Wi-Fi has moved from an at-home convenience to a public service as mobile devices continue to take over. Here’s a look at the new opportunities to connect with consumers, and how businesses can easily screw it all up. Read more »
News brands like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are turning to free Wi-Fi as a way to promote their content. In the lates example, Times readers can get 15 free stories a day while sitting in Starbucks. Read more at paidContent »
Just one month after announcing free voice calls over Wi-Fi in BlackBerry Messenger, Research In Motion delivers the feature to all handsets running BB 6 OS or better. A video demo shows the added functionality, which could save money for some, easy to use. Read more »
LG’s Smart Thinq connected appliances were all the rage last year at CES and just last week the hit stores in South Korea. The connected fridge is coming soon to the U.S. either next month or in the first quarter of next year. Read more »
The Wall Street Journal is offering free Wi-Fi in more than 1300 hotspots in New York plus more in San Francisco. It’s a novel idea for a newspaper and one that could deliver the WSJ both new customers and valuable marketing data. Read more at paidContent »
Paris is following London by starting to provide free wireless access to subway travelers, thanks to a new initiative from WiFi service company GOWEX. With similar moves in New York as well, is this boost in transport connectivity a trend? Read more »
Finding a better, low-power way to send data over long distance is crucial for tracking and conserving energy. On-Ramp Wireless is tackling this challenge and now aims to raise nearly $30 million to commercialize this technology. Read more »
After just three months of operation, France’s disruptive Free Mobile — which has upset the market with an innovative and controversial offering — has won 2.6 million subscribers, an unprecedented number for a new European launch. Read more »
Apple devices have enjoyed wireless music playback through AirPlay speakers, but Windows users generally have been left out in the cold, until now. Aperion’s Aris wireless speaker lets Windows 7 and Windows 8 Consumer Preview computers pipe tunes wirelessly using Microsoft’s “Play To” feature. Read more »
Soon, there might be WiFi in everything around you. Earlier this morning, Atheros, a division of Qualcomm launched a new very low power consuming WiFi chip, AR4100P, that is focused on what is commonly known as the Internet of Things. Read more »
One of the faces behind the Nabaztag — the pioneering French Internet of Things gizmo — is back, with a new spin on the idea of objects you can program to react to the web. And guess what? He’s running a Kickstarter project to get it made. Read more »
GE is launching more gadgets to help consumers monitor and manage their home-energy consumption. Read more »
Pretty soon, new AT&T U-verse subscribers won’t have to go through the hassle of having their entire home re-wired with coaxial cable when they sign up for pay TV service. Instead, all they’ll need is a residential home gateway and a set of thin-client wireless receivers. Read more »
It seems like the concept of “the connected home” has been a hot topic forever. For most of us, it has remained in the realm of our imaginations. But according to Qualcomm Atheros’ Craig Barratt, connectedness everywhere is closer than ever to becoming a reality. Read more »
Imagine buying your SIM-free mobile phone from a local electronics store, logging in as soon as you turn the phone on for the first time and having the phone ready to use immediately. In the future, even the phone number itself will disappear. Read more »
The impact of digital technology has shattered long-established monopolies and ways of making money in the newspaper publishing industry. Today, publishers must find ways to subsidize content-creation costs directly, and this report examines a few different approaches, from more flexible paywalls to charging users directly for access and mimicking the business models of other industries, such as online gaming. Companies mentioned in this report include Ford, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
It was only a decade ago when Cisco froze competitors from a market by simply showing up. Times change. Companies get big and unwieldily. And that is precisely the time to attack. All you need is some gumption, focus and the right products. Read more »
We’ve been big believers in big brands sponsoring free Wi-Fi access. It’s a much better and cheaper advertising opportunity that endears brands to likely customers. It’s more effective when it’s done right, like when a beer maker offers free Wi-Fi in London pubs. Read more »
Wi-Fi provider Towerstream is turning its superfast Manhattan Wi-Fi zone into a distribution platform for daily deal apps in a bid to monetize its wireless network, the largest in Manhattan. The company is partnering with BlisMobile, which will handle the app distribution through its AppZone service. Read more »
Comcast says it added 144,000 new broadband subscribers during the second quarter of 2011. Thanks to growing demand for higher-speed tiers, the company saw its revenues jump almost 10 percent to $2.2 billion for the quarter, thanks to 17.55 million broadband subscribers. Read more »
Wearable smart displays aren’t new, but the category hasn’t caught on yet. WIMM hopes to change that with a wearable Android module that includes many smartphone components including a Wi-Fi radio. That could be the break these displays are looking for when it comes to apps. Read more »
The upcoming OS X Lion will include a new way of sharing documents with friends and family who are on the same Wi-Fi network in a similar manner as other P2P wireless protocols such as Wi-Fi Direct or Qualcomm’s FlashLinq. The service is called AirDrop. Read more »
Ford is developing a futuristic wireless technology based on a form of WiFi and GPS to enable cars to “talk” to each other and help avoid crashes and potentially reduce fuel consumption. We checked out Ford’s demo in San Francisco on Wednesday and shot this video. Read more »
Ford is working on a technology that enables cars to talk to each other, and could help cars avoid crashes and reduce fuel consumption. The technology won’t be available at least for another 5 years or so and is based on WiFi and GPS. Read more »
A wireless standard called 6LoWPAN is looking like a dark horse for helping wirelessly connect devices — from lightbulbs, to appliances — in the smart energy home and could be a good candidate to connect an end-to-end smart grid network. Read more »
FaceTime, Netflix, and Pandora were built for the Wi-Fi network. It’s hard to imagine the phone bill if all this data was streaming over the 3G networks. These services, and others like them, have blossomed, thanks in part to the increasing ubiquity of the Wi-Fi network. Read more »
The always-unpredictable mobile space enters 2011 at a particularly dynamic time. Carriers are now bringing 4G networks online, even as their definitions of “4G” vary. Meanwhile, mobile data consumption is exploding and the FCC trying to settle on policies both to regulate the industry and to ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
T-Mobile will reportedly offer calls over Wi-Fi on upcoming Android handsets according to leaked training and screen shots of a Wi-Fi Calling application. But such an app would be a software solution, instead one based on hardware, meaning calls wouldn’t be handed off to cellular networks. Read more »
Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch are the most used mobile browsing devices by far in North America, but Google Android handsets are quickly eroding Apple’s lead. Other players aren’t even competing with these two and until they do, the mobile browser battle is a two-horse race. Read more »
In an effort to provide better service to its 3G (particularly iPhone) users, AT&T is building an experimental Wi-Fi hotzone in New York’s Times Square. If successful, it would roll out similar networks in three other locations to offload traffic from its overburdened 3G network. Read more »
The Wi-Fi Alliance has teamed up with a group founded by the big chip vendors to promote a wireless HD video transfer at 7 Gbps across short distances, crushing the potential success of startups that had hoped to create their own standards. Read more »
We’ve seen reports from some iPad owners concerning problems with Wi-Fi connectivity, especially with mobile modems. I have seen those problems first-hand, and have tested the iPad extensively to minimize Wi-Fi connectivity problems. I can report the problems can be minimized with just a couple steps. Read more »
While the iPad has been flying off shelves for almost two weeks now, its Wi-Fi has caused some headlines of its own. Now the news comes of Israel blocking the entry of iPads into the country over concerns of the wireless transmitters being too strong. Read more »
It’s iPad-eve so this week’s audio podcast focuses on the new slate from Apple. Are people underestimating the paradigm shift this device brings to the mobile space? We chat about Wi-FI, 3G and 4G options as well. Join us and enjoy the conversation! Read more »
You can still find Linksys routers for sale, but Cisco is now leveraging its own brand on new Wi-Fi products. While sad from a traditionalist point of view, the new routers are easier to set up thanks to an innovative and included valet service. Read more »
Not everyone buying an iPad is purchasing the 3G model. Boingo Wireless today started offering a new pay-per-use Wi-Fi service for iPads, iPhones and iPod touches that’s even cheaper than AT&T’s Wi-Fi On the Spot offering. It uses iTunes for the transaction, making buying credits easy. Read more »
Time Warner Cable has confirmed that it is launching Wi-Fi hotspots for customers of its NYC RoadRunner broadband service through a partnership with Cablevision. Locations include rail platforms, parks and other commonly used areas. Read more »
Apple suddenly banned hotspot-sniffing applications from its App Store after a change in its policies regarding how apps leverage Wi-Fi. That’s a dangerous move when mobile developers have an increasing number of attractive platforms on which to build their applications. Read more »
As more and more devices –- phones, netbooks and tablets –- come to market, the demand for Wi-Fi-based connectivity is only going to rise. But how much are you willing to pay for it? Would you watch an ad in order to get Wi-Fi? Read more »
Last month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas featured a flood of new connected devices catering to needs as diverse as entertainment, personal security, home energy efficiency and biometric monitoring. Each of these devices is intended to improve its owner’s quality of life — but it’s ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
