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Tuesday, March 2
CNNfn looks at the huge market for home
networking, and how Sun's Jini could be the
biggest winner in a connected world.
An initiative called the Open
Service Gateway plans to use Sun's Java for
home networking functions.
The latest home networking product is Zoom's
ZoomAir, a 2 megabit wireless solution that
uses the 2.4 GHz spectrum.
Cell phones everywhere
Can I get that potato peeler with caller ID?
Garmin has expanded their line of Global
Positioning System products with the Garmin
NavTalk, a combined GPS and cell phone. The
cell phone features numeric paging, voicemail, and
a 100-number phone book (which makes me suspect
that it's a Qualcomm phone).
Owners can send their exact location to another
NavTalk user, or press 9 to connect to an operator
who can send help to their location. (Newer BMWs
have a similar feature that is triggered when the
air bag deploys.) Garmin pre-programs the unit with
city and highway maps of the U.S., Canada, and
South America. The NavTalk will undoubtedly
increase the number of stupid-hikers-with-cell-phones-incidents,
but it will undoubtedly save lives.
The BBC News reports on the unresolved issue of
whether
mobile phones cause health problems.
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Garmin
NavTalk Cell Phone/GPS
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Friday, March 5
CNN reports that the FCC has ruled that Internet
calls count as interstate calls, but the ruling only
affects how phone companies compensate one another for the
calls. This explains some recent emails I've received
warning about a new modem
tax: a recurring urban legend. According to the FCC, the
ruling will not create any additional charges for Americans
accessing the Internet, though some consumers groups believe
the ruling could open the door to such charges in the
future. (Thanks, Larry Duzeski.)
Boca Research has released a USB modem for Apple's new
Power Mac G3s. The Global
Village Teleport USB 56K Fax/Modem has a suggested
retail price of US$159.99. This is USB
modem number 8.
If the cable modem industry were a pregnant woman, she'd
be the size of a refrigerator by now. Internet Week
headlines tout "Cable
Modems Get An Early Start on Being Late."
Conexant (formerly Rockwell Semiconductor Systems) is
offering a single-chip,
DOCSIS-compatible cable modem solution.
AT&T
is denying rumors that they are interested in purchasing
AOL.
Intel
is buying networking chipmaker Level One Communications
for US$2.2 billion.
R. McGuinness writes:
AllNetDevices.com
is dedicated to the concept of "IP Everywhere." It is the
first site to focus on the needs of professionals who
create, develop, and support Net devices and the software
tools used to create them. The site will continually
feature daily news and information on products such as
E-mail only devices, handheld computers, smart phones,
televisions, and other appliances connected to the
Internet.
In honor of allnetdevices.com, I
have connected my VCR clock to the 56K.COM web server,
so that web users everywhere will be able to check the time.
As everyone knows, most computers don't come with
clocks, so it's necessary for people to log onto the
Internet and visit
a web page to find out what time it is.
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