. The first phase of the project will be completed by March 2006. Residents of Birmingham, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham and Oxford, as well as the London boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea, Camden and Islington, will be the first to be covered by the new system. The networks are built by The Cloud and will be open to any ISP wanting to offer the service to …
Motorola's dual-mode phone allows users more control
Motorola used the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show to unveil a new Motorola Residential Seamless Mobility Gateway (RSG). The point: It takes WiFi-to-cellular handover control out of the hands of the carrier and gives it to the consumer. The company's RSG family includes an 802.11b/g wireless AP, a four-port router and a built-in VoIP adapter. When used with a dual-mode handset, these will allow the hotspot to seamlessly transfer voice calls between the home WLAN and the cellular …
SPOTLIGHT: See mom, no cables
Freescale yesterday unveiled its strategy for a wireless version of the Universal Serial Bus (USB) using UWB technology, backed by the first UWB products from Belkin and Gefen. The two peripheral manufacturers backed Freescale's new CableFree USB initiative, Freescale's response to the Wireless USB moniker adopted by the competing and incompatible Intel-backed UWB initiative. The Wireless USB coalition will use this year's CES to announce new products, but Belkin and Gefen moved first with UWB-based USB hubs. Article
ALSO NOTED: Ruckus demos streaming over WiFi; Azaire Networks joins WiMax Forum; and much more...
> STMicroelectronics shows innovative technologies for convergence applications for Wireless Home Networks. Article
> Toshiba's latest silicon germanium (SIGe) BiCMOS power amplifier is designed for use in the 1.9 GHz to 2.5 GHz band applications, which includes WLAN and Bluetooth. …
Vivato, RIP
Sic transit gloria... This is a sad day: WLAN antenna (or, as the company called it, "WiFi switch") innovator Vivato is shutting down. The following message was posted two days ago on the company's Web site: "This difficult decision was deemed by Vivato to be in the best interest of creditors, shareholders and customers, based upon the Company's projection of its future results."
Vivato came on the scene in 2002 with a splash and a $20 million from confident VCs (it …
STMicroelectronics joins EWC
The EWC (Enhanced Wireless Consortium) bandwagon is filling up, and the 802.11n battle is becoming more interesting. STMicroelectronics, a former member of WWiSE, has joined (EWC), a group formed in October 2005 to offer a third alternative proposal for the 802.11n standard (the other two groups are WWiSE and TGn Sync). ST said it was important to ensure that features specifically designed to enhance battery life and to improve communication range were incorporated into the new standard …
Wipro acquires Austrian chip developer
India's IT outsourcing sector is strong, and getting stronger. In evidence: One of India's largest outsourcing firms, Wipro, has acquired Austrian chip developer New Logic Technologies. The acquisition will allow Wipro's service arm to offer WLAN and Bluetooth capabilities, thus beefing up its IT offerings on the subcontinent. The all-cash $56 million acquisition will add some 120 specialist engineers to Wipro's work force, strengthening the company's wireless R&D activities. It will …
Analysis: Will 802.16 e be the end of WiFi
Several analysts suggest that the approval two weeks ago of the IEEE 802.16e standard (mobile WiMax) would offer WiFi a stiff challenge. About 90 percent of laptops are now delivered with built-in support for WiFi wireless; the technology has been adopted in enterprises and the home; and the number of public WiFi hotspots continues to grow. Will the emergence of Mobile WiMax spell the end of this growing acceptance of WiFi?impasse's CTO Roy Alberts believes that technologies such as …
Indian's WiMax start-up raises $20 million
The Indian economy is not only about outsourcing. The country's evolving telecom industry is beginning to give rise to its own startups, and these start-ups are increasingly appealing to foreign VC firms. The most recent example is last week's announcement that WiMax start-up Telsima has raised $20 million in Series C financing. The round was led by NewPath Ventures and included New Enterprise Associates, CMEA Ventures, ad Jafco Asia (note that NewPath's Vinod Dham, considered Father of …
SPOTLIGHT: Slow to take off
For years frequent fliers have been looking forward to the day when they can settle in their seats, flip open their laptops, surf the Net, download email, even use their VoIP phones. Airlines' financial woes, bad in-flight connections, and regulatory and technical obstacles have always interfered to delay the arrival of such a day. You know what? They will have to wait just a bit longer. Analysis
ALSO NOTED: First also noted headline; second headline; and much more...
> Applied Micro Circuits (AMCC), a leading vendor of embedded processors and network processors, has joined the Wi-Fi Alliance. Story.
> Calypso Wireless has completed the acquisition of Sleipner, a Milan-based company developing software for wireless handheld devices. Press …
802.16e standard ratified
Le jour de gloire est arrivé! The IEEE has ratified the 802.16e standard, also called mobile WiMax. Roger Marks, chair of the 802.16 working group, posted news of the ratification on the 802.16e working group Web site. The ratification will allow vendors to build equipment which is interoperable with gear from other vendors. Interoperability may begin with ratification, but it does not end there. "The standard being ratified is one thing, and the WiMax Forum having tested …
SiBEAM joins EWC
Talk about jumping on the bandwagon! Sunnyvale, CA-based SiBEAM, a company developing gigabit wireless technology, sat on the fence for a long while but yesterday said it had joined the Enhanced Wireless Consortium (EWC). The EWC was formed in the summer when it appeared that TGn Sync and WWiSE, the two rival coalitions offering different proposals for the 802.11n standard, were close to agreeing on a joint proposal. A group of companies led by Atheros, Broadcoam and Intel rushed to offer …