Eric Griffith

Strix Systems of Calabasas, Calif., is one of the many companies making a name for itself in wireless mesh infrastructure equipment. It’s a market that In-Stat says is going from $33.5 million last year to $974.3 million by 2009. In fact, the research firm calls it a “potentially disruptive technology” — they mean that in […]

The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle and others report that Google is making an official play to build out the citywide Wi-Fi network for San Francisco desired by Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office. The network would be built by WFI using third-party hardware (no word on if it would be mesh, but that’s likely), and […]

This week in Tokyo, the first Wireless USB Developers Conference for the region took place, co-sponsored by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the group that handles the specification for Universal Serial Bus in both its current wired and future wireless formats, and the WiMedia Alliance, the industry group promoting and developing use of Ultrawideband (UWB) […]

If you’re a vendor that works with Meru Networks, you’re more than just a partner. You’re part of an alliance. The company, which makes wireless networking infrastructure equipment that particularly targets voice customers, is launching VoIP Unplugged, which it calls “a global alliance of leading VoIP and wireless players with the sole purpose of creating […]

Los Gatos, Calif.-based Firetide this week announced an upgrade for managing its wireless mesh nodes, as well as a move to include 4.9GHz support in products — the frequency reserved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for communications between first responders at emergencies. The new software application is HotView Pro, an upgrade to the HotView […]

Who will be the first out with a phone to support Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA)? Kineto—the company that developed the technology—has licensed its UMA software to several companies, but the first out with an official announcement appears to be LG Electronics (LGE). LGE’s Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC) phone is the CL400. Most handsets today that support […]

It’s a long way from the days of X10 for simple home controls such as using a remote to shut off your lights. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are the future for not only monitoring systems as complicated as a computer and as simple as light bulbs, but also controlling those items as well. This isn’t […]

Reuters and other sources this morning are pointing to pages found on Google.com indicating plans afoot for the search engine giant to offer a Wi-Fi VPN software tool called “Google Secure Access.” As of this writing, the tool is found at the URL WiFi.Google.com/download.html. A FAQ file at the site describes the Windows-only software as […]

Video54 made its name earlier this year when its BeamFlex technology was licensed by Netgear for use in its RangeMax series of products. Now the company is jettisoning that name—which it says is not only tied too closely to 54Mbps Wi-Fi, but is also easily confused with the legendary Studio 54 nightclub—in favor of the […]

The 109th Congress has a lot of BITs to consider. BIT is the acronym for “broadband Internet transmission”  used in the so-far-untitled 77-page working draft of a telecommunications bill currently under comment with the Energy and Commerce Committee in the United States House of Representatives. It builds on aspects of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 […]

Third time’s the charm? Actually, Airgo Networks has had lots of luck selling its first generation of True MIMO chips, and isn’t doing badly with its less expensive second generation, in use with vendors like Belkin and Linksys, and even in Samsung laptops. That’s 4 million chips in less than a year. So what does […]

Remember when sitting on the bus as you traveled to and fro meant, at best, reading a good book or napping — and at worst, staring into space? Those days are numbered, if trials in the cities of Seattle, Washington and Cedar Rapids, Iowa are any indication. Soon, you’ll be able to take the laptop […]