Networking - Page 6

After the Coalition let it be known late last week that they plan to axe the NBN in favour of a wireless based broadband plan, the ICT sector is full of people shaking their heads at this idea. Internet Industry Association Chief Executive Peter Coroneos has shared his views on this and says that any credible national broadband plan would require fibre as a central element.

It's becoming clearer as to what the Opposition plans to do with the NBN, should it win the election on August 21. Opposition finance spokesman Andrew Robb was on ABC Radio this morning and gave good indication of what would most likely be happening if a Coalition return to power takes place.

The project will definitively be halted, But what has been done so far (incl. the Tasmanian leg of the NBN of which portions are already in operation and serving households) will remain in place, but will more than likely be sold off to telecommunications operators.

Australian developed tool "Wave" was being promised to revolutionize the way people electronically message each other and was one of many projects Google was keen to add to its arsenal.

According to Geoff Huston, Chief Scientist of the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), the internet is going to run out of available IP addresses much faster than most people (incl. ISPs) realise.

If you're tired of the hassles that come with manually and regularly replacing/recharging batteries for your multiple Wii-remotes, Konnet has come up with a sleek looking solution that makes it 10x easier.

Logitech has been making keyboards, mice, and other peripherals for Mac and PC users for years. The company is one of the biggest names in peripherals and other stuff for computers. Logitech has unveiled its latest wireless desktop called the MK710.

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The desktop includes a keyboard and a mouse that each promise three years of use on a single set of batteries. The keyboard uses Logitech's Incurve keys with rounded edges for more comfortable typing. The keys also promise longer travel for comfort. The palms rest area is cushioned as well and the keyboard has an LCD to show caps lock and other notifications.

The mouse is a sculpted design for the right hand with several buttons that can be mapped. The scroll wheel uses the Logitech hyper-fast scrolling tech. Both the keyboard and the mouse connect to the PC via a Unifying receiver that barely sticks out of the USB port. The keyboard and mouse will ship soon for $99.99.

CES 2010 - One thing that is always interesting about CES is the way you can directly compare product offerings right on the show floor. For example, if you want to see how different manufacturers are doing with LCD TVs you can simply walk from booth to booth and compare. We had the chance to do this with a couple of wireless charging systems.

WildCharge
Our first "victim" was WildCharge. WildCharge has now teamed up with PUREPENERGY Solutions to create a company that not only can provide a wireless charging solution but also rechargeable batteries for your portable devices.

I am a big fan of wireless computer gear; I have more cables running across my desk than I want. It would be great to shed all those cables and go wireless. Iomega has announced a new external storage interface device called the iConnect that will cut some of those wires.

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The device has built-in wireless connectivity and a pair of USB ports that allow the iConnect to be used as a wireless print server and a wireless network storage device, assuming you plug an external hard drive into one of the USB ports. The device supports 802.11b/g/n networks and has a wired gigabit Ethernet port as well.

The iConnect is compatible with Apple Time Machine backups and works with Windows computers as well. It supports CIFS/SMB/Rally (Microsoft), AFP/Bonjour (Apple), HTTP, HTTPS network protocols and can be configured for remote access from anywhere in the world. The device will ship in February for $99.99.

WirelessHD will be given an update in the near future and the companies backing it up have already outlined the goals for this 2.0 revision.

Some mad scientists in Japan have made a WiFi resistant paint. A group of researchers at the University of Tokyo blended regular house paint with Aluminum Iron Oxide to create a paint that is capable of blocking stray Wifi signals.

What this means is that for the price of a couple of gallons of paint you can add an extra measure of security to your home or office wireless network.

Of course you will still get leakage from windows and other places that you would not normally paint but it should be able to greatly reduce the amount of signal that wardrivers and other WiFi thieves can use to piggyback on your signal.

Read more here at CNet.

Linksys has taken a big step forward in the digital home market by unveiling their new Multiroom Wireless-N Home Audio System in time for CES today. This is a complete wireless home audio system that makes use of the latest wireless-n technology to deliver audio throughout the home. Its rich feature-set allow the same music to be played throughout the whole circuit or you can customize what you want played in certain zones.

Google has written a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asking to use unlicensed and unused airwaves or "white space" as it is called, for broadening the arena in which the internet can be broadcast.

It seems that the areas between channel 2 to channel 51 on TV sets which are not in use by cable services, or satellite broadcasts will be an ideal playground and a "once in a lifetime opportunity to provide ubiquitous wireless broadband access to all Americans."; according to the Yahoo news article.

Geoff from Freedom9 in Australia alerted us recently that they have released their latest Network Attached Storage (NAS) device, called the freeStor 400.

Digital Picture Frames have really taken off; they're one of those devices that could have been quickly considered as a useless gimmick, but a decent flow of sales in the retail market proves otherwise.

I've never put much thought into their usefulness myself, that is until eStarling contacted us recently with details of their new WiFi Digital Picture Frame.