Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Wireless, Networking

So we waffled on whether to go with a sad Moto or happy Moto face, but as we’ve stated in the past, we suppose we’ll keep on keepin’ on with the former until something marvelous happens. Nearly four months to the day after Motorola split in two, along comes word that the separated home and networks division will now be segmented into three distinct units: broadband home solutions, broadband access solutions and cellular networks. According to a statement put out by the firm, the “organizational change will ensure that home and networks mobility remains agile, focused and ideally aligned to realize its growth potential,” which is about as canned a statement as you could ever hope for. We’ve heard that three’s company, but who knows how it’ll play out here.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

British Telecom just announced its new £1.5 billion fiber fibre-based, broadband plan for the UK. By 2012, BT hopes to have “as many as 10 million homes” (about 40% of the UK) wired for service with speeds up to 100Mbps — potentially capable of exceeding 1,000Mbps (1Gbps) at some unspecified point in the future. BT plans to deliver 100Mbps direct to new homes or 40Mbps (and possibly 60Mbps as they test new technology) to homes with a copper link to the fiber cabinet. For the plan to be implemented, BT says that a “supportive and enduring regulatory environment” is required with the removal of current barriers to fiber investment identified as a good place to start. In other words, 2012 might easily become 2020 (without the clarity) if an agreement with regulators and rivals can’t be reached.

[Via Guardian, Thanks L.Rawlins]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Networking

So here’s a bit of brilliant statistics work for you: The Pew Internet & American Life research project has determined after endless polling and number crunching that 62 percent of American dial-up users have no interest in upgrading their connections to something a bit more peppy. In fact, only 14 percent of them would upgrade if they could. They cite high prices, barrier to entry, and — ooh, is Survivor on? We look at it this way: if you’re not already on broadband with the multitude of options, and you can get broadband (i.e. you’re not stranded out in the wilderness) in one way shape or form, you probably just don’t really care, and we can make fun of you because you’re not reading this post anyway.

[Via Switched]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Networking

If you’re waiting for broadband over power lines (BPL) as an alternative to cable or DSL in your area, it may be time to finally give in to one of the big companies. The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) — a group of amateur radio enthusiasts — has sued the FCC over its plan to speed up BPL’s expansion, citing concerns that the service’s radio emissions provide too many interference risks to the hobby / ham spectrum. While the FCC conducted a favorable study on BPL’s potential problems, their published report had so many redacted sections that the ARRL wants to know what they missed. A D.C. district court agrees with the League, and plans for further rollout have been tabled until the FCC can come up with more facts.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Networking

Think you’re getting a decent speed for a decent price on your broadband? Well think again. Kuala Lumpur-based Velchip has just announced plans to create a vast broadband-over-powerline network which will deliver 224Mbps to users in Malaysia for about RM5 (or $1.57) per month. The goal is to connect Mosques across the country, linking together 400,000 houses of worship over existing wiring and delivering service to about 60 million users. The $14 billion project will be rolled out over the next three years, with participation from US satellite company STM Networks. It all makes that $149.95 DOCSIS 3.0 introduction look pretty weak, now doesn’t it?

[Via Slashdot]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Networking

Think you’re getting a decent speed for a decent price on your broadband? Well think again. Kuala Lumpur-based Velchip has just announced plans to create a vast broadband-over-powerline network which will deliver 224Mbps to users in Indonesia for about RM5 (or $1.57) per month. The goal is to connect Mosques across the country, linking together 400,000 houses of worship over existing wiring and delivering service to about 60 million users. The $14 billion project will be rolled out over the next three years, with participation from US satellite company STM Networks. It all makes that $149.95 DOCSIS 3.0 introduction look pretty weak, now doesn’t it?

Update: There was a bit of a mixup over whether this service was coming to Malaysia or Indonesia — we’ve corrected the problem.

[Via Slashdot]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Networking

Although we just heard that Comcast’s DOCSIS 3.0 rollout was on track for 2009, folks in the Twin Cities region now have exclusive bragging rights for an undisclosed window of time. Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota have become the first markets to have access to an all new “extreme” broadband (or wideband, as it were) connection, which promises 50Mbps down / 5Mbps up. As expected, the carrier isn’t being modest about the launch, claiming that users can suck down a 4GB HD movie “in about ten minutes,” compared to “more than six hours” on a 1.5Mbps DSL connection. The newfound speed won’t come cheap — for residential users, look to lay down $149.95 per month for the privilege. Even if you aren’t springing for the good stuff, current customers in the area will have their existing broadband connections hastened gratis, with 6Mbps / 384Kbps users moving up to 1Mbps uploads and 8Mbps / 768Kbps users seeing 2Mbps uploads. Kudos, Twin Cities — you just made the rest of America sick with envy.

[Image courtesy of TheRedWoodMotel]

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Networking

Quick, how fast is “broadband?” If you’re wearing a gray suit and drove a sensible car to work this morning in Washington DC, you probably answered 200Kbps — a pokey little number that the FCC’s been using as a baseline for years now. But even bureaucrats have to get with the times every now and again, and regulators this morning voted to push the government’s official broadband threshold to 768Kbps — we’d say it should really be a full 1Mbps, but why make things simple when you can be the government? Between 768kbps and 1.5Mbps is now classified as “basic broadband,” and providers are also required to break down both upload and download speeds in specific increments — a move which should make it harder for companies like Comcast to throttle certain types of connections. ISPs also have to provide subscriber numbers broken down by census-block level, which should provide graduate students with hours of number-crunching dissertation fun in the future. The goal is to make sure the data regarding broadband adoption in the US is as accurate as possible — it’s time to reclaim the crown, people.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Networking

If you’ll recall, the IEEE gave the all important thumbs up to 100G as the next Ethernet speed, and while we’ve seen such a milestone met on the Internet2, Verizon’s looking to bring it to the masses in just twelve short months. According to Fred Briggs, Verizon Business’ executive vice president of operations and technology, the firm is aiming to “deploy 100G network capabilities over all its major routes within the United States.” Verizon actually tested out its 100Gbps capabilities last year on a video transmission from Tampa to Miami, Florida, and apparently, the results “showed that it could deploy 100G on routes and not disrupt current wavelengths.” Granted, we wouldn’t expect many consumers to actually be able to take advantage of all this speed right away, but even if you’re not down with (or nearby) any of Verizon’s forthcoming offerings, there’s always DOCSIS 3.0.

[Image courtesy of Futurenet]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Networking

CeBIT and Powerline seem to have a thing for one another, and sure enough, this year we’re seeing yet another firm storm onto the scene in an attempt to advance the flagging technology. London-based En-Twyn set up shop in Germany to showcase its En-Compass, which doesn’t require any special wall cutouts and differs from most other Powerline systems by packing its electronics on the backside. In other words, you won’t have any unsightly adapters protruding from the front. Beyond that, everything else works as expected — Ethernet signals travel over your existing home wiring setup — but unfortunately, the product is still stuck in prototype stage at the moment.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Wireless

We know, you’re already rolling your eyes, but this time it’s really for real. At least that’s what Covad Communications wants us to believe. Reportedly, said outfit is jump-starting a gigantic municipal WiFi project to blanket Silicon Valley that fell apart after upstart Azulstar failed to garner funding to kick things off in 2007. Covad is hoping to cover one square mile of downtown San Carlos, California for three months, and during the test period it will gauge just how lucrative such an initiative is. If successful, it may expand into surrounding locales, but at the moment, such an endeavor is “too much to dive into.” Best of luck, Covad — history says you’ll need it.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Networking

Granted, most of us here in America would turn our noses up at receiving in-home broadband via satellite — after all, cable and DSL seem to be treating most of us quite alright — but Japan is hoping to provide access to more regions in Asia-Pacific with its recently launched Kizuna. The experimental satellite is not yet intended for commercial use, but if all goes well, it will enable data transmissions “of up to 1.2 gigabytes per second” at a low cost across Japan and 19 other locales in Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, we’ve no idea when it will escape the bondage of testing and actually be put to good use, but at least Japan’s well on its way to actually establishing that wireless island, eh?

[Via CNN, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Good news for those in Pakistan hungry for another link to the ‘net: Wateen Telecom has officially launched its WiMAX / HFC services for the consumer market. Reportedly, Motorola played a huge role in deploying the “first 802.16e commercial WiMAX network in Pakistan,” and according to Wateen, it’s the largest WiMAX network “ever installed.” In case you hadn’t already guessed, Wateen Telecom is indeed a Abu Dhabi venture, and the service will initially be made available in 22 cities. For more details on exact coverage and rate plans, be sure and check out Wateen’s website.

[Via Metroblogging Karachi, thanks Zainuddin Z.]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones

Merely months after cranking out the CTR-350, CradlePoint has upped the ante with the even more portable PHS300. This bugger enables a selection of handsets and USB cellular modems to create a “personal WiFi hotspot,” and unlike its sibling, this one sports a built-in Li-ion to keep the connection alive (for a few hours, anyway) where there’s no AC outlet in sight. Furthermore, you’ll find WEP / WPA security features, an integrated firewall and the ability to charge up your phone via USB if necessary. Sound like just the thing you need? If so, you can drop your pre-order in now for $179.99 and patiently await the December 20th ship date.

[Via The Boy Genius Report]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Networking

Remember that blisteringly fast channel bonding modem Comcast showed off earlier this year? Turns out that the firm’s CEO is apparently aiming to roll out internet services that can reach up to 160Mbps down / 120Mbps up sometime in 2008. As in, next year. In a recent interview with Fortune, Brian Roberts stated that service based on DOCSIS 3.0 technology would start “rolling out” sometime in 2008, and casually noted that it should provide “more than enough bandwidth to do multiplayer online gaming.” Additionally, Cable Digital News explains that the firm has plans to cover some 20-percent of its footprint with the uber-quick service before 2009, and while we’re left to guess what areas will be covered, we’d bet locales fetching FiOS could entertain some competition. Granted, we’ve still got aways to go before we can go toe-to-toe with a certain Swede, but we’ll take any progress we can get.

[Via ArsTechnica, image courtesy of AFP / BBC]
Read - Fortune interviews Comcast CEO Brian Roberts
Read - Comcast closes in on 100Mbit/s

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Networking

Not content with blazing up your local connection at 20Mbps downstream and up, Verizon has once again bumped its already-painfully-fast FiOS broadband service into the realm of ridiculous. According to reports, the company is now offering a 30Mbps / 15 Mbps service at $89.95 a month, and the nerve-shattering 50 Mbps / 20 Mbps speed at $139.95. The telecom has also introduced symmetrical connections in all 16 states where it currently offers FiOS service, with a 20Mbps / 20Mbps on the up and down, starting at $64.99. Of course, it’s all bleeps and buzzes in our particularly lonely corner of Brooklyn, where we’ll have to suffer the indignation of a lowly 10Mbps connection until the big V blesses us with some real speed… you hearing us, dudes?

[Via GigaOM]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

After Verizon’s ambiguousness ended up hitting it right where it hurts (read: the wallet), the carrier cleaned up its act a bit and redefined “unlimited” in a hot-off-the-press version of its Terms & Conditions. While perusing through the legalese, you’ll notice that checking out “continuous web camera posts or broadcasts / automatic data feeds (RSS)” are strictly prohibited, right along with P2P sharing or using your BroadbandAccess as a “substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections.” Moving on, you’ll also see that exceeding 5GB of usage during any single billing period gives Verizon the right to “reduce throughput speeds of any application that would otherwise exceed such speed to a maximum of approximately 200Kbps.” It gets worse — these speeds are (unsurprisingly) “subject to change,” so it sounds like your connection can be throttled right on down to a crawl should you pass the 5GB barrier. Have fun!*

[Via jkOnTheRun]

*…just keep it under 5GB if you know what’s good for you.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones

In a wrap-up of the state of 4G networks over at BusinessWeek, the battle between the three competing 4G network standards — WIMAX, Long Term Evolution (LTE), and Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) — is appraised, with WIMAX clearly edging out its other rivals. This could be a two horse race before long if Verizon chooses to back GSM’s successor LTE over CDMA’s sequel, UMB. That would leave Qualcomm without one of its most significant backers for CDMA’s spiritual sibling, although it’ll do just fine thanks to the multiple 4G patents it holds. Ultimately though, in all of this space there’s very little discussion about what the consumer wants: do we really need two or three different standards that probably won’t inter-operate, leaving us back at the square we’ve always been at? Frankly, for all the benefits that 4G is purported to bring, we’d like something a little more imaginative than the usual bickering amongst the big shots.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Although we’re sure some of you are dead set on using one carrier, Qualcomm is making sure the indecisive (or well-traveled) ones out there are covered, too. The firm’s Gobi chip promises to play nice with both EV-DO and HSPA (but not WiMAX) networks, which should mean that a number of laptops will soon boast multi-carrier WWAN support right out of the box. The introduction of the two-faced device gives users the ability to switch operators or choose the one with the best coverage in a given area without having to lug around two laptops or laptop-connect cards. You’ll also appreciate the fact that these things are actually immediately available, and according to Qualcomm, they should appear in various lappies in mid-2008.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Networking

Talk about wishful thinking. Ubiquiti — a maker of wireless broadband gear we last saw breaking world records — has announced the “world’s first” 700MHz WiFi card, clearly hoping to get a head start on the feeding frenzy we all expect. The XR7, as it’s called, is a compact radio module, which is built for the mini-PCI Type IIIA standard, has scalable channel bandwidths of 5 / 10 / 20 and 40 MHz, and 256-bit AES security. The company claims that the card can be a viable WiMAX replacement, as it’s been tested for ranges of beyond 31 miles at rates of up to 50Mbps. No word on pricing or street date, mostly — we suspect — due to the fact that the frequency it operates on has yet to be made available. You’ll know more when we do.

[Via dailywireless]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!