wireless – News Stories About wireless - Page 3

Thumbs of Fury at the National Texting Competition

Nov 28, 2007 11:23 AM CST

Thumbs of Fury at the National Texting Competition

21-year-old champ is bested by newer blood

(Newser) - If you're over 20, you're already doomed, says intrepid Wired reporter Neil Janowitz of his attempt to compete in the National Texting Championship. Three hundred entrants competed for $25K in New York City, and the 21-year-old reigning West Coast champ was eventually defeated by newer blood—a 13-year-old.

Stores Expose Customer Credit Card, Personal Data to Hackers

Nov 16, 2007 1:36 PM CST

Stores Expose Customer Credit Card, Personal Data to Hackers

Major retailers neglect anti-theft encryption

(Newser) - Major US and European retailers routinely transmit sensitive data, including customer credit card and Social Security numbers, over wireless networks wide open to hackers. A recent undercover study by a wireless data security firm found half of stores in major shopping areas either exchanged data without anti-hacking encryption or used...

Google's Grand Plan for National Cell Phone Network

Nov 16, 2007 5:50 AM CST

Google's Grand Plan for National Cell Phone Network

Eyes major airwaves grab for phone system

(Newser) - Internet giant Google wants to reshape the wireless world, and its plans reach far beyond the cell phone software the company introduced last week. At a Federal Communications Commission auction in January, the company may make a $4.6 billion solo bid to buy airwaves to run its own national...

BlackBerry To Grow in China

Oct 24, 2007 11:39 PM CDT

BlackBerry To Grow in China

RIM takes smartphone into untapped market

(Newser) - BlackBerry developer Research in Motion is pushing its smartphone into the huge Chinese market for personal communications devices, with major multinationals its first market target. Reuters reports RIM's Chinese partner, China Mobile, already has a two-thirds market share, but the Blackberry is expected to face tough opposition from a low-cost...

AT&T Profits Boosted by Wireless Sales and iPhone

Oct 23, 2007 5:06 PM CDT

AT&T Profits Boosted by Wireless Sales and iPhone

Wireless subscriptions reached 65.7 million

(Newser) - AT&T quarterly profits went up 42%, boosted by strong wireless sales and by the ever-nifty Apple iPhone. Total wireless sales hit 65.7 million, much of the increase coming from the company's purchase of BellSouth—which made AT&T the sole owner of Cingular. “We had an excellent...

WiMax Gets Green Light from UN

Oct 20, 2007 2:55 PM CDT

WiMax Gets Green Light from UN

Upstart wireless tech included in next generation standards

(Newser) - In a huge victory for Intel, the UN’s telecommunications agency yesterday gave WiMax a thumbs up, opening the way for member nations to devote public radio space to the upstart wireless internet technology. Intel lobbied hard for the WiMax, which can sling data 40 miles at up to 70...

AT&T Eases
Its Contract
Regs, Fees

Oct 17, 2007 1:22 PM CDT

AT&T Eases Its Contract Regs, Fees

Nation's biggest wireless provider follows Verizon's lead, pressuring the rest

(Newser) - Wireless giant AT&T is following Verizon Wireless in loosening restrictions on customers who leave or change their calling plans. Flat early termination fees will be pro-rated, and plan alterations won't result in contract renewals. The move will put pressure on beleaguered No. 3 provider Sprint, writes the Wall Street ...

Britain Launches Wi-Fi Health Investigation

Oct 13, 2007 3:04 PM CDT

Britain Launches Wi-Fi Health Investigation

Study to examine wireless effects in schools, offices

(Newser) - Great Britain’s Health Protection Agency has launched a two-year comprehensive study into the health risks of wireless Internet connections, responding to rising fears from advocates and educators – but they don’t expect to find anything. There’s no evidence suggesting health risks, the Agency says, and it's likely...

Sprint CEO
Gets the Sack

Oct 5, 2007 12:37 PM CDT

Sprint CEO Gets the Sack

Floundering wireless carrier to find replacement by December

(Newser) - Sprint CEO Gary Forsee is getting canned, the Wall Street Journal reports, as America’s number three carrier struggles to find an identity. Earlier this week activist investor Ralph Whitworth called for Forsee’s head, but it had been on the chopping block since August, Journal sources say. Sprint's net...

Municipal Wi-Fi Dreams Persist

Sep 25, 2007 5:44 PM CDT

Municipal Wi-Fi Dreams Persist

Philadelphia, others survive after similar 'Internet everywhere' schemes fail

(Newser) - Citywide Wi-Fi isn't a dead horse. Despite the negative press that followed San Francisco's squashed wireless plan, other cities' networks are actually seeing signs of success because they articulated how it will be used and how it will benefit people, reports CNET. Corpus Christi's Wi-Fi initially allowed utility workers to...

Cell Phones Linked to Hearing Loss

Sep 20, 2007 4:03 AM CDT

Cell Phones Linked to Hearing Loss

Study finds hour a day on cell phone caused progressive damage

(Newser) - Extensive cell phone use can cause progressive hearing loss, according to a new study presented at a scientific conference in Washington. The study, conducted by researchers in India, found high frequency hearing loss among users who talked for more than an hour a day for four years on their cell...

Why Citywide Wi-Fi Doesn't Fly

Sep 4, 2007 2:15 PM CDT

Why Citywide Wi-Fi Doesn't Fly

Figures show low use of municipal wireless

(Newser) - As plans for free municipal Wi-Fi ran aground last week in San Francisco, Chicago, and St. Louis, Wired investigates why the egalitarian dream of all-pervasive wireless has failed to take hold. All to blame: the high cost of infrastructure, difficult public-private partnerships, and, above all, low consumer interest.

Reality Bytes: Bobbies Bust
Wi-Fi Squatter

Aug 23, 2007 3:51 AM CDT

Reality Bytes: Bobbies Bust Wi-Fi Squatter

Web surfer jailed for freeloading on network

(Newser) - London bobbies took a byte out of an internet surfer's liberty yesterday when they tossed him in jail for freeloading on someone else's wireless network. "This arrest should act as a warning to anyone who thinks it is acceptable to illegally use other people's broadband connections," admonished a...

Get Ready
for the Googlephone

Aug 3, 2007 3:17 AM CDT

Get Ready for the Googlephone

Company showing prototypes in bid to break into cell phone ad market

(Newser) - Google is spending hundreds of millions of dollars secretly developing a cell phone which offers Google search technology and other services, reports the London Independent. Prototype phones have been shown to several wireless carriers. The company is poised to bid on wireless spectrum licenses in the upcoming federal auction, which...

Google Stokes Wireless Competition With $4.6B Bid

Jul 22, 2007 7:39 AM CDT

Google Stokes Wireless Competition With $4.6B Bid

Search giant set to buy wireless frequencies

(Newser) - Google is poised to bid $4.6 billion in the upcoming federal auction of wireless frequencies, to create a national broadband network that could challenge the dominance of companies like AT&T and Comcast. If Google's bid triumphs, the web search giant could expand into selling Internet, telephone and...

iPhones Down Duke Network

Jul 19, 2007 7:34 PM CDT

iPhones Down Duke Network

Snazzy gadgets cause wireless problems, headaches for university IT staff

(Newser) - Wireless access points on the Duke campus are going dead for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, and the university has 100 to 150 suspects: iPhones. An IT spokesman tells the News and Observer the devices are hammering the university's wireless network with up 18,000 connection requests per...

More Americans Go Wireless

May 15, 2007 11:10 AM CDT

More Americans Go Wireless

Landline use falls; one-eighth of US households rely on cellphones only

(Newser) - More and more Americans are bypassing landlines and using only cellphones, a new CDC survey says. The trend encompasses people of all ages and incomes, and it's especially pronounced among the young and the poor. One-eighth (12.8%) of all households use only a cellphone—up from 3.2% in...

BlackBerry Blackout Lasts 12 Hours

Apr 19, 2007 8:57 AM CDT

BlackBerry Blackout Lasts 12 Hours

Millions of data and email addicts left jonesing during service outage

(Newser) - Five million BlackBerry scrollers in the U.S. and Asia were stymied for 12 hours over Tuesday night and yesterday morning while Research in Motion frantically fixed a service outage. Early-riser Wall Streeters working on deals with London were particularly annoyed by the downtime. Experts surmise the blackout was a...