The FCC’s largest concern with this leap forward in Wi-Fi is that there is no interference with existing television signals. But the Coalition is confident that this will not be a problem. Instead they’re touting the technology’s ability to produce download speeds of up to 80Mbps.

The timeline sets February 2009 as its endpoint with all analog television transmissions ceasing at this point and, if all goes well, white space broadband service beginning at the same time.
Via [arstechnica.com]

For a minimal outlay of money this new technology lets several households reliably share one high speed connection. The Solar accessory uses the sun to power the repeater, meaning it does not have to be connected to an electrical source and the solar power is distributed throughout the day so you don’t experience blackout periods.

Formally launched just a few months ago the system currently has over 1000 networks in 35 countries and is providing access to approximately 40,000 users.
Via [meraki.net]

The AP300 is relying on radio chipsets from Atheros Communications. The radios can both be 11n or a combination of 11n along with 11a/b/g to work with existing WLAN clients. Meru plans to sell this device for about $1,500, nearly double the price of its current high-end 802.11a/b/g access point. It is still determining the price of the MC500, which can support as many as 200 access points and deliver as high as 1Gbit/sec. of throughput. The TDS, meanwhile, will enable Meru’s controllers to differentiate wireless packets. With the software, controllers may deal with only control traffic, or only data traffic, or both.
Via [computerworld.com]

The application arose from the dissertation by doctoral students Vadim Drabkin, Gabi Kliot and Alon Kama under the supervision of Professor Roy Friedman of the Technion Faculty of Computer Science. Friedman said: “We want to bring this to as many people as possible. When there are two computers in the same room, it doesn’t make sense that they must go out to the Internet to communicate. WiPeer’s main added value is the ability to keep things local.” WiPeer is seen as a possible application for cellphones the software will enable users to do away with operators and call people close by.
Via [networkworld.com]

Bahous hopes the company’s new products will pave the way for increased uptake of wireless printers. “Because of the high price of existing wireless printers and the complexity of use, consumers have been slow to adopt wireless printing,” he said. By the end of June, Lexmark will start selling printers with wireless capabilities for as little as $80, such as the Z1420 colour printer without scanner and X3550 all-in-one with an optional wireless feature. With corporations still relying on wired LANs, Lexmark’s printers are intended for the consumer and small enterprise markets.
Via [techworld.com]

Motorola launched the initiative following an Uptown Services study showing that actual performance by mesh networks in three Californian municipalities — Lompoc, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale — failed to reach the industry benchmark of 90 percent outdoor coverage. According to Paul Mueller, Motorola’s VP for wireless broadband distribution, “many of the early customers in the mesh network space have run pilots with older, first-generation mesh solutions that simply cannot perform or scale to meet the expanding needs of a metro-wide network.”
Via [informationweek.com]

Ekahau dubbed its new radio tracking device “people tag,” which it plans to start selling for $50 during the latter part of 2007. The water-resistant T301-B tag has built-in 802.11b radio based on a G2 Microsystems chip that allows Ekahau’s Positioning Engine software to identify the wearer’s location, and transmits an alert or a confirmation when the buttons are pressed. Its 2-line, self-illuminating screen allows for viewing of short text messages.

PanGo’s new Wi-Fi enabled V3 tag is now available. It is equipped with an 11b/g chipset from G2 Microsystems, which communicates via two modes — one makes full use of an access point while the other only taps an access point to transmit its MAC address and battery status to identify and locate the user. The tag features the Cisco Certified Extensions Tag Protocol that can connect devices with Cisco’s access points and its 2700 Location Appliance. It operates on one standard AA battery and has a maximum life span of five years.

This month, Trapeze Networks will release its LA200 Location Appliance to the market. The $15,000 system connects to existing wireless LANs to monitor as many as 2,000 wireless devices, like wireless laptops and handhelds, and third-party active Wi-Fi tags. Newbury Networks is providing the core technology called server-side pattern matching. The location technique retrieves the Received Signal Strength Indication reading from a wireless client and transmits this to the server software, which determines the client’s position.
Via [pcworld.com]

On its rechargeable lithium-ion battery, the Panasonic handset boasts up to 55 hours of standby time and 4.5 hours of talk time. Users can also connect the phone to a PC via an optional USB connection.
Via [news.digitaltrends.com]

Sandisk’s 4GB Sansa Connect device provides an alternative to Zune. The $250 gadget uses Zing to allow playlist sharing, Internet radio station streaming and track downloads so long as the Sandisk portable has Wi-Fi connection. Sansa Connect features a microSD card slot, and support for PlaysForSure downloads and subscription services. It also enables users to view photos through its 2.2-inch color screen.
Via [pcworld.com]

Motorola, meanwhile, said its venture capital unit has provided funding to DARTdevices Corp. The Mountain View, California-based software firm has developed an application that will enable wireless content sharing between consumer electronics devices such as mobile phones, PCs, PDAs, and MP3 music players.
Via [computerworld.com]

Subscribers to the BT Business One Plan pay as little as 5p for a 60 minute call. The plan requires users to buy a £15 dual GSM/Wi-Fi mobile phone — currently, BT only offers Nokia 6136 and Motorola A910, but plans to make Samsung’s P200 available by January — for each user and pay 15p per minute for mobile calls to other BT mobile users and 25p for mobile calls to mobile phones connected to other carriers. Each Fusion handset comes preloaded with software that supports unlicensed mobile access or UMA.

Steve Andrews, managing director of BT mobility and convergence, expects no dropped calls with the system — if the user goes out of original coverage, the call will revert to GSM before connecting to the next available access point. The company plans to test a corporate variant of the service, which would involve utilizing a specially configured mesh wireless network and integrating with IP private branch exchanges.
Via [itweek.co.uk]

The project involves installing WLAN routers in cars to allow drivers to share information on temperature, road conditions, fog, or road obstructions within a 500 meter radius. Car2Car Communication Consortium developed the system, which would use 5.9GHz band to enable the ad-hoc mesh network.

Engineers hope to expand the features of the technology in the future. They see a possible integration with GPS and mapping systems to help cars find other routes so they can elude gridlocks.
Via [arstechnica.com]