▼ Enterprise Wi-Fi: stand by for price implosion
By Peter Judege
Source: Techworld

Enterprise wireless LANs are about to crash in price, according to an analyst's report. Hardest hit will be the traditional standalone access points from vendors like Proxim, and security gateways or "appliances", such as those from Vernier or Bluesocket. (Read more...)
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▼ That sucking sound? It's your cell
By Ron Wilson
Source: EE Times

From maelstroms to black holes, whirlpools make compelling images. A powerful force draws all around it into a singularity. The swirling disk of motion masks the nature of its peril until it is too late, paradoxically increasing in force as it pulls in more victims. 

Now the semiconductor industry confronts a catastrophic vortex of its own: the cell phone handset. 

The force at the center of the handset business, the maw poised to suck in a good portion of the industry, is convergence — the very phenomenon that has enabled incredible advances in system-on-chip integration, abetted by consumers' taste for all-in-one gadgets.  

The handset is rapidly consuming every other aspect of mobile consumer electronics: PDAs, cameras, GPS receivers, MP3 players, DVD players and game consoles. In the process, the SoC companies and intellectual-property (IP) providers that had planned to make a living in each of those areas will be drawn in — for the most part, to their doom. (Read more...)
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▼ Are PDAs Simply Finished?
By Russell Shaw and Newsroom Staff
Source: Wireless NewsFactor 

After Sony's sudden plan to discontinue the Clie and pull out of the American PDA market, many industry observers have increased their speculation about the demise of the PDA, in general. The Japanese electronics giant was defeated in the American market by increased competition and an industry-wide decline in PDA sales. Sony said that it would continue to market its PDAs in Japan where there is less competition. So, where does this leave the U.S. PDA market? Palm, with its Zire line of PDAs, is an example of a company which is still offering a PDA in great demand. (Read more...)
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▼ Cabir Virus First To Attack Cell Phones
By Erika Morphy
Source: Enterprise Security Today

A new virus called "Cabir" is winning notoriety as the first to attack mobile operating systems. The creators of Cabir have not designed the worm to propagate on a massive scale, but rather to demonstrate that cell phones and PDAs can be infected by malicious code. 

It was only a matter of time before virus writers turned their attention to mobile devices; indeed, experts have been predicting the emergence of a worm attacking cell-phone operating systems for the last few years. (Read more...)
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▼ The return of the mobile enterprise
By Eric Knorr 
Souce: InfoWorld

Faster wireless service, bulletproof security, and better hardware pave the way for a mobile comeback

Remember a few years ago when the wireless mobile enterprise was the next big thing? High-speed 3G bandwidth would hover in the air everywhere, enabling you to whip out a wireless PDA and turn the backseat of a taxicab into a rolling office with seamless access to enterprise apps.  

That particular taxi crashed and burned. Carriers never delivered fast bandwidth, sensible people raised security alarms, and the cost of developing and deploying mobile apps proved absurdly high compared to the potential payback. The mobile revolution became something of a joke -- supplanted by the more modest goal of providing Wi-Fi network access across the corporate campus. "I think what stopped this stuff before was the economics didn't make sense," says Danny Shader, CEO of Good Technology, a mobile enterprise software provider. "People won't spend $20,000 to $30,000 a user to get mobile. They're just not going to do that."  

Yet Shader and others believe the stage is now set for a mobile comeback. (Read more...)
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▼ Airlines, airports battle over Wi-Fi spectrum oversight
By Bob Brewin
Source: Computer World

Airports in Boston, Denver and L.A. are ground zero in the airwaves battle  

The airport authority-controlled Wi-Fi networks at several airports are shaping up as ground zero in an emerging battle between airlines and airports over the use, regulation and management of wireless networks at the facilities. (Read more...)
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▼ Wi-Fi: If Not Free, Then How?
By Joanna Glasner 
Source: Wired News

From fancy hotels to fast-food joints, the number of venues offering high-speed wireless Internet access is expected to grow at a heady clip this year. But industry analysts aren't expecting laptop users and their credit cards to follow.  

In the wake of the demise of several large builders of Wi-Fi networks, including last month's closure of Intel-backed Cometa Networks, analysts say one lesson the industry has learned the hard way is that laptop owners remain reluctant to pay by the hour for online access. (Read more...)
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▼ The Untethered Worker
By Mitch Betts
Source: Computerworld 

Roaming employees can use wireless LANs for voice calls and high-speed cellular networks for data.  

Wireless technology -- with its incompatibilities, security holes, dead zones and fuzzy ROI -- has got to be the most immature and frustrating field for IT managers. But it's also the most exciting. Almost every day, there's a new capability, fancier gadget or higher speed -- and technologists eat that stuff up.

In this special report, for example, we cover the new capability to do IP telephony over wireless LANs with gadgets that act like Star Trek communicators. What could be cooler? And carriers are rolling out nationwide, high-speed cellular networks that, eventually, will be a boon to road warriors and mobile data applications.  

But as corporate IT folks, you don't get paid to install or support cool toys; you get paid to enhance productivity and the bottom line.  (Read more...)
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▼ Wireless Tools Buy Time for Mobile Workers
By Russell Shaw
Source: Wireless NewsFactor 

Because of slow transmission speeds, moving large multimedia data sets via wireless transmission is still iffy, says IDC analyst Keith Waryas. Current attempts to connect notebooks and handhelds to corporate offices over cellular networks have been particularly challenging from a bandwidth perspective.   

Tools that free field service  workers from repetitive data-entry tasks and provide timely information to the home office are ideal wireless enterprise applications for many businesses.

UPS is the best-known, best-practice power user of remote data entry and transmission, according to Keith Waryas, research manager for wireless business network services at IDC.  

A typical UPS delivery entails getting the recipient to sign a receipt on a mobile device. This signature, as well as the current location and delivery progress of each courier, is tracked and applied to a courier-management database. (Read more...)
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▼ Wireless Internet Access Set to Flourish
Source: PR Newswire

Promising future for wireless Internet suggested by growth in wireless Internet usage and wireless device ownership, reveals Ipsos-Insight'sThe Face of the Web 2003 study

Wireless Internet experienced an increase in usage of 145%, representing 79 million unique users, reported The Face of the Web 2003, the annual study of Internet trends by Ipsos-Insight. Based on interviews in thirteen key global markets with more than 7,100 adults, including 3,250 active Internet users, recent findings from the study show that with growth in wireless Internet usage and digital devices, wireless Internet is poised to prosper substantially over the next few years.

As users grow accustomed to integrating the online medium into their everyday lives, they are also increasingly demanding access to it from any place, at any time. While wireless Internet is still relatively in its infancy, there is already a significant wireless web audience: 134 million people have tried or used some form of wireless Internet through a mobile device, representing 40% of the total Internet population in the study's measured countries. (Read more...)
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▼ Wireless Web Prospects
Source: MrWeb

The number of people who have tried or used some form of wireless Internet through a mobile device has risen 145% from 55 million unique users to 134 million in 2003, according to The Face of the Web, the annual study of Internet trends by Ipsos-Insight. This represents around 40% of the total Internet population in the study’s measured countries. 

One key factor in the growth is the widespread use of wireless digital devices such as laptops, PDAs, and mobile phones. Close to 130 million households in the markets studied own a laptop, bringing the laptop-to-desktop-PC ratio to one laptop for every three desktop PCs. Furthermore, 8% of the household mobile phones have PDA functionality, enabling easier wireless Internet connectivity.  (Read more...)
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▼ Survey Warns 80% of Corporate Networks Are Bleeding Data Via Wi-Fi
Source: Red-M

Business networks all over the world are routinely exposing themselves to large-scale data loss and manipulation as the advent of wireless technology makes them vulnerable to malicious attack by hackers. The extent of risk was revealed in a survey released today by global wireless security specialist, Red-M, which shows that 80% of companies are at risk. Statistics have been gathered over the past six months during the course of normal business Red-M conducts for its customers, from 100 companies across the globe including large multi-national corporations covering a range of industry sectors. Red-M has offices around the world, including North America, Europe and China.  

Survey of 100 companies reveals high levels of risk: 80% of corporate networks surveyed are accessible from outside their buildings.

Among those broadcasting confidential and sensitive information:
▪ 66% of banks
▪ 60% of financial services institutions
▪ 100% of education institutions
▪ 79% of IT companies

In addition, 100% of the e-mail on unsecured corporate networks could be intercepted, read and manipulated. (Read more...)
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▼ Wireless tools under the spotlight
Source: The Guardian  

Wireless networks are changing the face of public services, and now dozens of councils are testing cutting-edge inventions to determine which is the way forward, says Michael Cross  

Andrew Snellgrove opens his laptop and logs on to the City of Westminster's wireless network. On the screen appears a video image of a group of suspicious-looking men loitering in Soho Square.

The camera zooms in: it turns out to be us. Snellgrove, Westminster's network manager, is controlling a street CCTV camera through a wireless network covering Soho. 

Police have already used the wireless cameras, which produce evidence-quality footage, to catch street drug dealers. "Before wireless, we were constrained by telecom carriers," says Snellgrove. "Installing a new optical fibre took between three and six months. Now if the police say a camera is in the wrong place, we can redeploy it within 24 hours."  (Read more...)
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▼ 3G to take off in Europe this year, US 2 years behind
By Wolfgang Gruener
Source: Tom's Hardware Guide

Analysts believe that third generation (3G) mobile phones will become an attractive alternative in 2004 - at least in Europe and Asia. US consumers will have to wait another 24 months until broadband applications will make their way to the cell phone.  

Key reason for the final arrival of UMTS, Europe's 3G technology following GSM and GPRS, is the build out of base-stations and infrastructure throughout Europe. According to Raymond Jodoin, Director of Wireless Infrastructure Research at ABI Research, the 2003 growth rate of available 3G infrastructure will double in 2004. "Coverage is widely available across Europe especially in urban areas such as Milan, Munich, or Madrid - and it is spreading quickly," Jodoin said. UMTS coverage has reached about 90 percent in Europe, according to ABI. (Read more...)
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▼ Americans Want Wireless, Not Mobile Video
By Larry Garfield
Source: infoSync World 

According to a new study, American mobile phone buyers know what they want, and it's wireless and Push-To-Talk. 

According to a new study conducted by research firm Strategic Analytics, American buyers aren't interested in mobile video, music, or games. They want wireless and Push-To-Talk functionality. (Read more...)
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►RFID Roundup

▼ Taking Stock of RFID
By Renee Boucher Ferguson
Source: eWeek 

Product manufacturers rushing to comply with Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s mandate that they use radio-frequency identification technologies by next January are contending with evolving standards for moving RFID data through their IT environments. 

For example, the RFID tags that transmit inventory and other data through the supply chain are still an emerging technology. 

To lead customers through the potential quagmire, technology vendors Acsis Inc., SAP AG, Manhattan Associates Inc. and IBM are readying RFID integration software to help users better comply with customer mandates and standards initiatives from EPCglobal Inc. (Read more...)

►Related stories...

▼ RFID on the March

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) will rip through retail and merchandising IT operations like an invading army. Or, RFID will simmer on the back burner — and flame out after some modest improvements in bar-code scanning appear. Take your pick. (Read more...)

▼ Meta Group Survey: Half of RFID Pilots Fail

"Despite being heavily promoted as the next big technology in supply chain and retail, investment in RFID will actually drop next year as companies pause to re-evaluate the true potential of the technology, the analyst firm said. (Read more...)