BT's 'Blackberry for consumers'

BT is trying to introduce consumers to the delights of Blackberry-style mobile email and web access.

Dubbed BT Total Broadband Anywhere, the service provides the company's broadband customers with a "free" HTC Windows Mobile smartphone to take outside of the home.

The smartphone will hook up to any BT Wi-Fi hotspot - including 80,000 BT FON hotspots - to make calls, download emails or surf the web. When outside of a hotspot zone, the smartphone reverts to dawdling GPRS on the Vodafone network.

BT is attempting to play-up the simplicity of the device, claiming that it is simple for users to synchronise their BT email, VoIP telephone service and calendar. "

This is not a niche play,"

Warren Buckley, BT's group director of mobile and convergence told PC Pro at this afternoon's launch event.

"Having email and calendar access is not something consumers are used to. In testing, that was something consumers were very attracted to."

via pcPro

Reviews: Tomato Firmware

Tomato is free open source Linux-based firmware for several Broadcom-based Wi-Fi routers, including the Linksys WRT54G. The major emphasis of Tomato is on stability, speed and efficiency. It is maintained by Jonathan Zarate, who also developed HyperWRT +tofu; The official website is located here.

Tomato is notable for its web-based user interface that includes several types of bandwidth usage charts, advanced QoS access restriction features , raised connection limits which enables P2P networking, and support for 125 High Speed Mode (marketed by Linksys as "SpeedBooster").

More @ en.wikibooks.org

Google Phone prototype to be unveiled in Barcelona

British chip designer ARM will demo an Android-based prototype mobile phone at the Mobile World Congress wireless show in Barcelona next Monday. Google's open-source Android software platform will be used by T-Mobile and HTC when they release Android-based phones later this year.

In addition, Google is bidding on wireless spectrum space in the United States which would place Google in direct competition with the big mobile telecom providers.

ReUters.com

ASUS P5K3 Premium/WiFi AP

Intel's newest P35 Express chipset brought along support for both DDR2 and DDR3 memory modules. As DDR3 modules are still not widely interesting because of their high price, ASUS decided to celebrate its 18th birthday in a specific manner. We have in front of us an ASUS P5K3 Premium/WiFi AP motherboard which has 2 GB of DDR3 memory - integrated!!!

The Black Pearl, as this motherboard model is suffixed, is supposed to be associated with the limited number of produced models. The bundle is very rich, so, alongside necessary cables, one can also find a WiFi antenna in the package as well. Still, let's start with the board layout. What comes to attention first is the heatpipe system. The quality of this kind of cooling is unquestionable.

Full Review...

Wi-Fi group launches 802.11n compatibility brand

Wi-Fi overseer the Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) will in June begin testing pre-standard next-generation 802.11n wireless networking kit to make sure the products all work with each other, the organisation said today.

The WFA announced earlier this year that it would begin interoperability tests despite the fact that 802.11n has yet to be formalised by standards-setting body the IEEE. Draft 1 of the 802.11n specification was held to be be near enough what the final standard will be for vendors to ship product based on it, and with Draft 2 recently agreed, support for the ratified specification is seen to be just a firmware update away.

The WFA is basing its testing on Draft 2. As yet there are not Draft 2-based products on the market, but the likes of Netgear, Belkin and D-Link have promised Draft 2 firmware updates in Q2, and with the WFA's announcement those are likely to appear promptly.

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WiFi into camera memory cards

Chip start-up Eye-Fi has created a memory card that includes a Wi-Fi chip. When a picture is taken, the photo is automatically sent to a photo site, according to Ken Elefant, a partner at Opus Capital, which has invested in the company. When you get the memory card, you set the priorities so that the photos get automatically sent to a given photo site. It is currently unclear on whether the user can choose which photos are sent or whether every single one is transferred. One element that Eye-Fi is trying to integrate is the automatic posting of images to photo blogs. The card fits the standard SD format because the memory chips are stacked.

Considering wi-fi can tap battery power and raise the price of memory cards but the chip can essentially save the end-user a lot of time, tell me Neowin, is this something consumers want?

News.com

SanDisk With Yahoo On Wi-Fi MP3 Player

SanDisk has released its $250 Sansa Connect, a new Wi-Fi-capable portable MP3 player featuring both free and subscription music service from Yahoo Music. Apple holds about 73% of the U.S. market for portable digital music players, while SanDisk is second with about 9%, according to market research firm NPD.

Sansa owners with a Yahoo ID will be able to listen to Launchcast Internet radio, browse Flickr photos, and send instant messages using Yahoo Messenger. Those with Yahoo Music Unlimited To Go subscriptions ($12 per month) will be able to download (but not burn to CD) an unlimited number of songs. Yahoo's music subscription service isn't available to Mac users. In answer to critics who might be tempted to complain about paying $12 a month, Ian Rogers on the Yahoo Music blog said the fee represented just compensation for the music industry.

The Sansa Connect has an internal speaker and 4GB of Flash memory. Its storage capacity can be expanded using a microSD card in the built-in slot. The device supports a variety of digital audio formats such as MP3 and Windows Media Audio. In addition to Yahoo's music service, the device works with Microsoft PlaysForSure subscriptions. Available now in the U.S., the Sansa Connect is scheduled for release in Canada later this year.

source: InformationWeek

Review: Archos 604 Wi-Fi portable media player

With built-in Wi-Fi and a colorful touch screen, the Archos 604 Wi-Fi handles almost all your video and audio files on the go. Is it worth building your collection?

Design

The Archos 604 Wi-Fi looks like a basic slab of brushed metal. It isn't altogether unattractive, but it lacks any real design flourish. The buttons, each a two-way rocker switch, are aligned down the right side of the device, and though we found them easy to use, they certainly weren't as intuitive or inviting as the Apple iPod's clickwheel.

Interface and transfer
The interface on the Archos 604 Wi-Fi is purposefully bare, which makes it less confusing than other PMPs and Internet tablets we've seen. Simple icons greet you on startup for Music, Videos, Pictures and the Web.

Video and music
The Archos handles a wide range of media files, almost. The device does better with audio than video, ironically, handling MP3, AAC, WMA and PlaysForSure files from subscription download services, which we liked.

Web browsing
The Archos 604 Wi-Fi had no trouble picking up our open Wi-Fi network. Web browsing was nice, though the strange, vertically-oriented control layout made scrolling and scanning across pages less than intuitive.

Accessories
The Archos 604 Wi-Fi comes with headphones, a stylus, a USB cord and a leather sleeve. When we first opened the box, we were sure that Archos had simply forgotten the charger, but they hadn't, they just don't include one with the device. You have to pay extra. This is a poor decision, we think.

Pros:
Simple interface with a clean look and easy buttons; easy to access the features; lots of audio support; video looks good.

Cons:
Lack of essential accessories to charge the device and use built-in DVR functions; poor battery performance; no transfer software; screen door effect on low-res screen.

Price and availability
The Archos 604 Wi-Fi is available immediately from Archos and other online retailers for $450.

Source Archos