wireless news stories on Newser

Awful SXSW Idea: Turning Homeless Into 4G Hotspots

Neal Colgrass — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:05:05 CDT

A plan to turn homeless people into 4G hotspots has digitalphiles at the SXSW Interactive Conference in Austin crying "exploitive" and "dystopian." In a nutshell, a marketing company wants homeless people to carry MiFi devices that would enable passersby to get online when their carrier service won't suffice, the Houston...

Government to Auction Off Public Airwaves

Kevin Spak — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:31:05 CST

Congress is expected to approve a bill that would sell off public airwaves currently used for television to wireless Internet companies, speeding up broadband for mobile devices across the country, while at the same time creating a long-sought-after national communications network for emergency services. What is this revolutionary communications bill?...

New Wireless Internet Network Threatens GPS

Mark Russell — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 06:40:01 CDT

GPS and wireless Internet are two of the most-loved and most important tech advances of our time—but now a clash of frequencies is threatening a high-tech showdown. LightSquared is developing a $14 billion, 40,000-transmitter high-speed wireless Internet network, but that system bumps right up against GPS operating frequencies,...

NYC Subway to Get Wireless, Cell Service

Nick McMaster — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:15:00 CDT

A plan to bring cellphone and wireless Internet service to New York's subway is set to start after years of delay. The $200 million project was hobbled by the recession but has been made viable again by a large financial commitment from Broadcast Australia, Bloomberg reports. The firm bought a...

Make Starbucks Your Office Without Being a Jerk

M. Morris — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 09:42:05 CDT

Now that Starbucks has free WiFi , nothing's keeping you from making the local branch your away-from-home office—except perhaps money and social conventions. Om Malik of GigaOm , a successful startup that incubated at a Starbucks, offers some pointers: Buy something: And not just one tall black coffee per 8-hour shift—...

Targeting McDonald's, Starbucks Offers Free Wi-Fi

M. Morris — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:50:00 CDT

Starbucks will offer free unlimited Wi-Fi at its company-owned stores starting July 1. Battered by the recession and the successful challenge mounted by McDonald's, the coffee giant will also plug its customers into customized content—including free access to pay sites like the Wall Street Journal 's, Frank James blogs...

IPad WiFi Is Weak, Users Complain

Kevin Spak — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:00:00 CDT

Those lucky few who have managed to buy an iPad are finding to their dismay that its wireless capabilities aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Complaints over weak WiFi signals, dropped connections, and slow web browsing are flooding into Apple, ComputerWorld reports. As of this afternoon, a thread on...

Feds Ban Texting by Truck, Bus Drivers

M. Morris — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:20:28 CST

Drivers of trucks and buses who text behind the wheel will be subject to thousands of dollars in fines, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced today. The federal prohibition, which takes effect immediately, applies only to commercial vehicles. But distracted driving is one of LaHood's top issues, CNN reports. "This is...

Straighten Out Your Finances in 2010

M. Morris — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:53:47 CST

On the eve of the first serious workday of the New Year, take a hard look at your finances and see where you can cut back in 2010. A relatively small investment in time can result in some serious savings, Kathy Kristof writes for the Los Angeles Times : Save automatically:...