Posts Tagged ‘wireless’
Voxx accessories shows off hassle-free Soundboard for wireless audio (hands-on)
Author: Tech Blogger
Voxx Accessories (formerly Audiovox) launched its newest Soundflow wireless audio product at CTIA this week: the Soundboard. The idea is quite simple; place just about any handset on the 3-AA battery powered Soundboard while it plays your favorite music and the device instantly amplifies and rebroadcasts it through its own built in speakers. No pairing, no wires and no hassle are the name of the game.
The concept and its ease of use is really slick, though sadly, the execution is sub-par because even if the tech works perfectly the sound is pretty terrible. The housing is so small that there is simply no bass at all so the resultant audio quality is high pitched and tinny. Voxx’s rep did mention that the speaker still needs tuning, so we’ll definitely wait ’til we run into it again for final judgment on the Soundboard’s sonic abilities. So until that time we’ll save its $ 29.99 list price for a decent NFC-enabled speaker that delivers almost exactly the same no muss no fuss wireless experience. Pics of the Soundboard are in the gallery below.
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment
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AMD outlines Elite Performance laptop APUs with game-ready Wireless Display
Author: Natalie Wood
AMD isn’t focusing all its attention on its entry-level mobile APUs today: it’s also providing details for the faster Richland-based models. The new A6, A8, and A10 mobile variants fall under the Elite Performance badge, and theoretically beat Intel to the punch with up to 71 percent faster 3D graphics than the current Core i5 family. They also muster about 7.5 hours of battery life with web use, or about an hour longer than we saw in the previous generation. The roster includes both regular power (35W) and low-voltage (17W to 25W) APUs, in dual- and quad-core editions.
We’re more interested in how well the chips play with other devices and software, however. Besides the face and motion gesture recognition that we’ve seen before, AMD touts a new take on Wireless Display with low enough latency for game sessions, support for 1080p60 video and native Miracast sharing. The Richland upgrade also introduces a new Dock Port standard that can feed both USB 3.0 and up to three external DisplayPort screens through one cable. If you like what AMD is pitching, you won’t have to wait to try it — Elite Performance APUs have already been shipping with MSI’s GX60 and GX70, and other vendors shouldn’t be far behind.
Gallery: AMD Richland presentation
Source: AMD
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Meet Agent, A Smartwatch With A Second Processor For Minimizing Power Consumption And Wireless Charging
Author: James Cliff
Smartwatches are all the rage, and judging by the turnout and level of enthusiasm at the recent year one meetup for Pebble Kickstarter backers in San Francisco, there’s at least a passionate niche audience for the things. So it isn’t surprising to see them continue to pop up on Kickstarter. A new one called Agent has a few unique tricks, however, which its creators believe set it above the competition.
What the Agent has that others don’t is a combination of power management features and wireless charging. It has not one but two processors, for instance, one with higher performance capabilities and one extremely low-power variant to handle simple background tasks. There’s a new Sharp Memory Display that combines the advantages of both a traditional LCD and e-ink black and white, which is very power conscious, as well as wireless Qi induction charging with an included pad. Since it’s based on the widely-accepted Qi standard, however, it should work with charging pads from a variety of manufacturers.
The Agent is a refreshing change from other Kickstarter smartwatches in that it actually offers something new in terms of technical aspirations. The watch should get up to 7 days of battery life with its smart functions activated, or up to 30 days of standby in ‘watchface-only” mode. Even if that misses the mark by a bit, it should still beat the stated and actual battery life of existing devices like the Pebble. The gadget also features a 120HMz ARM Cortex-M4 processor, a 1.28-inch display, Bluetooth 4.0 (aka “Low Energy”), onboard motion and light sensors and an OS that allows developers to write apps for it using C# and Microsoft Visual Studio. It uses a Microsoft .NET runtime environment that Agent’s creators say will maximize memory and power efficiency, unlike with other smartwatches. The team says you’ll be able to start writing and emulating apps on the desktop as soon as the funding campaign is complete, which would be faster than the staged rollout of the Pebble SDK.
The creators of the Agent are Secret Labs, a team of engineers that has been building open-source products under the brand name Netduino since 2010, as well as smart home technologies, and House of Horology, a custom timepiece manufacturer that brings some real watch cred to the game. Early bird pledges get a pre-order for $ 129, where the final price is expected to come in at around $ 249 when the product ships late this year.
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Tags: agent, Charging, consumption, Meet, Minimizing, power, processor, Second, SmartWatch, wireless | 
No Comments »Bloomberg: Dish offers $2 billion for LightSquared’s wireless spectrum
Author: Brian McKinnell
The last few years have been a tumultuous time for LightSquared, with the company’s LTE plans facing one hurdle after another that eventually led to a bankruptcy filing. It looks like at least one company is now looking to buy its most valuable asset, though, with Bloomberg reporting that Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen has put a $ 2 billion offer on the table for the company’s wireless spectrum. That’s yet to be confirmed by either party, and Bloomberg reports that the offer is a so-called stalking horse bid, which could still let others put in a higher offer of their own. As Bloomberg also notes, this all comes at the same time that Dish is looking to buy Sprint for over $ 25 billion, both deals of which would require regulatory approval.
Filed under: Wireless
Source: Bloomberg
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Zivix Announces Wireless iOS Connectivity For The Jamstik MIDI Guitar
Author: Antonio Pierce
When we first met the team from Zivix their wild MIDI guitar, the Jamstik, promised a unique music-making experience thanks to a tether that connected it to a computer or iOS device. In the few short months since CES, however, they’re now preparing to announce that Jamstik works nearly flawlessly over Wi-Fi with iPhones and iPads, thereby reducing the need for a physically tethered device.
The Jamstik, which has surpassed its Indigogo goal with 13 days to go, is the first product by Zivix that aims to make music education and composition far easier than on a normal guitar. Not unlike the GTar, the Jamstik outputs MIDI signals as you play. However, instead of electrical connections with the strings the Jamstik uses IR sensors to “see” where your fingers are on the fretboard, allowing for tricks like string bending and hammer-ons and -offs.
The new prototypes have full MIDI over WiFi support, allowing you to connect to an iOS device completely wirelessly. The Jamstik actually creates its own ad hoc network with your device, allowing you to maintain a connection to your favorite audio program without having to connect cables. In the demo I saw today the Jamstik maintained a solid connection for most of an hour and, using Audiobus, you could transmit audio from one program to another, allowing for some amazing mixed MIDI and audio recordings.
The company plans to go into production in 30 days and they have 17 days left on their Indiegogo campaign. The device itself is $ 299 and the company is in talks to get it into retail stores in Q4 for general consumers. It’s an exciting time to be a musician, that’s for sure.
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What is the difference between the xbox 360 wireless adapter and the xbox live wireless adapter?
Author: Buck Howard
Question by tulsabengal: What is the difference between the xbox 360 wireless adapter and the xbox live wireless adapter?
I have an xbox 360 , Can I use the xbox live wireless adapter that comes in a black box. Or do I have to shell out the extra money and get the little white one in the clear plastic packaging?
Best answer:
Answer by theo
proablay going to have to buy the white one. i have any it works pretty good for me. the black one in the box is probably designed for the original xbox instead of the 360 and plus they have a spot for the little wireless adapter on the back of the 360 for it so its convient and not in the way
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
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Amped Wireless’ TAN 1 WiFi adapter for Windows 8 arriving for $60
Author: Natalie Wood
Amped Wireless’ long-gestating TAN 1 may look like a chocolate bar, but you’d probably regret dunking it in your coffee. The high-powered WiFi adapter connects over USB to Windows 8 laptops and tablets, promising to triple the range of your device’s built-in wireless gear. After what seems like an age, the hardware is finally making its way to stores, and will set you back $ 59.99 when it goes on sale tomorrow.
Filed under: Wireless
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UK regulator wants white space wireless service in 2014, starts trials this fall
Author: Gabe Hall
While there have been white space test runs in the UK, these were private trials that weren’t going to get the ball rolling without government help. Thankfully, local regulator Ofcom is of a like mind. It now plans a trial for data on the in-between frequencies this fall, with full-fledged service going live as soon as 2014. The agency expects to settle on the final locations for the pilot after it chooses partners. No, Ofcom can’t guarantee that all the stars will align for rural broadband or other long-range wireless projects — but its involvement at least means those stars are within reach.
Filed under: Wireless, Networking
Via: GigaOM
Source: Ofcom
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DOJ identifies lower frequency spectrum as key to wireless competition
Author: Natalie Wood
The Department of Justice has provided the FCC with new recommendations for governing spectrum auctions, and with a heavy emphasis on leveling the playing industry, the searchings for are most likely to draw the ire of AT&T and Verizon. In its briefing, the DOJ made its case that the nation’s 2 largest carriers presently hold market power, which is due to the heavy concentration of lower regularity spectrum (below 1,000 MHz) designated to the 2 incumbents.
According to DOJ officials, “This outcomes in the 2 smaller nationwide carriers having actually a somewhat decreased ability to contend, especially in rural areas, where the expense to develop out coverage is higher with high-frequency spectrum.” Although the DOJ never came right out and claimed it, one can quickly surmise that it’s leading the FCC to establish rules that favor smaller carriers– particularly Sprint and T-Mobile– in future low-frequency spectrum auctions. In the DOJ’s viewpoint, an incumbent carrier would should demonstrate both convincing evidence of ability constraints and an effective use of its present licenses in order to get added lesser frequency spectrum. Otherwise, the chance exists for AT&T and Verizon to snap up licenses simply in attempt to damage competitors.
Provided that the FCC and DOJ share the duty of ensuring competition in the marketplace, it appears unlikely that this latest brief will fall on deaf ears.
Submitted under: Wireless, MobileCommentsVia: ReutersSource: FCC(
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Skydog Router Provides Powerful And Simple Cloud-Based Home Wireless Network Management
Author: Brandon Zimmerman
Xerox PARC spinout company PowerCloud Systems is debuting a new kind of home networking solution today on Kickstarter, one that in some ways resembles the very successful Almond router, but one that also offers tremendous flexibility and granularity of control over home network access. The Skydog is a home networking tool that allows you complete control over who has access to your network, how much access they have, and what they’re allowed to access, and it can all be controlled remotely, too.
The Skydog consists of a router with 802.11n networking capabilities and simultaneous dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) operation. But the hardware is just one small part of the equation: it’s the software side that makes things really interesting, thanks to a powerful web-based dashboard that’s designed to be accessed from any Internet-connected PC, smartphone or tablet. The dashboard, unlike the firmware access panels of most routers, is actually a cloud-based service layer that provides simple, easy-to-understand controls for various network settings.
For instance, using Skydog, you can receive a text-based notification whenever a new device joins your network, complete with that device’s name. Skydog also shows you exactly how much bandwidth is being used by what device, and even lets you meter access by device or group, so you could allocate more bandwidth to a living room TV for video streaming, for instance, or limit the access of guests to prevent them running up your monthly traffic totals.
Skydog also has extensive parental controls, which allow for content filtering (you can tell it to block websites that fall into broad categories) and time limits on access to specific sites. Lock down Facebook during exam time, for instance, and have Skydog send you a notification when the user with the limit imposed hits their maximum allotted time. And if you need to diagnose a problem, there’s real-time monitoring, complete with remote outage alerts and remote router cycling, so you can spend less time on the phone with your ISP’s tech support department.
“In general, you can think about what we’ve done as taking enterprise-grade technology and making it usable for consumers,” PowerCloud CEO Jeff Abramowitz explained in an interview. “The idea for Skydog really came from employees of the company, friends and family of the company and even our investors taking our business products home, using them and realizing that they gave a level of visibility and control that no existing products really had.”
PowerCloud has been providing its CloudCommand technology for businesses, schools, hotels and other enterprise clients for a couple of years now, and the leap to the consumer market made sense in that it addressed a need that wasn’t really being filled by any competing products. Sure, Almond had simplified home networking by making its a process independent of computers, but in general home networking is still just about connecting devices to the Internet; there’s been very little innovation in terms of giving people more control over how and when they connect, which definitely seems like a missed opportunity given the explosion of the number of connected devices in any given home, and the changed role of the web in the lives of both children and adults.
Skydog is available as a $ 79 pre-order on Kickstarter, and will retail for $ 99 when it hits stores. The service it offers will be available free to users, though since it is a cloud service Abramowitz didn’t rule out the possibility of introducing paid premium tiers and features down the road. Asked why they went the Kickstarter route, he said that Skydog was looking for a new way to access the consumer market for this kind of product.
“Obviously Kickstarter is common for earlier startups, but not necessarily for a company that’s been around for a while,” Abramowitz said. “What we realized is that we’ve got a very disruptive and exciting product, but it really is a very large and mature space, and the existing paths to market are pretty well owned by the incumbents. Getting product on the retail sense is a very resource-intensive proposition.”
Going the Kickstarter route isn’t just about getting consumer backing, he said, but about promoting the Skydog community. The Skydog platform features a forum and is intended to promote sharing of network management strategies, so that people can exchange templates, tips and tricks for running their own household wireless. Kickstarter not only helps with funding, but gets that seeded early.
Skydog also works with your existing setup, as you can just plug in an AirPort Express, for instance, and get it running through the dashboard. The intended ship date is May 2013, so early backers won’t have to wait long for the device, which has already been extensively beta tested. If you’ve been looking for a way to make your home network easier to control and monitor, or you want to set your parents up with a networking solution you can manage completely even from across the country, this is a little project that could have a big impact on your lives.
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Tags: CloudBased, Home, Management, network, Powerful, provides, Router, simple, Skydog, wireless |
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