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If you have any questions, please email Box.net support at enterprise@box.net.
Google Wednesday launched a new search feature called Google Instant, which offers search results as you are typing your query terms.
Forget new Apple TV or iPods. Ping is by far the most game-changing new product announcement made by Apple today.
This year, in the days surrounding Apple's September 1 event, Sandisk, Phillips, Archos, and Samsung have all revealed new media players that will compete against the newly-refreshed 2010-2011 iPod line.
Early Tuesday morning, a new version of Mac OS X-based media center software Plex was released, called Plex/Nine, and with it came a new app for iOS.
Wireless chipmaker Broadcom Thursday announced it will be releasing a fully open source Linux driver for its current generation of 802.11n chipsets. This means that Wi-Fi, one of the most problematic peripherals in the entire Linux ecosystem, will become a lot simpler to set up.
The way US trade representatives continue to push intellectual property protections, raises the ire of European legislators.
Parallels, makers of one of the most popular pieces of virtualization software for Mac OS X machines, has announced that the retail launch of Parallels Desktop 6 will be on September 14.
Responding to developer demands that it clarify its approval process, Apple on Thursday published a for the first time a document that details what it is looking for in new apps.
Amazon's Kindle has managed to make a tremendous impact on the e-reader market without even being available in physical stores. Soon, however, Amazon's best-selling product will be available through retailers in stores across the U.S.
Thursday, the first official images of the G2 were released, along with some additional specs heretofore unknown about the device.
Amulet Devices' Windows Media Center remote control supports a full array of voice commands in addition to standard button-based navigation.
As promised at last week's event, Apple on Wednesday released iOS 4.1, its first significant update to the iOS platform that was introduced with the iPhone 4 earlier this summer. The update includes several new features including HDR photos, HD video upload, and a working Game Center.
Several bugs were also fixed in this latest update, including the highly-publicized proximity sensor issue and security issues involving FaceTime, GIFs and TIFFs, and at least 20 bugs in the WebKit framework of the Mobile Safari browser. The fourth generation iPod touch runs iOS 4.1 natively, thus upgrading the device is unnecessary.
Continue reading Apple releases iOS 4.1 for iPhones, iPod Touches...
Verizon strengthened its prepaid offerings on Thursday, introducing prepay data plans for consumers who wish to use smart phones on a no contract basis. While the acquisition costs for those phones will be significantly higher, a customer would be free to leave at any time.
Prepaid data plans would cost the user $30 per month, and include unlimited data access. The company would offer a 250MB data plan for "multimedia" phones, which would be a $10 per month add on. Both offerings would become available beginning immediately in Verizon's own stores, and online on September 28, the company said.
Continue reading Verizon offers prepaid data plans for smart phones...
Telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent Thursday announced that the first voice call in the 700MHz band of LTE has been completed. This is the section of wireless spectrum that is being utilized in the United States' national public safety network.
Part of the FCC's National Broadband Plan (Chapter 16, to be exact) outlines the creation of a nationwide interoperable public safety wireless broadband communications network, used specifically for first responders and issues of national importance. The high speed network will utilize a 10MHz block of spectrum in the 700MHz band, and approval for construction has been obtained in a growing number of markets.
Continue reading First voice-over-LTE call placed in US public safety band...
LightSquared, the company responsible for the first wholesale hybrid Satellite/Cellular network that many expect will power the 4G services of at least one of the four major wireless carriers in the U.S., announced Wednesday the beginning of the wireless spectrum shift that will ultimately make its network possible.
In a December 2007 agreement, SkyTerra (now LightSquared) and mobile satellite service provider Inmarsat arranged a system that would allow the L-band spectrum to be re-banded for use in both MSS (satellite) and ATC (terrestrial) services.
Wireless telecommunications company Ericsson announced on Wednesday that it has delivered its two millionth radio base station. The accomplishment is significant because it illustrates the speed at which wireless networks are growing thanks to the high demand for mobile broadband. Ericsson says it took just three years to ship the second million radios, when it took more than 20 to ship the first million.
Ericsson traces that first million back to the early days of modern cellular telephones, when it built the first GSM network with Radiolinja (now Elisa) in Finland in 1991. It wasn't until nearly a decade later that the company's first GSM base station for data was launched in February 2000.
Continue reading Networks expand 6x faster with mobile broadband demand, says Ericsson...
Wireless ISP Clear is the nation's biggest proponent of WiMAX. Along with majority shareholder Sprint, the two companies have repeatedly talked up the wireless technology as a solid option in the path to 4G.
That may now be in question. Clear said late Wednesday that it will be testing LTE in two different variations this fall in Phoenix, Arizona, with a decision to move forward coming by the end of the year. Given the company's massive spectrum holdings, it would be able to offer real world speeds far above any other LTE deployment.
Continue reading Clear's way forward may be with LTE, not WiMAX...
4G network operator Clearwire Wednesday launched a WiMAX hotspot especially designed for Apple's iOS-powered mobile devices called the Clear iSpot.
The iSpot connects to WiMAX signals and provides a WEP/WPA/WPA2-protected hotspot with up to a 150 foot range. It weighs 4.5 ounces, offers about 4 hours of battery life, can connect with up to eight iOS devices simultaneously, and is available until August 5th for a promotional charge of only $29.99 with no contract. The MSRP is $99.99.
Continue reading Clearwire baits bandwidth-hungry iOS users with cheap 4G hotspot...
Skype, Kazaa, and Joost creators Janus Friis with Niklas Zennström launched Rdio on Tuesday, aiming to offer an inexpensive way to provide unlimited streaming music from mobile phones. In addition, the service would allow users to save music to their device for offline listening.
The service costs $4.95 per month for desktop-only access, and $9.95 monthly for both desktop and mobile use. The company has about seven million songs in its database, and unlimited streaming. Users can select songs to be synced to their devices for online listening, or download copies of the song to keep at a cost of 99 cents per track.
Continue reading Skype founders launch mobile subscription music service...
Three national wireless carriers are teaming up with Discover and Barclay's on a pilot program which aims to enable consumers to use their smartphones as payment devices, sources have told Bloomberg News Service. AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile are planning to test the functionality in select markets.
Little is known about the potential service other than one of the pilot cities being Atlanta, and that the venture is currently searching for an executive to head up the new company. In any case, it could shake up the entire retail industry.
Continue reading Report: US wireless carriers looking to replace credit cards...
Last Week, the future of Qualcomm's FLO TV mobile TV business came into question after CEO Paul Jacobs said the chipmaker was "engaged in discussions with a number of partners," about what to do with the asset-rich service. The company recently gave Betanews some further information on what to expect from MediaFLO and FLO TV moving forward.
In talking with GigaOM, Jacobs said "We want to see FLO continue so it's not like we'd want to sell the spectrum, but there are certainly people who would buy it for the spectrum. The spectrum is extremely valuable. So what that means is there's a high bar. The business that's generated through that spectrum, by the broadcast system needs to be valuable too…whether it's an operator, a content player, a web company -there's a wide range of companies that could make use of [MediaFLO] and deal with the business model where they are trying to get a lot of content down to a lot of people and they can't really afford to do it on the cellular network."
Continue reading Qualcomm remains committed to FLO TV and MediaFLO in light of possible sale...
Last May, AT&T launched a project called "Hotzones" in New York City's Times Square aimed at fixing traffic problems by blanketing the area in Wi-Fi signals. Today, the carrier announced the project is coming to more cities, including Charlotte, North Carolina today and Chicago, Illinois in the coming weeks.
Over the last three years, AT&T says its mobile data traffic has grown by more than 5,000 percent, and in the most densely populated areas of the U.S., connectivity is often an issue. New York and San Francisco proved to be especially troublesome for the company's data network, and in 2009, AT&T Mobility's CEO Ralph de la Vega said they were "performing at levels below our standards," but that they were going to be fixed.
Continue reading AT&T announces Wi-Fi "Hotzones" in Charlotte, Chicago, to help data congestion...
Following yesterday's announcement that Nokia-Siemens would be acquiring Motorola's wireless infrastructure business for $1.2 billion, Nokia Siemens turns around and announces a $7 billion agreement to deploy, install, operate and maintain the U.S.' first wholesale LTE network from the newly formed company LightSquared.
LightSquared is the name of the multi-billion dollar network Harbinger Capital partners has been planning to build as an alternative for network operators who cannot afford to build an LTE network of their own, like T-Mobile USA. The company will build the network, and then lease it to operators. It will not directly offer services to consumers.
Continue reading Huge: Hybrid satellite-LTE network launches under the name LightSquared...
There is more Windows Phone news coming from Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference today, and this time, instead of focusing on developers, it is focused on the consumer experience. Microsoft's Senior Vice President of Mobile Communications Andy Lees introduced a couple of major consumer-facing enhancements to Windows Phone today that extend functionality off of the phone's various "hubs" and into other connected services.
First, there will be a new addition to the Windows Live suite of Web services dedicated strictly to Windows Phone, appropriately named Windows Live Phone. Integration with Windows Live services has always been a strong aspect of Microsoft's mobile strategy, and was executed well even with the much derided Windows Mobile 6.5.
Continue reading Microsoft announces Windows Phone Live, integration with Zune...
At MIcrosoft's Worldwide Partner conference today, Andy Lees, Senior Vice President of Mobile Communications Business at Microsoft announced the beta of Windows Phone Developer tools has begun.
Back in March, the suite of Windows Phone development tools was launched as a Community Technology Preview (CTP) which included Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone, Windows Phone 7 Series Add-in for Visual Studio, a Windows Phone 7 Series emulator, XNA Game Studio 4.0, and a CTP release of Expression Blend 4. The CTP received an update in April, shortly after it was launched.
Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson is responsible for all kinds of wireless equipment, from cell site infrastructure to consumer premises equipment to mobile broadband chips. So when they talk about the industry, it would behoove you to pay attention.
Today, Ericsson announced its estimate that the global mobile market contains over five billion subscribers, growing at a rate of 2 million per day.
Continue reading Ericsson: 70% of the entire world subscribes to a mobile service...
An issue with how the software on wireless equipment provided by Alcatel-Lucent handles advanced 3G data connections is responsible for slower upload speeds on AT&T's network, the two companies admitted on Wednesday.
Speed issues have been reported in several cities including Philadelphia, New York, Seattle and Washington, D.C. It's not everywhere though: earlier this week, BetaNews' Joe Wilcox reported he was unaffected in the area surrounding his residence in southern California.
Continue reading Alcatel-Lucent admits software glitch is slowing 3G speeds on AT&T...
The earliest Bluetooth 3.0-capable devices may have only begun appearing this year, but the Bluetooth Special Interest Group is already advancing the short-range wireless standard by rolling out the core specification of version 4.0 today.
Bluetooth 3.0 introduced an Enhanced Data Rate mode which allowed higher throughput for faster file transfers between devices. Using a technique called AMP, compatible Bluetooth 3.0 radios could establish device-to-device 802.11 Wi-Fi connections for transfer speeds up to 24 Mbps. The basic rate for Bluetooth file transfers is only 721.2 Kbps.
Continue reading Bluetooth 4.0 core specification released...
Second quarter is just days from finishing. In the home stretch, could Apple generate enough revenue to top Microsoft? Strong iPhone and, particularly, iPad sales should make the difference. Apple's ascension and Microsoft's descension would mark a turning point in computing eras. Microsoft represents the past -- PCs tied to the Office-Windows-Windows Server applications stack. Apple represents the future: mobile devices and applications connected to the cloud.
I have raised the Apple-overtaking-Microsoft-revenue topic before -- 10 days ago when Apple announced 2 million iPad shipments and on April 23, after both companies announced first-quarter earnings. Yesterday, Apple announced that it had sold -- parlance for shipped -- 3 million units, or another 1 million units in the previous 9 nine days. At that rate, Apple could conceivably add another 500,000 units before quarter's end. I'd say 1 million, but tomorrow's iPhone 4 launch almost certainly will be friction against iPad, if no other reason than how busy Apple retail stores will be.
Continue reading Apple revenue will likely top Microsoft during Q2...
Google Voice, the popular and often controversial VoIP, voicemail, and messaging service from Mountain View search giant Google is now open for anyone in the U.S. to use.
Previously, you could only open a Google Voice account if you received an invitation from a user already participating in the program.
Continue reading Google Voice is now open to everyone, no invites required...
Today, the first WiMAX femtocell standard has been published, opening the door for wireless equipment manufacturers to start making products that enhance WiMAX coverage on a smaller scale.
Femtocell devices act as tiny cell towers and are capable of improving wireless coverage in areas where traditional towers have difficulty penetrating, such as deep inside buildings or in areas with high out-of-channel interference. Femtocell products for consumer 3G wireless have been available for a couple of years and include the Sprint Airave and AT&T Microcell, but until now, WiMAX dead zones have had to remain so.
Continue reading WiMAX gets coverage-enhancing Femtocell standard...
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