Closing the digital divide: 10Gbps fiber network begins in DC's poorest ward
Tuesday morning, Washington DC Mayor Vincent Gray broke ground for the DC Community Access Network (DC-CAN), a fiber optic network geared toward bringing high speed broadband to underserved areas of the nation's capitol.
Though Washington DC is one of the most well-connected cities in the United States, there are few cities where the "digital divide" is more obvious. The infrastructure is robust, but at times it seems the beneficiaries of it are only on one side of the Anacostia river. A large proportion of the city's lower income residents remain woefully underconnected.
Microsoft launches public preview of Windows Thin PC
Microsoft on Monday launched the public community technology preview (CTP) of Windows Thin PC (WinTPC), the locked down version of Windows 7 designed to turn legacy PCs into thin clients that can run Windows 7 applications.
The Public CTP of WinTPC includes some new features not available in the limited preview that was released earlier in March, such as support for RemoteFX and System Configuration Manager (the two major improvements in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1,) and write filter support, which helps limit writes to disk and improves security on the client side.
AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile USA will cause 'Ma Bell duopoly', says Sprint
Sprint Nextel, the United States' third largest wireless network operator on Monday officially took a stance against wireless network operator AT&T's proposed acquisition of number four network operator T-Mobile USA.
Sprint's opposition should be anything but surprising, as the company says AT&T and T-Mobile combined would be three times bigger than Sprint, and would "entrench AT&T's and Verizon's duopoly control over the wireless market."
Parents can set up 'E-Allowance' with American Express' new system Serve
Credit card company American Express on Monday launched Serve, a payment system that allows customers to make person-to-person payments online, via mobile phones, or at merchants who accept American Express credit cards. Serve launched just two weeks after Visa Inc. announced a similar person-to-person service powered by Popmoney and ZashPay.
Users set up an account on Serve.com or through the Android or iOS apps, and then link their bank accounts, debit or credit cards, or other Serve accounts to add funds. At its most basic, Serve works like a prepaid credit card that can receive funds from any linked bank account or registered Serve user. Without adding any information other than name, age, address, and phone number, a Serve account can receive up to $500 per month.
Hands on with the Pre-Honeycomb Acer Iconia A501 Android tablet
On Tuesday, AT&T announced it would begin selling the 4G Acer Iconia Tab A501 in the second quarter of 2011. Naturally, it became one of the devices on my list to get some hands-on time with.
The tablet, however, wasn't out on the show floor of CTIA this week like it was last month at Mobile World Congress. That's because the devices on display there were running FroYo, and the model AT&T announced this week will be running Gingerbread.
Microsoft announces Windows Embedded Device Manager 2011
At the Microsoft Management Summit on Thursday, Microsoft announced the release of Windows Embedded Device Manager 2011, an extension for System Center Configuration Manager 2007 that allows IT to manage Windows Embedded Standard and POSReady devices such as thin clients, digital signage, and, of course point of sale terminals.
Microsoft is accelerating the evolution of enterprise embedded devices, and today's announcement of Windows Embedded Device Manager 2011 follows the release of Windows Embedded Standard 7 SP1 earlier this month.
Steve Jobs says 'No Interest' in iPhone 4 radiation app, devs release it anyway
Tawkon, makers of a mobile application that measures cellular radiation, have been blocked from releasing their app for iPhone. In response, the company on Wednesday released the tawkon app for iPhone via the Cydia jailbreak.
Apple's GSM iPhone 4 has been highly criticized for its antenna issues, and the relative ease with which users can completely block its reception with the "death grip." Journalists coyly referred to the resulting fallout from this issue as "antennagate."
Hands on with HTC HD7S: aka the Windows Phone that used to be T-Mobile's
HTC and Microsoft are in their third year of creating smartphones in the "HD" product line, and the two companies look to have finally hit their stride with the new HD7S, which is a slightly revamped version of the four-month-old HD7, completely ready for a world where T-Mobile USA no longer exists.
In early 2009, the HTC Touch HD was unveiled, a 3.8" WVGA touchscreen device which was obviously a post-iPhone device in chassis design, but was powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 which mandated a stylus and resistive touchscreen. By 2009, this was already something of a doomed interface in the smartphone category.
A look at the difference between T-Mobile's 3G and 'new' 4G speeds
This week, T-Mobile lit up its highest speed HSPA+ networks in Orlando, New York, and Las Vegas, promising a theoretical maximum speed of 42 Mbps downstream. The company expects to deliver this level of service to 25 major U.S. markets by mid-year.
On the CTIA show floor today, we've pitted T-Mobile's 3G and 4G networks against one another on two devices which are nearly identical in design: the Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant and the Samsung Galaxy S 4G.
Microsoft pushes Windows Intune RTM; BitLocker Administration and Monitoring beta
At the Microsoft Management Summit on Wednesday, Microsoft rolled out the final version of Windows Intune and provided information on the betas of a handful of its management solutions.
Windows Intune is Microsoft's new cloud-based PC management solution for small and medium sized businesses. As Microsoft promised in late February, the software is now available in 35 countries and comes with a 30-day trial subscription for small companies looking to try out the browser-accessible remote management suite.
Hands On with T-Mobile's G2x: a potential big win for LG
We got to take a look at some of the features of the LG G2x, T-Mobile's first dual-core smartphone, its fourteenth HSPA+ ("4G") device, and an important release for Korean electronics manufacturer LG.
The G2x is powered by a dual core 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and is definitely being presented as a gamer-friendly device. In addition to being packed with a handful of games, the G2x (formerly known as the Optimus 2x) includes the Tegra Zone app which is Nvidia's games-only app store which focuses on the titles that take greatest advantage of the processor's dual core capabilities.
Sprint announces HTC EVO 3D and View 4G tablet
At CTIA Wireless in Orlando today, Sprint announced two more 4G devices: The HTC EVO 3D, and the HTC View 4G Tablet which bring the carrier's WiMax-capable canon to a total of 22.
It's been one year since Sprint debuted the EVO 4G, and it has gone on to become the operator's best-selling smartphone ever. This year, the bar has been raised, and the popular smartphone's successor has been equipped with a 1.2 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 4GB Internal memory and 1GB RAM; and the defining features, stereoscopic 5 Megapixel 720p cameras and a 4.3" 3D QHD (glassesless) display.
Samsung announces new Galaxy Tab 8.9, 10.1 coming this summer
Samsung was arguably the first company to deliver a compelling Android-based tablet with its 7" Galaxy Tab, which debuted in late 2010. The company is continuing its momentum by releasing two other Android tablets in 10.1" and 8.9" profiles. Today at CTIA in Orlando, Samsung took the wraps off of the new 8.9" for the first time.
In its first month of availability, Samsung sold some 600,000 units of the original 7" Galaxy Tab. A common complaint about the device, however, was that the screen is too small to be a competitor to the iPad, yet too big for it to be a truly pocketable smart device. In keeping with the public's demand for larger screens and flatter chassis, Samsung announced the 10.1" Tab at Mobile World Congress earlier this year.
Amazon's Android App Store begins rolling out to U.S. customers
Leading Web retailer Amazon today launched its official app store for Android mobile devices. Rumors of this app store first surfaced in late 2010, and Tuesday's launch follows a lawsuit by Apple over Amazon's use of "app store" to describe it.
Like Google's revised Android Market, Amazon's Web-based app store pushes downloaded apps from a browser to the wireless device. Amazon's app store, however, requires that a client application be installed on the target device to allow downloading.
The Tech Convention Survival Kit
Tim Conneally is headed to CTIA Wireless, March 21-24. What's in his bag and what should be in yours, other than the obligatory computer and camera?
This time of year is packed with tech industry trade shows. DEMO, GDC, CeBIT, PAX East, SXSWi, and CTIA all butt up against one another and stimulate activity and interest across many different tech sectors. These events may not exactly be the lifeblood of our high-tech economy, but they're serious business and they generate...well, serious business.
Tim's Bio
Tim Conneally was born into dumpster tech. His father was an ARPANET research pioneer and equipped his kids with discarded tech gear, second-hand musical instruments, and government issue foreign language instruction tapes. After years of building Frankenstein computers from rubbish and playing raucous music in clubs across the country (and briefly on MTV) Tim grew into an adult with deep, twisted roots and an eye on the future. He most passionately covers mobile technology, user interfaces and applications, the science and policy of the wireless world, and watching different technologies shrink and converge.
© 1998-2024 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.