AT&T U-verse cuts the coax, goes wireless in-home

By Ryan Lawler

From http://gigaom.com/
Pretty soon, new AT&T U-verse subscribers won’t have to go through the hassle of having their entire home re-wired with coaxial cable when they sign up for the pay TV service. Instead, all they’ll need is a residential gateway and a set of thin-client wireless receivers to deliver live and on-demand TV throughout the home.

Starting Oct. 31, U-verse customers can order the new wireless receiver, which can be placed anywhere throughout the home or even outside, as long as it’s within Wi-Fi range. By hooking up the wireless receiver, users will no longer have to connect the TV’s set-top box to a coax connection, meaning they have the flexibility to move TVs around the house or to switch out the wireless receiver to rooms that aren’t used as much.



TVs hooked up to the wireless receivers will get all the same features that are available through more traditional wired set-top boxes, such as access to on-demand titles and whole-home DVR functionality. Subscribers are also able to pause a piece of programming and pick up watching it in any other room in the house.

More importantly, the wireless receiver will reduce the need for AT&T technicians to run coaxial cable throughout subscriber homes. That means an easier set-up process for new subscribers, and could drastically reduce the time it takes to get users set up and ready. Existing customers can also request the new wireless receivers, which they can put around the house thanks to a self-install kit.
The news follows a trend of pay TV operators introducing more IP-enabled services and devices. Verizon and Comcast, for instance, have both announced plans to make their content available through the Microsoft Xbox game console, which AT&T subscribers can already use as a set-top box. Comcast and Time Warner Cable are also building TV apps for connected TVs. And any number of operators — including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, and others have rolled out iPad apps that let users stream live or on-demand videos.

While AT&T has always delivered IP-based TV services, these examples show how it and other service providers can use streaming video to deliver new user experiences to users. While today the wireless streams are being delivered exclusively to U-verse receivers, we can imagine AT&T building apps for connected devices that could alleviate the need for the device. In the meantime, however, AT&T’s new wireless receivers are available for a one-time fee of $49, plus a $7 per month receiver rental fee.

Izon Spy Camera Streams Video to iOS Devices

• By Charlie Sorrel
• From http://www.wired.com/

Monitor the baby, or make a celebrity-style sex tape. You decide. Photo credit Stem Innovation

Izon is a “remote room monitor” which beams video across the Internet and onto the screen of your iPad, iPhone or iPod. It might also be described by a more cynical person than myself as a kind of lifestyle spy camera.

The Izon is a white plastic stick which swivels on its dome-shaped magnetic base to be easily pointed at whatever you want to spy on. Then, when away from home or office, you can dial in via a companion app and enjoy a live stream of whatever is going on. You could check in on your baby whilst away on a trip, for example, or watch impotently from afar as burglars empty your house and smear their feces across its walls before they finally steal the Izon too, and its high-quality video stream blinks out.

Once connected to your home Wi-Fi network, the Izon’s stream can be viewed over Edge, 3G or Wi-Fi, and you can also tell it to keep an eye on a specific part of its field of view using a motion sensor. It can also listen for noises, and will send a push alert to your device when anything is detected.

Only you know whether you want or need such a thing, but if you do, then its nice to know there’s such a user-friendly option out there, and one which costs a reasonable $130. Just one thing: if you do buy one, be careful when you and your lady or gentleman get frisky in the same room: The Izon has a function which will automatically upload video to YouTube.

Izon product page [Stem. Thanks, Matt!]

Hands-On With the Boxee Set-Top Box and Remote

• By Brian X. Chen
• From: http://www.wired.com
  
  

LAS VEGAS — A host of video services on the web enable you to watch your favorite TV programs and movies anytime you wish, and Boxee is an open platform striving to weave them all into one neat interface. To get the Boxee experience onto a TV, D-Link has launched a set-top box dedicated to the open video platform, along with a special remote.

The Boxee box is pretty simple. Video outputs through an HDMI connector. For audio, you can plug in through an optical digital audio-out jack or regular composite audio. An SD card slot and two USB ports allow you to expand storage. For internet connectivity, the box supports 802.11n Wi-Fi and ethernet.
Boxee was previously a piece of open source software that you’d download to view media on your computer. Most users would download Boxee onto their notebook, which they’d then hook up to a TV. The box eliminates that need, and it’s also compatible with a new remote that just launched at the Consumer Electronics Show.
The remote sports a full QWERTY keyboard for typing in search queries. On the back of it there are three buttons for hitting Enter, accessing the main Boxee menu and playing or pausing video.

We’ve been fans of Boxee for some time: The menu is beautiful and intuitive, and it’s really zippy with loading multimedia files with thumbnails. The remote does indeed make the experience more enjoyable. It’s sturdy, smooth and comfortable, and the keys feel high quality.


Boxee’s primary purpose was to streamline video entertainment, but since it’s an open platform, it can do a lot more. There’s a Boxee app store for downloading third-party apps provided by developers. The main menu has buttons to access music and photos, too. Think of the Boxee as a restriction-free Apple TV.
The Boxee box and remote are shipping the second quarter of 2010. Pricing has not been announced, but Boxee estimates $200.
For a detailed look at the Boxee platform, see Epicenter’s coverage of the Boxee box launch.
Product page [Boxee]

Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/01/hands-on-with-the-boxee-set-top-box/#ixzz0cKJAWQ2j

Hilarious commercial: Powermat "Its f***in' Charging"

powermat wireless charging
"I am not taking any credit for this do not delete this, just for fun"

Americans pay 5 times more than the Dutch for wireless

A new OECD survey highlights the massive disparity in wireless service costs across countries. Americans pay significantly more than their counterparts in Sweden and the Netherlands for mobile broadband.

By Jon Stokes |

If you think that your mobile phone bill is out of control, that's apparently because it is. A new Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) survey has found that mobile users in the US, Canada, and Spain pay almost five times more for wireless service than their counterparts in the Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden, who pay the least.

More generally, the report nicely ties together a few trends in the telecom industry: texting services have become significant profit centers, and service providers have cut back on equipment spending during the downturn. The striking thing is that, by doing so, they've managed to actually grow profits despite the economic turmoil.

The portions of the report that are available to the public indicate that, across countries, prices ranged from $11 to $53 for a medium usage plan of 780 voice calls, 600 SMS messages, and eight multimedia (MMS) messages. That's a pretty wide range, and North American users are at the top end of it.

As for the reason behind the disparity between US rates and those abroad, the CTIA, a wireless industry trade group, has already released a rebuttal to the report that attributes the disparity to differences in calling patterns.

Since the average US calling profile is nearly three times greater than the OECD's "high usage" basket (and, in fact, the average US calling profile is nearly six times greater than the OECD's "average" usage basket), it is no surprise that most other sources show the price per-call (or price per-MOU) in the United States is the lowest among the OECD countries.

In other words, Americans use way more minutes than customers in other countries, so if you look at the actual per-minute cost, they're lower because the US is buying in bulk, so to speak.

In addition to calls, SMS "continues to be a particularly lucrative market for operators." This news won't come as a shock to governments in either the US or Europe, which have been looking into how wireless carriers price SMS messages for over a year now.

Both AT&T and Verizon recently testified before Congress about their text messaging charges, and the two companies' representatives denied that they colluded to double text messaging prices over the past five years. The reps indicated that their companies were merely responding to Sprint's decision to raise SMS prices, and they also pointed out that the doubling in message pricing only applies to plans that don't include a fixed number of messages for a fee.

The text messaging trend stands in sharp contrast to the cost of voice calls, which the OECD study says have declined by an average of 21 percent for low usage customers, 28 percent for medium usage, and 32 percent for high usage.

The combination of declining voice prices and rising SMS fees fits with the generational change in mobile usage patterns, as younger users prefer text-based forms of communication like SMS and IM. The study notes that many of the carriers are aiming their text messaging packages specifically at younger users.

The report also takes note of a phenomenon that was starkly evident in this latest round of quarterly earnings releases: bandwidth providers across the industry, from Comcast to AT&T, saw profits jump, while network infrastructure makers from Cisco to D-Link saw huge revenue declines.

Clearly, service providers are extracting more money from the use of existing equipment. It's good news for them, but equipment makers are getting whacked for the second time in a decade as infrastructure spending slows dramatically after a period of frenzied investment.

In any case, the report makes it clear that North American carriers have become extremely adept at keeping their income streams growing regardless of what's happening with the larger economy. There may be national differences in usage habits, but the data suggests that service providers would figure out a way to work around them.

8 Tips To Effectively Boost Your Wireless Router Signal

By Leon

Look at it – staring you down so innocently, yet I know that your Linksys wireless router refuses to give you signal. Since you decided to place it in a corner to gather dust, using it only for its relay capabilities, it has decided to constantly bring up the feared “Limited Network Connection” bubble. Don’t you just hate those?

These routers have the power to transmit intangible signals; these signals, powerful as they may be, are prone to constant interference whether it be by physical objects, other signals floating around in the air, or even because you didn’t plug the wire in all the way.

Regardless of what the issue, there are some proven ways to try to remedy the situation of a weak Wifi signal. Some may simply be a little bit of common sense, other methods require purchasing additional parts.

Here are 8 tips on how to boost your wireless router signal.

Position it better

Unless you are living in a cave and you somehow miraculously have internet connectivity at the same time, you probably figured out that if your wireless router was in the corner of your kitchen under a pile of old newspapers and your computer was located on the second floor on the opposite side of the house — it is a great idea to place your router in an open position (preferably in the center of your house) where it isn’t obstructed by dense or metallic objects such as file cabinets or brick walls.

Other items that may interfere with your signal include (but are not limited to) microwave ovens, cordless phones, garage door openers, and even baby monitors. The bottom line is that the less objects in the signal’s way, the easier it is for it to relay information to your computer.

Change the WiFi Channel

Generally, Wifi routers transmit their signals on a radio frequency of 2.4 GHz. Many other household objects may operate on or around the same frequency, like cordless phones, for example. So, the channel becomes bogged down over time with lots of excess traffic that slows down your wireless connection. In the U.S., routers have a predefined set of 11 channels, and the default on a lot of them is channel 6. Changing the channel would reduce some interference. So how do you change the channel?

A great utility many people use is called NetStumbler, a wireless networking tool that just so happens to offer the option for you to change your wifi channel. Once opened, the program gives the choice of fooling around with all of your wireless utilities. Here is where you change your channel:

Which leads to:

Since the default for most people (at least in the United States) is 6, you may want to change your channel to something like say, channel 11. Take note that the changing of your wireless channel will NOT in any way increase your speed or bandwith. It will simply remedy your network connection if it keeps breaking off or getting lost.

Update firmware or drivers

Updates, whether related to the router firmware or your computer’s network adapter are done to fix bugs, smoothen out performance and reliability, and maybe even add new features. It is always a good idea to stay up to date with the latest releases by either of these parties.

Tim suggested using RadarSync to easily automatically update your computer’s drivers at once.

Buy your equipment from the same company

Compatibility can be a big problem, especially for two way transmissions. It may help to purchase your adapter and your router – everything, from the same company. Aside from that, some companies have embedded enhancements that improve speed or signal strength when everything is under the same brand.

Replace your antenna

Most routers come equipped with something called an omnidirectional antenna. This means that the antenna attached to the router broadcasts the signal equally within a certain circular radius. This is great if the router is positioned in the center of a hub where it needs to be able to reach ever corner of a room, but it can prove to be extremely wasteful if your router is in the corner (then again, why would it be there in the first place?). Since the signal is transmitted in a radius, if you place it in a corner, a lot of the transmitted signal is sent into the wall or outside into the open.

That is why you can manually detach your antenna and replace it with a high gain antenna. This focuses its energy to direct the signal in one general direction. Simple enough? You may have to check and see if your router has an external antenna jack/removable antenna.

Replace your wireless adapter

Since this is a two-way transmission, it may not have occured to you that it may not be the router that is the problem, but actually the wireless adapter attached to your computer. If your computer cannot send signals back to the router, the same problem ensues.

What is an adapter? It used to be the card that you inserted into your computer or laptop. These days, most of the adapters are in the form of USB devices. Consider switching to a USB adapter that houses an external antenna, like this one depicted below.

This is usually only applicable to desktop computers. If you purchased a laptop that has a built-in adapter, it probably isn’t your adapter because they are usually very high quality installations.

Add an additional Wireless Access Point (WAP) or Repeater

If all else fails, you may need to purchase a repeater or a secondary Wireless Access Point. The consensus among these two options is rather mixed. Constructing a secondary WAP requires the ability to feed an ethernet cable from your primary router to the new access point. There are also cost considerations to be aware of, as WAPs cost more than regular wireless routers. Even so, WAPs have certain flexibilities that normal routers do not have. They can be configured as gateways, bridges, clients or repeaters. But that’s another story. The bottom line is that the WAP is an extension of the original hub in order to extend the distance of the signal. The repeater works the same way.

Here is a tutorial on how to set up the WAP courtesy of Techskillsvideos:

Try weird things

Apparently aluminum foil amplifies reception and transmission. It may or may not work, YMMV.

A little bit of background: You may have seen 802.11b or 802.11g written somewhere on your router – these are merely wireless LAN standards that the particular router adheres to. The main difference between these is that 802.11b has a maximum data transfer rate of 11 Mbps, whereas 802.11g has a much higher 54 Mbps rate.

With that being said, there is no way to improve data transmission or bandwith outside of hardware applications and upgrades. The tips mentioned above are meant to help you solve the problem of an interfered or weak signal. These may or may not work for you, but there is a strong correlation between troubleshooting and success rate.

Have you any other tips to help strengthen a weak signal? Has changing channels made a big difference for you? Tried attaching aluminum foil to your router’s antenna? How did that turn out for you? Share your experiences in the comments!

Use Your iPhone as a Wireless Laptop Modem

Mike Keller

Feb 17, 2009 8:52 am

I travel a lot. And if you’re a geek like me, you can’t go a full day sans internet access without experiencing some severe withdrawal symptoms. Luckily, my iPhone, with all its WiFi and 3G goodness, has been instrumental in feeding my addiction while on the road. But though Apple’s smartphone provides the best mobile browsing experience out there, the small screen and touch controls still don’t compare to the pixel real estate and tactile qwerty speed of a laptop. Not to mention such luxuries as Flash compatibility, page caching, and tabbed browsing.

So the next time you’re stranded without an open WiFi network (but your 3G signal is going strong), you’ll be glad you installed Addition’s iPhoneModem 2 (free to try, full license is $9.99). Unfortunately, Apple has apparently deemed the app to be in conflict with its App Store Terms and Conditions, so it is only available for jailbroken phones via Cydia. Here’s a quick guide:

1) Jailbreak your iPhone.
Download and install QuickPwn, an easy-to-use jailbreaking application for Windows and Mac (the latest version works with iPhone OS 2.2.1). Run the software and follow the onscreen instruction very carefully!

2) Install iPhoneModem by Addition.
QuickPwn installs an app on your phone called Cydia, which is essentially the App Store for apps that were rejected from the official App Store (or, for whatever reason, the developer chose not to release through Apple). Run Cydia, search for iPhoneModem by Addition and install it. Keep in mind you can only delete Cydia installed apps via Cydia’s Manage-Sources function. Now download and install the helper app on your laptop and you’re almost ready to go.

3)Set up the network.
Run the helper app and hit Connect. The helper app sets up an ad hoc wireless network that can be accessed via iPhone. The default network it creates is called “iPhoneModem” and does not have a password (you can change this in the Preferences of the helper app). Now open up your iPhone’s Settings and tap WiFi. Make sure WiFi is turned on and select the network “iPhoneModem” (or whatever you called it). Type the password if you assigned one. Open up the Modem iPhone app and everything else will configure automatically. After a few moments the helper app and the iPhone app will confirm that a connection has been established and you can browse away with all the comforts of your laptop!

Shortcomings:
While 3G seems plenty fast on a phone, it feels a little slow on a laptop. Also, most major web browsers work but not all are supported. In addition, a lot of other internet applications aren’t supported, but for all intents and purposes, you should be able to browse just fine.

*Note: If you haven’t already discovered, jailbreaking your iPhone opens up a world of possibilities, including themes and apps that aren’t allowed in the App Store. While it technically voids the warranty, you can easily return your device to its original state with the “Restore” feature in iTunes, wiping all traces of the jailbreak hack.