While there has been much outrage about Google “snooping” user data over Wi-Fi, even the FCC says this behavior wasn’t illegal, since the networks in question were public. Is this a sign that the laws around privacy are broken, or is the Streetview furor an overreaction? Read More »
Ericsson has agreed to purchase BelAir Networks to help boost its Wi-Fi credentials, just as we said it would. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but this deal was all about Wi-Fi and the changing needs of the mobile operator. Read More »
Google’s mystery device has been unveiled by The Wall Street Journal as a Sonos-like platform for wirelessly streaming music around the home. But the most important thing is that Google is moving beyond software to making a branded hardware device of its own. Read More »
Google is asking the Federal Communications Commission for permission to test a mysterious Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled “entertainment device,” in employees’ homes in four U.S. cities. So inquiring minds want to know, what exactly is it and is Google trying to build its own devices? Read More »
The sky is falling again in cellular land, and this time Siri is to blame. At least that’s the assessment form this opinion article in the Washington Post this morning claiming Siri’s piggy ways will destroy our cellular networks. But this assessment is wrong. Read More »
Broadcom is expected to show off silicon that offers 1.3 gigabit Wi-Fi at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show to help prepare home networks for the era of whole-home video streaming. The multi-gigabit Wi-Fi offers a 2x improvement over today’s top Wi-Fi data rates. Read More »
Gogo, an in-flight Wi-fi company, has become the dominant provider of connectivity in the skies and now it’s looking to raise up to $100 million in an IPO. The company plans to use the money to generate working capital and address other general corporate needs. Read More »
Quantenna, a startup building chips for sending massive data over Wi-Fi, has built the first gigabit chip for Wi-Fi networks and devices. The chip is available now for use in routers, home gateways and even consumer gadgets. Products containing the chips could arrive in 2012. Read More »
AnchorFree, which distributes the world’s most popular consumer virtual private network, is bringing its Hotspot Shield to iOS devices in a new app that also offers data compression to help cut down people’s mobile data usage by up to half. Read More »
In the coming year, Wi-Fi is going to become a much more vital part of the plan for mobile carriers transforming them from providers of cellular voice and data to purveyors of connectivity thanks to a new Wi-Fi roaming standard in the works. Read More »
Faster in-home Wi-Fi is only a year or two away, says Craig Barratt, president of Qualcomm Atheros, who said next generation Wi-Fi could deliver gigabit speeds making it better and faster. This is good because the technology is the work-horse of home networking. Read More »
Cisco said its sales would grow by 5 to 7 percent through 2014, cutting its revenue growth in half, and signaling the end of its massive restructuring effort at an analyst day Tuesday. The move sent the stock up, but Cisco isn’t out of the woods. Read More »
More Must Reads
Virgin America was the first U.S. airline to add in-flight Wi-Fi. Now the tech-savvy Bay Area–based airline is taking it up a notch by announcing it plans to make some Wi-Fi connectivity available through its soon-to-be-upgraded seat-back entertainment system, starting sometime in 2012. Read More »
On Tuesday, iPass introduced a new Wi-Fi roaming service that is one of many data points in Wi-Fi’s slow transition from home networking tech for geeks to must-have for every mobile device to perhaps another source of carrier revenue. Will carriers charge for Wi-Fi? Read More »
Mobile devices, led by the iPad and Android phones and tablets, have overtaken computers on Wi-Fi networks, according to a new report. It’s another sign that when it comes to getting connected, people are leaving the laptop closed and reaching for their pockets. Read More »
Cablevision is now offering its cable customers cable modem speeds over its Optimum Wi-Fi network of hotspots, hitting 15 megabits per second down and 4 megabits per second on the uplink. The upgrade is a vast improvement over the previous speeds, which hit 3 mbps down … Read More »
At the IEEE Technology Time Machine Symposium last week I heard the world’s leading academics, engineers, executives, and government officials project what the world will look like in 2020. The future brings technology together for everything from enhancing the human experience to improving environmental sustainability. … Read More »
Wi-Fi provider Boingo Wireless is set to go public Wednesday in what could be a good measure of how hot the wireless boom is. The company is seeking to raise some $75 million with its debut, which comes as IPOs are growing hot again. Read More »
There are obvious opportunities stemming from Wi-Fi Direct and Apple’s Airplay technologies, but how does one look beyond point solutions and hardware products to find the larger opportunity? The answer came to me during a conversation with Urs Hoelzle, Google’s SVP of engineering at Google. Read More »
It’s a pretty easy argument to make that Wi-Fi has been the single most important technology in the connected-home marketplace for the past decade, but that doesn’t mean it’s always the most optimal option for connecting the home. Here’s what else is out there. Read More »
Qualcomm introduced a new peer-to-peer communication technology today to allow devices to connect to one another to share broadband speeds. Dubbed, FlashLinq the technology is one of several attempt to change the way devices connect–creating a more distributed and more resilient network. Read More »
The number of Wi-Fi hotspot connections is expected to explode to 11 billion sessions by 2014, up from 2 billion this year as mobile devices proliferate. The growth will outpace the increase of hotspot venues, which has largely contributed to the rise of public Wi-Fi sessions. Read More »
As consumers purchase a greater number of web-connected devices such as tablets, portable game devices and eBook readers, they don’t want to leave these items behind. Automakers are beginning to see the potential of integrated Wi-Fi in cars, which will boost revenue opportunities down the road. Read More »
Almost nine out of every 10 mobile users will access location based service this holiday season, according to JiWire, which analyzes audiences through Wi-Fi hotspots. However a large number aren’t doing it to score points or share their location, but rather to gain discounts. Read More »
Samsung’s Galaxy S is the first smartphone certified for Wi-Fi Direct, a new standard that supports peer-to-peer wireless transfers without an access point or hotspot. Users could securely shoot media or data to a wireless printer, hard drive, picture frame or any number of Wi-Fi-capable devices. Read More »
Mobile device users want unlimited access to data, but most are unwilling to pay a premium according to a survey of professionals and students. The full survey results are expected tomorrow, when Devicescape, a provider of Wi-Fi software solutions, publishes its quarterly Wi-Fi report. Read More »
Is Wi-Fi the Future of Mobile Internet? Jeff Thompson, the CEO of Towerstream has been asking this question lately. And after seeing the results of a test Wi-Fi project in mid-town Manhattan, Thompson keeps coming back to the same answer: yes. Read More »
Comcast today announced the availability of more than 2,000 free wireless internet hotspots for Xfinity customers in New Jersey, Delaware and the greater Philadelphia area, where the company is based. Thanks to a collaborative agreement, customers can “roam” on hotspots from Cablevision and Time Warner Cable. Read More »
The FCC is poised to release the first batch of unlicensed wireless spectrum in 25 years, called white spaces, tomorrow, which could lead to “Wi-Fi on Steroids,” giving consumers, device makers, entrepreneurs and service providers more connectivity over wider areas. Here’s what you need to know. Read More »
Picochip today said it has released a chip that will enable mobile operators to place small base stations known as femtocells anywhere, bringing them out of the home environment and into public areas. This is good for carriers, but it may be bad news for consumers. Read More »
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is poised to take action on “white spaces” by appeasing TV broadcasters interference concerns. Given successful trials, the final hurdle for widespread use of this unlicensed spectrum may be cleared, birthing a entirely new wireless industry and long-range wireless hotspots. Read More »
The number of free wireless hotspots in the U.S. outnumber paid Wi-Fi locations for the first time, with 55.1 percent of public Wi-Fi locations available at no charge. Retailers and data providers are leveraging consumer demand for access to online research and coupons while mobile. Read More »
AT&T today launched a free Wi-Fi zone in downtown Charlotte, N.C., following the launch of a similar hotspot zone in New York City just two months ago. The carrier is looking at the Wi-Fi pilot program to help offload data hungry smartphones from its 3G network. Read More »
Wi-Fi will soon celebrate the 25th anniversary of the technology’s inception, and the innovations keep coming. Today a company called Anyfi Networks launched a product that gives a Wi-Fi network the basic properties of a cellular network, which helps Wi-Fi compete against costly 3G. Read More »
Just 8.7 percent of Africa’s billion-plus residents have Internet access, but one man plans to increase that percentage by spreading Wi-Fi throughout the continent. To that end, Paul English, CTO and co-founder of Kayak.com, is launching the non-profit project JoinAfrica. Read More »
The three cable providers in the New York metro area have banded together to create a Wi-Fi network that any of the companies’ customers can use, turning the city into a big hotspot for all those smartphones and iPads. Is this the age of Wi-Fi roaming? Read More »
Verizon is coaching sales staffers to encourage consumers to pick up Apple’s iPad and connect it to its network via a MiFi. It’s an expensive proposition for users, but it’s a reminder that the MiFi will be a powerful tool as more tablets come to market. Read More »
Compiled Networks, a stealthy Austin startup is building an appliance that can securely link two clouds at the network level, and uses the same technology to improve Wi-Fi offload for ISPs. It has managed to straddle two large markets but can it sell into them? Read More »
Carriers are increasingly looking to Wi-Fi to ease the strain on their cellular networks, and an army of companies is emerging with offloading solutions to help them. And they could help themselves immensely by making Wi-Fi easier for their subscribers to use. Read More »
Thanks to the iPad, expect to see a lot more written about Wi-Fi for a few days. The still unattainable device (you can buy one in late March) is already being credited for bringing back the importance of fixed broadband networks as backhaul for Wi-Fi networks. Read More »
Wi-Fi was hot last year and it’s only getting hotter in 2010 as the availability of personal hotspots such as the Mi-Fi and the rise of the Direct Wi-Fi standard mean that putting a Wi-Fi chip in anything makes the device more useful. Read More »
Ford is looking to turn cars into rolling hotspots by adding Wi-Fi to its SYNC offering in some of its cars. The move could open help generate revenues from carriers, but it also could help Ford become a distributor of on-board apps. Read More »
Verizon Wireless is giving its mobile broadband users free Wi-Fi access through thousands of hotspots throughout North America. That off-loading will be crucial as the carrier’s data traffic ramps up thanks to the Motorola Droid and other data-friendly smartphones. Read More »
Airlines are pushing hard to bring in-flight Wi-Fi to their customers, but there’s little evidence consumers are willing to spend much to be connected in the air. So perhaps airlines should be looking to advertisers to fund their services. In-flight Wi-Fi faces several challenges, from expensive … Read More »
If free Wi-Fi marketing is a good idea, as Om and Stacey argued last week, free Wi-Fi marketing in airports is an especially good idea, according to a new study from JiWire. The San Francisco-based mobile advertising company — which, of course, has skin … Read More »
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