Wi Fi

We live in a wonderful wireless world. You can store your entire entertainment system, from your movie collection to your e-book library, in a virtual cloud that is accessible from anywhere in the world. You can talk into a little headphone and have your words suddenly appear in someone's inbox. You can even control devices in your home using your smartphone and a few electrical gadgets while sunning yourself on the other side of the globe. How cool is that? Technology continues to evolve.

Cable TV companies are trying to give their customers another reason not to cancel their service: better access to Wi-Fi hotspots. Five major operators with nearly 40 million broadband subscribers said Monday that they would let each other's customers access more than 50,000 Wi-Fi hotspots nationwide for no extra charge beyond their monthly bill. The initiative adds Internet customers of Cox Communications and Bright House Networks to an existing deal between Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Cablevision Systems Corp.

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Flickering ceiling lights are usually a nuisance, but in city offices in St. Cloud, they will actually be a pathway to the Internet. The lights will transmit data to specially equipped computers on desks below by flickering faster than the eye can see. Ultimately, the technique could ease wireless congestion by opening up new expressways for short-range communications. The first few light fixtures built by LVX System, a start-up, will be installed tomorrow in six municipal buildings in this city of 66,000 in the snowy farm fields of central Minnesota.

HomeSnap real estate shopping app Free download for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch at the Apple App Store If you're shopping for a new home, you might want to buy Apple Inc.'s iPad or iPhone first. That way, you can use this remarkable app, which provides vital information about thousands of homes all over the United States. You launch HomeSnap, point the camera of your portable device at a house that interests you, and shoot a picture of it. Back comes information on the house; estimated value, annual property tax bill, the year the house was built, when it...

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission will open up unused airwaves between television channels for wireless broadband networks that will use more powerful and farther-reaching signals than Wi-Fi hot spots employ. The FCC voted unanimously yesterday to allow the use of so-called white spaces in the broadcast TV spectrum. The agency is hoping “super Wi-Fi’’ devices will start to appear within a year. Chairman Julius Genachowski said white-space networks will be “a powerful platform for innovation,’’ driving billions in investment.

The wireless Internet battle in the sky is quickly escalating to a dogfight. Facing tough competition, the nation's airlines are viewing Wi-Fi, which they once saw as merely a desirable amenity, increasingly as a necessary feature. AirTran Airways said yesterday that it plans to offer in-flight wireless Internet access on all 136 of its aircraft by midsummer. American, which has already equipped all its transcontinental aircraft, also said yesterday that it will have a total of 165 planes Wi-Fi-ready by the end of the year, with a goal of having 318, or nearly...

Camileo Air 10 pocket videocamera with Wi-Fi by Toshiba Corp. $179.95 at HSN.com The pocket video camera market keeps toddling along, despite the death of the beloved Flip camera. This entry by Toshiba has a lot to offer, but less than I was hoping for. The Camileo Air 10 shoots full 1080p high-definition video and also packs a 16-megapixel still camera. But the feature that sets it apart from the pack is a built-in Wi-Fi chip that lets users wirelessly transmit their images to a home computer, or to online services like YouTube.

Google Inc. is going to let people with home wireless networks decide whether they want to be lumped into a system that helps pinpoint the locations of people on cell phones. The concession announced Tuesday will give wireless, or Wi-Fi, networks the right to forbid Google from listing them in a vast database that the company has been building in the past few years. The adjustment is a response to concerns raised in Europe. Regulators there have periodically looked into whether Google's mapping services violate Europe's privacy laws.

After being spanked by the Federal Communications Commission, Google is scolding the agency for its handling of a recently concluded investigation into the company's collection of emails, passwords and other personal information transmitted over wireless networks. The rebuke came in a Thursday letter that disputed the FCC's reasons for fining Google Inc. $25,000 earlier this month. Despite its misgivings, the company isn't trying to overturn the fine. The 14-page letter instead tried to debunk the idea that Google did anything wrong — a high...

Is your wi-fi signal giving you a headache? This week, a Canadian teachers' union called for an end to the use of Wi-Fi in schools, arguing that the radio waves it generates "may present a potential Health and Safety risk" for students. Elsewhere, health officials are tracking reports of people who say they suffer acute headaches, skin irritation, and chronic pain due to wireless signals. A small group of "Wi-Fi refugees" even flocks to Green Bank, W. Va., the heart of a virtually radio-free area known as the US Radio Quiet Zone, to escape wireless devices.

Winnecunnet High School will be getting wireless Internet access as a result of a budget surplus. The School Board has voted to spend $100,000 of a projected $400,000 surplus to fund the wireless access as well as several other projects. The board also approved spending $20,000 for a projector to be used in the dining hall and $8,500 for eight new computers, as well as funding for some maintenance projects.

Camileo Air 10 pocket videocamera with Wi-Fi by Toshiba Corp. $179.95 at HSN.com The pocket video camera market keeps toddling along, despite the death of the beloved Flip camera. This entry by Toshiba has a lot to offer, but less than I was hoping for. The Camileo Air 10 shoots full 1080p high-definition video and also packs a 16-megapixel still camera. But the feature that sets it apart from the pack is a built-in Wi-Fi chip that lets users wirelessly transmit their images to a home computer, or to online services like YouTube.

Getting online while traveling has never been easier. Getting online for free is still hit-or-miss. Travelers run into a patchwork of free vs. paid access as they trek from airports to planes to hotels. Speed also varies widely, from fast enough to stream a movie to just enough to send and receive e-mail. The good news: Free Internet at airports is becoming more common. Logan Airport offers free access. San Francisco, Dallas, and Minneapolis are adding free options after previously charging around $8 for access.

After being spanked by the Federal Communications Commission, Google is scolding the agency for its handling of a recently concluded investigation into the company's collection of emails, passwords and other personal information transmitted over wireless networks. The rebuke came in a Thursday letter that disputed the FCC's reasons for fining Google Inc. $25,000 earlier this month. Despite its misgivings, the company isn't trying to overturn the fine. The 14-page letter instead tried to debunk the idea that Google did anything wrong — a high priority for a company whose motto...

We love our gadgets, gizmos, and high-speed connections. It is heady stuff: We sign in, link in, tweet, post, and Google. But all this technology makes it difficult to relax, especially when we are expected to be connected 24/7. A trend is emerging to free us from this constant communication: the unplugged vacation. Many hotels and resorts are offering outdoor activities, yoga classes, and even old-fashioned board games as ways to relax....

We live in a wonderful wireless world. You can store your entire entertainment system, from your movie collection to your e-book library, in a virtual cloud that is accessible from anywhere in the world. You can talk into a little headphone and have your words suddenly appear in someone's inbox. You can even control devices in your home using your smartphone and a few electrical gadgets while sunning yourself on the other side of the globe. How cool is that? Technology continues to evolve.

In April of last year, Ted Morgan had two tough brushes with giants of the tech world: Apple and Google. The story of what happened to Morgan's start-up, Boston-based Skyhook Inc., illustrates just how valuable information about your whereabouts has become. Morgan's bad month began on a Tuesday morning in April 2010, when he answered his phone and Steve Jobs was on the line. The Apple CEO was calling to break up. The two companies had been working together for just over two years, with Skyhook providing technology that allowed iPhones to determine their locations, similar to GPS, by searching...

MP3 Wireless Doorbell,by Swann Communications USA Inc. $45.08 at Amazon.com At last, our doorbells are catching up with our phones. For years, we have had cellphones that can be programmed to play an infinite variety of ringtones: Top 40 hits, movie sound effects, or snarky comments from a favorite comedian. Now the engineers at Swann have come up with a doorbell that's just as versatile. You mount a small battery-powered pushbutton device outside your front door. Inside the house, there is a larger device, powered by three AA batteries.