As part of revamping BlackBerry Messenger, BlackBerry is bringing support for video chat and voice calling to the popular app. Voice chat was expected after beta versions of BBM 7 included support for Wi-Fi calling. With video…
Just as the rumors foretold, Apple has just anounced a 128GB version of its fourth-generation iPad with Retina display — the Wi-Fi model costs $799, while the Wi-Fi plus LTE model costs a whopping $929 — that’s nea…
Nikon was quiet at this year’s CES, announcing just the J3 and S1 interchangeable cameras, but apparently it was just biding its time: the company’s now announced seven new Coolpix cameras, essentially overhauling its point-an…
The iPad has long maxed out at 64GB of storage space, but that may not be the case for much longer. 9to5Mac has received information from a source at US retailer that Apple is getting ready to release a new version of the four…
“You sank my battleship!” It was this line from Jim Carey (as The Riddler) in Batman Forever that made me fall in love with Battleship as a child. While the actual game wasn’t nearly as cool as the film made it out to seem, it still remains one of those age-old war games that can [...]
Good news for everyone who’s tired of shoddy Wi-Fi connectivity in crowded cafes: the Federal Communications Commission is here to help. As CNET reports, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski made an important announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show on Wednesday when he discussed plans to free up 195MHz of spectrum on the 5GHz band, a move that will significantly boost Wi-Fi performance and ease congestion on crowded networks. The reallocation of spectrum on the 5GHz band would also represent “the largest block of unlicensed spectrum that has been made available for expansion of Wi-Fi since 2003,” CNET writes. The 5GHz band is currently being used by numerous federal government agencies, although Genachowski expressed confidence that the FCC can work with others in
Google (GOOG) on Tuesday announced a partnership with New York City and the Chelsea Improvement Project to provide free Wi-Fi to the lower Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea. Chelsea is a very diverse district; it is home to Google’s New York offices, a number of technology startups and art galleries, as well as low-income housing projects and public schools. “Google is proud to provide free WiFi in the neighborhood we have called home for over 6 years,” said Ben Fried, Chief Information Officer for Google. “This network will not only be a resource for the 2000+ residents of the Fulton Houses, it will also serve the 5,000+ student population of Chelsea as well as the hundreds of workers, retail customers and
InterDigital (IDCC) on Thursday filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission against Samsung (005930), Nokia (NOK), Huawei (002502), and ZTE (000063) for selling devices that allegedly infringe upon seven of its 3G and 4G wireless patents. The company has asked the ITC to block sales of the infringing products, which incorporate WCDMA, CDMA2000, LTE and Wi-Fi technologies. The ITC has 30 days to decide whether it will launch an investigation into the claims. InterDigital also filed a similar lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, seeking a permanent injunction and damages based on willful infringement. “Wireless technology continues to advance at tremendous speed based on the contributions that InterDigital and others have made
Good news for anyone planning to buy a new Mac this year: Wi-Fi connectivity in Apple’s (AAPL) new computers is going to pack some serious speed. The Next Web reports that Apple and Broadcom (BRCM) are teaming up to bring gigabit-speed 802.11ac chips to Apple’s 2013 Mac lineup that will deliver fifth-generation Wi-Fi capabilities. 802.11ac connectivity, otherwise known as “5G Wi-Fi,” is capable of delivering theoretical peak speeds of 1.3Gbps and is a major step forward in the evolution of Wi-Fi. Asus (2357) became the first company to produce a notebook with 802.11ac connectivity last year with its G75VW gaming laptop.
In recent years, Android has continued to get better and better with new and useful features. At the same time, iOS has become rather stagnant and in many ways has fallen behind. iOS 6 did bring new features, but its subsequent updates also introduced a slew of issues. What’s most disappointing about iOS is that it still doesn’t allow users to quickly adjust basic things such as brightness, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. without having to dive into layers of menus. However, a forum member at The Verge recently mocked up a concept for a redesigned app switcher and managed to get a few developers to help out on a project to enhance iOS multitasking. The result is a jailbreak tweak that improves upon iOS’s current multitasking system
