It’s no secret that Japan is the country of vending machines (they even have models like this one now), but this is new: Tokyo-based beverage company Asahi Soft Drinks took the wraps off a vending machine [JP] that not only offers drinks but also sends out Wi-Fi signals within a 50m radius.
The Wi-Fi will be available for free, is accessible with multiple devices, without registration, and for anyone to use (meaning users won’t have to buy any drinks to go online through the machine). It’s possible to use the web for about 30 minutes before the machine cuts you off (re-connecting is possible, however). → Read More
Remember Connectify? The downloadable software that turns PCs into Wi-Fi hotspots in just a few minutes? It looks like the company now has a new investor: In-Q-Tel (IQT), which just so happens to be the strategic investment firm that seeks out new technologies for the U.S. Intelligence Community, including the CIA.
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Wi-Fi is a battery hog. When stuck among a bunch of other Wi-Fi devices, most mobile gear will keep polling the access point for data while the other devices get their share. As Duke Today notes, “this means the battery drainage in downloading a movie in Manhattan is far higher than downloading the same movie in a farmhouse in the Midwest.”
New software, called SleepWell, puts the device to sleep while it’s waiting its turn, essentially allowing devices to grab everything they want at once and then hand off the download to the next device. Designed by grad student Justin Manweiler and his advisor, Romit Roy Choudhury, the system can add hours to the average battery. → Read More
Are you, like me, headed out this weekend to the park in your handsomest raincoat/shoes/socks ensemble? Or maybe you’re looking for the invisible sheep that live in Astoria park’s many verdant trees? Or maybe you want to chase squirrels away from your pot o’ gold in Brooklyn? Well now you don’t have to worry about screaming wildly into space to get Internet connectivity because AT&T is giving it to you for free. → Read More
Japan-based Ubiquitous has developed [JP] a power strip with a built-in Wi-Fi module. Dubbed iRemoTap, the strip allows you to do two things: you can track which of the connected devices consumes how much energy on a PC or cell phone in real-time, and you can turn on or off each of these devices remotely. → Read More
A recent breakthrough means we could be looking at double-quick Wi-Fi in the coming years. How? Scientists at Stanford University have discovered a way to simultaneously transmit and receive data over the same radio frequency. Very exciting. → Read More
A recent poll, conducted by Wakefield Research, suggests that 32 percent of folks out there have admitted to trying to access a Wi-Fi network that belongs to someone else. That low? → Read More
Kudos to O2, the Telefónica-owned mobile operator, for planning a country-wide free Wi-Fi network. That country just so happens to be the UK, the home of “dark forces.” Hmm. The network should be fully operational by 2013. → Read More
Texas Instruments will be adding Wi-Fi, via a new adapter, to its TI-Nspire CX Navigator graphing calculator. Wi-Fi! Is there a Cydia-like repository for TI applications? → Read More
Just what we need: more Wi-Fi to foul up our genes and mutate our babies! AT&T is now blanketing Time Square and parts of San Francisco with public Wi-FI (N.B. “public” != free. You still have to pay or be an AT&T subscriber.) However, the best thing is that it will effect areas with the worst AT&T data coverage, which will severely improve your iPhone experience in those areas. → Read More
Google has taken the very brave decision to delete all the Wi-Fi data it had accidentally collected in the UK. The move signals the end to the long-running feud between Google and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. → Read More
Last week’s airplane terror incident has raised new concerns over how much sense it makes to have Wi-Fi and the ability to use mobile phones on aircraft. While the companies that provides these entertainment options have said there’s nothing to worry about (well, besides them worrying about losing money), other security experts argue otherwise. → Read More
The London Underground, commonly known as the Tube, will be getting Wi-Fi. There will be a six-month trial period beginning on November 1 at the Charing Cross station. → Read More
Yeah, today is Apple Day, but we still have a few hours till the big announcements. How to fill the time? Let’s start with this bit of news: Starbucks has launched something called the Starbucks Digital Network. It’s a collaboration with Yahoo, and it will “[serve] up a collection of hand-picked premium news, entertainment and lifestyle content along with local insights and events.” → Read More
The City of New York giveth, and it taketh away. On this fine morning when we discover that there’s a proposal to ban smoking from all city parks and beaches we also discover that city parks will be gaining Wi-Fi access points, courtesy of Time Warner and Cablevision, the two big local cable companies. Well, not really “courtesy of,” since there’s a whole bunch of caveats attached to the deal. First thought: we’re about five years past the point where municipal Wi-Fi could be considered “neat.” → Read More
Darn interesting tale in the Los Angeles Times that tells the story of the DOWNFALL~! of the Wi-Fi café. It seems freeloaders have ruined all of the fun. You know, the lone guy who sits down at a table for four, then camps for three hours having ordered a single medium coffee. Way to go, guy. → Read More
Google has been cleared of any wrongdoing relating to Wi-Fi snooping in the UK. Well, partially cleared. The country’s Information Commissioner’s Office, whose job is to “uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals,” has said that “it is unlikely that Google will have captured significant amounts of personal data” during its Street View mappings. → Read More
Pip pip and cheerio! The London Tubemaster General, Mayor Boris Johnson ESQ 1st Class Deceased is proposing that the tube lines in London have Wi-Fi coverage. While he does not want cellular coverage – then they’d have to have quiet cars – but he does wish people to enjoy email, saying “I think people do want the facility of looking at their Blackberry, or whatever it happens to be.” → Read More
You know, I’m somewhat conflicted when it comes to this Google story. Yesterday it emerged that France had discovered that Google’s Street View cars had surreptitiously collected private citizens’ passwords and other sensitive data. Today we’ve learned that several states here in the U.S., led by Connecticut, plan to investigate Google over this whole Wi-Fi fiasco. Normally you don’t want giant corporations driving around the countryside collecting private information on unsuspecting citizens, right? But does anyone really think that Google is “up to no good” here? → Read More
For some people, buying up iPads in the US in bulk and selling them in their home countries for $2,000 and more means serious business. But don’t do that in Israel, at least for now. The country’s Ministry of Communications has started banning all iPad imports yesterday because of the difference in Wi-Fi standards in the US and Israel. → Read More
