Free Republic

Broadcasters are threatening to stand in the way of next year's highly anticipated airwave auction, putting one the Obama administration’s top priorities at risk. Officials in the broadcast and wireless industry are hopeful that a new lawsuit from the National Association of Broadcasters will put pressure on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reach a reach a compromise to save the auction — expected to net billions of dollars — from would could be a months-long delay. “This lawsuit puts a cloud over the auction,” said one Republican FCC aide. “It would make sense for the Commission to work something...

We recently gave you a list of 25 trends that would be making people billions. Most of the phenomena will end up benefiting everyone.But if you fancied yourself as someone who could be turned into a billionaire, you were arguably cheating — these were things everyone has already figured out.The real challenge, and the greater value and more lucrative pursuit, would be to come up with the solutions to problems that have befuddled engineers for decades or more.We thought of 10 of them:1. Wireless Power Digital devices have become so small that it can be cumbersome to plug them into a...

It could mean the end of the daily hunt for power cables. Korean researchers have unveiled an experimental wireless recharging system that could top up the mobile of everyone in the office wirelessly. The system can transmit power up to 5 metres, and charge up to 40 phones at a time - and is even powerful enough to power a TV.

Today we are pleased to release a white paper entitled The States’ Broadband Plan, a set of three suggested policies designed to promote broadband connectivity in the states. This white paper comes in response to legislators’ requests for proven ideas to foster more economic growth through technology and improve public safety in the wake of natural disasters. The best way to address the economic problems facing the country is to increase economic opportunity, investing in and fostering potential growth areas of the economy that hold real promise to create jobs and wealth. Few areas hold as much promise as broadband...

As home networks have increased in popularity, so has the wireless router. The rise of Wi-Fi has also caused the downfall of wired networks (in homes, at least), and many consumers now see Ethernet cords as being rather old-fashioned – that is, if they see them at all. Some newer computer models, like Apple’s MacBook Air, don’t even have ports for Ethernet connections anymore. The blistering connection speeds offered by today’s Wi-Fi standards do make wired networks appear a bit of a relic, but appearances can sometimes be deceiving. Though Wi-Fi has improved significantly over the last five years, it...

AMAZING USE OF OUR TECHNOLOGY. STAR TREK MEDICINE IS COMING.

Chinese professor Chi Nan has built her own Li-Fi wireless system that can use LED lights to send and receive Internet data. "I bought the lights from Taobao," she said, referring to the Chinese e-commerce site. The professor from Fudan University showed off the technology on Tuesday at the China International Industry Fair in Shanghai. Unlike traditional Wi-Fi routers that use radio signals, Chi's system relies on light to send and receive data wirelessly. Others scientists, especially in the U.K., have also been researching the technology, and dubbed it "Li-Fi". But rather than develop specialized hardware, Chi bought off-the-shelf retail...

Not only is Big Brother President Obama watching you, he’s going to start messaging you if you own an iPhone with AT&T service. AT&T subscribers with an iPhone 4S or 5 using iOS 6.1 or higher are going to start getting presidential alerts on matters of “national importance” whether you want them or not. As part of AT&T’s new Wireless Emergency Alerts, once a user updates their operating system, AMBER and Emergency alerts are automatically sent to the phone. However . . .

Many smart people here and when it comes to 21st c tech, I am a pinhead. Situation in a nutshell, I got a smartphone as a gift a few months ago, and after many weeks, still hadn't activated it, but the gift giver wouldn't take it back and even followed up with a hefty wad of funds to activate and operate the device. I do not know enough about wireless networks, security issues, firewalls, etc., to fill a thimble. I don't even know enough to know how much smarter the gift giver is (all I know is, he wears gadgets...

Think you own your wireless handset, inside and out? Think you can do whatever you wish with your own property? Think again. Beginning Saturday, it will become illegal to unlock a phone without the express permission of the carrier who locked it. While the relevant portion of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act legalizes jailbreaking for three years, it also makes it illegal to unlock new, locked wireless handsets (without the permission of the previous carrier). Exemptions include “legacy phones” ("used (or perhaps unused) phones previously purchased or otherwise acquired by a consumer"). So this ruling won’t kill the secondary market...

Prepaid wireless carrier Republic Wireless has been offering its $19 per month, unlimited everything, prepaid smartphone plan since about this time last year. At the time, though, there were a few catches; you had to buy a very low-end smartphone from them, you had to use its Hybrid Calling technology for most of your calls, and you could only get in if you were lucky enough to be accepted to an exclusive "beta wave." Since then, Republic Wireless has upgraded to the slightly more modern Motorola Defy XT as its flagship smartphone model, and has changed to allow unlimited calling,...

Apple (AAPL) soon might bypass AT&T (T) and Verizon Wireless, co-owned by Verizon Communications (T) and Vodafone (VOD), to offer its own mobile wireless service directly to customers, according to an industry observer. Veteran wireless industry strategist Whitey Bluestein made the bold prediction while speaking at the Informa MVNO Industry Summit in Barcelona, Spain, according to BGR. Apple has the distribution channels and customer base, with more than 250 million credit card numbers on file for iTunes users, to make the move, Bluestein said. But to do so, Apple itself would have to subsidize its iPhone for customers, Bluestein says....

All times Eastern. "Titanic Tech" - H2 (History Channel 2) - 4/12 @9a, & @3p "Lost Worlds: Building the Titanic" - H2 (History Channel 2) - 4/12 @10a & @4p "Titanic's Tragic Sister" (mostly about Britannic) - H2 (History Channel 2) - 4/12 @1p & @7p "Hollywood Dailies (may cover various movies that focused on it) - REELZ - 4/12 @5:30p; 4/13 @2a & @3a & @ 7:30a "Titanic's Achilles Heel" - H2 (History Channel 2) - 4/12 @8p & 4/13 @12a; same - History Channel - 4/15 @11a "Titanic's Final Moments: Missing Pieces" - H2 (History Channel 2) -...

Landline telephones could soon be a thing of the past in parts of Ohio if a senate bill passes. “I would not like it too much. I think landlines are important and I have to make a lot of long distance calls,” said Jerry Viola. Snip...

A sorcerer who was arrested in Saudi Arabia told police to immediately set him free on orders from the “King of Jinn (spirits).” The Gulf kingdom’s religious police seized the 54-year-old man from the Kazakhstan city of Turkestan while making magic work for a woman in the western town of Makkah, Sabq newspaper said. “When they caught the sorcerer, his mobile phone began ringing,” the Arabic language daily said, quoting an official from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. “He told them he was receiving a call from the King of jinn in Nigeria ordering...

Scientists have for the first time sent a message using a beam of neutrinos, through 240 meters of solid stone. The team's not telling us how long the message - which said, simply, 'Neutrino', took to arrive. "Using neutrinos, it would be possible to communicate between any two points on Earth without using satellites or cables," says Dan Stancil, professor of electrical and computer engineering at North Carolina State University. "Neutrino communication systems would be much more complicated than today's systems, but may have important strategic uses." The most intriguing thing about using neutrinos to communicate is that they can...

My 6 year old DSL modem is apparently dying. Turning the power on and off to the modem immediately brings it back for a while, but it is unreliable. I added on a router for a workstation and a hardwired network printing and an access point for wireless, but I would like to replace all of these pieces with a single unit. Requirements are compatibility with AT&T DSL, a hardwired network printer and workstation, and N and G wireless. Anyone have suggestions? Thanks.

When the Federal Communications Commission granted LightSquared Inc. expedited approval to launch a new wireless Internet service, some powerful voices in Washington expressed alarm, including the Pentagon and one-third of the U.S. Senate. LightSquared’s bold $14 billion plan, its detractors said, could cripple GPS systems and threaten aviation safety, disrupt military and rescue operations and interfere with high-tech farming equipment and the everyday navigation devices used by millions.

Wireless broadband firm LightSquared has admitted that its original plan would have knocked out most GPS sat-nav kit, but argues that its new plan will only leave 200,000 users lost. Reporting on the results of several months of testing, involving 130 different GPS receivers, LightSquared admits that operating in the neighbouring band to GPS satellites will knock out a significant proportion of location-finding kit. But the company reckons its revised plan, announced last week, avoids interfering in all but the most-sensitive GPS kit: which LightSquared pegs at 200,000 devices around the USA. Those are important devices, installed in aircraft to...

You know where this is going. They got the wrong guy. Someone else had used Covert’s wireless connection to download child porn. Law enforcement officials say the case is a cautionary tale. It sure is. I can certainly think of some lessons we might draw. One might be: Maybe the cops should check to see if a suspect’s wireless network is secure, and therefore that they have the right guy, before they break into his home and point their guns at his head. Another lesson: Maybe it’s not such a good idea to send the SWAT team after someone suspected...