KEY POINTS:
If you own a laptop, there's a good chance it has the ability to connect to a "Wi-Fi" wireless network, putting you on the internet without the need to plug in a single cable.
Sales of laptops aimed at consumers have rocketed to nearly 70 per cent of the market, as people begin to recognise the benefits of being able to play YouTube videos and have instant messaging sessions from the comfort of their couches.
There has been a lot of talk of "WiMAX", a new technology that requires upgraded hardware but which allows faster data transfer over greater distances than Wi-Fi. It uses a radio spectrum generally purchased by wireless operators from governments in the countries they are operating in.
Such an auction of WiMAX spectrum is scheduled to take place here later in the year. While there have been calls from internet providers like CallPlus to ban big, established players Telecom and Vodafone from participating in the auction in the interest of stimulating competition, it's likely they'll get their chance to participate. The bidding will be fierce, because WiMAX is emerging as an alternative to broadband services delivered via mobile phone networks and as a replacement to fixed-line internet connections. Devices are already out there, and telcos around the world are investing billions in WiMAX network roll-outs.
However, there are moves under way to squeeze more life out of Wi-Fi, which - operating in a free-use band of radio spectrum - doesn't have the licensing and set-up costs associated with WiMAX. That's led to a proliferation in Wi-Fi "hotspots" and cheap Wi-Fi networking equipment.
Wi-Fi has been getting better as technology has improved - we've been through a number of upgrades, including the standards 802.11a, b, c and g. Now the Wi-Fi Alliance is attempting to further improve Wi-Fi with 802.11n, a standard expected to increase the data transfer rate of Wi-Fi by up to five times. It will also improve the ability of wireless signals to pass through walls.
The newly certified equipment, from wireless routers to Wi-Fi PC cards will go on sale around the world next month. Coinciding with the next generation of Wi-Fi, Intel has just launched its new "Santa Rosa" platform of Centrino processors and chipsets for laptops, which has built-in support for 802.11n wireless networking. The better energy efficiency of the new Centrino Duo and Centrino Pro systems means battery life for laptops is being boosted. Intel says four to five hours of battery life will become the norm for most laptops. That becomes important when you're making heavy use of Wi-Fi hotspots. You don't want to have to search for a power point to charge up your laptop.
New business models are also being introduced to make better use of Wi-Fi as the technology improves. Many hotels, cafes and airports already offer free Wi-Fi access to lure in punters. Local company Tomizone has a different angle - it wants to give you the ability to make money out of your wireless broadband connection by selling access to other users. All you need is a broadband connection, a wireless router and an antenna to set up - Tomizone handles all the credit card billing and is the interface with the customer, all via its website. Tomizone will split the revenue from paying customers with you 50:50. Because Wi-Fi nets are so cheap to set up, the Tomizone network could expand quickly, especially in places like Asia, where every second supermarket is selling internet access. The bigger Tomizone gets, the more hotspots there are, and the better roaming options its Wi-Fi customers will have. Such schemes, along with mesh Wi-Fi networks, which spread coverage over extended areas, mean the technology is likely to survive and flourish as WiMAX gets off the ground.
Tarnished Halo
Microsoft has released the public beta version of Halo 3, the much anticipated sci-fi game that's due for a September release on the Xbox 360, but the beta launch got off to a bad start. Many users who had been given the opportunity to try Halo 3 when they bought the game Crackdown weren't able to download the code necessary to do so. The glitch has been overcome, no doubt to Microsoft's relief, as the software maker has high hopes for the game. Its predecessor, Halo 2, notched up US$125 million (NZ$171 million) in sales in its first day of availability in 2004, and the first two Halo games have sold 11 million copies.
Halo3.com
Google unifies search
If you've been using Google's various search engines - Google News, Google Images, Google Maps or plain old Google itself, you'll appreciate the new "universal" search the internet company is releasing. According to Google, it's a serious feat of search engineering - it's had 100 engineers working on the universal search for the past two years.
Future searches will not just return text links, but also images, video clips and maps.
Googleblog.blogspot.com
