Cool Tech Reviews

When last we visited the upcoming 802.11n standard for Wi-Fi, the IEEE was working slowly on the official standard while manufacturers were rushing out and certifying Draft 2 compatible products. Now The Register reports that there’s a spanner in the gears since some outstanding patents actually threaten the IEEE adoptability of the 802.11n standard.

(more…)

As I mentioned in May, the program for “Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 802.11n Draft 2.0″ products was to get started in June, and last Friday it bore first fruit as the first router and adapter were certified:

(more…)

Lost in the din of last week’s Apple iPhone launch was the announcement of an interesting service in the USA from T-Mobile called HotSpot @Home that combines the best of cellular phones and low cost Wi-Fi VoIP (technically, it’s GSM over IP).

(more…)

Even though the 802.11n specification appears to be 2 years from ratification, the Wi-Fi Alliance today announced they are starting a logo program for “pre-n” Wi-Fi networking gear:

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 802.11n draft 2.0 products sporting an eye-catching new logo will soon reach store shelves, as the Wi-Fi Alliance certification program nears its late June launch. The Alliance today unveiled a re-designed consumer logo for Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 802.11n Draft 2.0 products, and announced the products and reference designs that will comprise its test bed for interoperability certification.

The practicalities of the matter are that while there is a lot of bureaucratic jockeying going on over the details of the final 802.11 n spec, Draft 2.0 is close enough that presumably all logo certified gear will be upgradeable to the final standard with just a firmware upgrade.

Since there are no Draft 2.0 products shipping yet, a natural question is whether any pre-n products currently available will be upgradeable to Draft 2? The answer is “that depends” and to check with the manufacturer, although there is a good chance that any Draft 1 pre-n gear will be firmware upgradeable. The vendors should be very upfront since this kind of thing kills sales dead until the information is forthcoming.

On the other hand, if you prefer to avoid the excitement of a firmware upgrade, hold off on any new Wi-Fi gear until June and look for the following logo for the certified 802.11n Draft 2.0 products:

Ever since the Microsoft Zune MP3 player botched its Wi-Fi implementation by using it only for very restricted sharing with the scarce group of other Zune users, it has been inevitable that someone would get Wi-Fi right. Last week, SanDisk raised the bar considerably with the announcement of the Sansa Connect, even if it isn’t perfect.

Spec-wise the Sansa Connect is a 4GB flash-based MP3 player with a 2.2 inch TFT LCD screen, internal speaker, microSD card slot for additional capacity, and supports PlaysForSure music as well as photos. All that is fairly standard except for the speaker (and perhaps the lack of video support), but where the Sansa Connect really gets different is that it can connect to any open Wi-Fi network allowing the user to:

• Receive Internet radio stations from Yahoo! Music’s LAUNCHcast
• Get Yahoo! Music Unlimited To Go songs directly without an intervening PC
• Discover new music and get personal song recommendations on Yahoo! Music Unlimited without an intervening PC using Yahoo! Messenger
• View Flickr (owned by Yahoo!) photos and explore interesting photos on the go without an intervening PC

The Yahoo! theme is intentional - you won’t get real value from the Wi-Fi feature without using the Yahoo! Internet services mentioned above. While LAUNCHcast, Messenger, and Flickr are free, Yahoo! Music Unlimited is a $12/month subscription service and frankly the Sansa Connect isn’t worth the $249.99 list price without it.

Some review snippets:

Gadgetaholic:

Sandisk has another winner here; I have no doubt. I am thoroughly impressed with the features available on this little device. Once you hooked this player up to your wifi network, it is almost impossible to put it down. This is what the Zune should have been.

Engadget:

The Connect is tied to Yahoo! Music Unlimited for its subscription download model and streaming radio, and we’ve gotta say, a WiFi DAP really brings the model into its own.
…
We’re disappointed that the Connect isn’t a little more open than it is; we’d like to be able to stream whatever the heck we want for starters, but Yahoo! Music Unlimited and LAUNCHcast aren’t bad starts. Now the trick is to keep up the WiFi momentum for these things — Apple, Creative, iRiver, Archos, we’re looking straight at you!

PC Magazine:

If you can stomach the $12 monthly charge for Yahoo! Music Unlimited To Go, the Sansa Connect is a fantastic device.

Bottom line: If you have frequent proximity to Wi-Fi networks and don’t mind the subscription fee, the Sansa Connect is one nifty gadget. The Wi-Fi connection to the Yahoo! Music Unlimited library obviates the need for larger capacity in the device.

Dawn Kawamoto at ZDNet:

Intel has issued patches for flaws in its Centrino device drivers and ProSet management software that affect the security of the wireless products.

Three flaws are addressed with the updates. One could allow an attacker to break into a PC via Wi-Fi or even create a worm that jumps from one wireless-enabled laptop to another, provided the computers are within each other’s range. Another security hole makes the system vulnerable to attacks that let a malicious user gain additional privileges, according to security experts at Sans Internet Storm Center and F-Secure.

Intel’s patches address vulnerabilities in its Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG, 2915ABG, 2100 and 3945ABG Network Connection products, according to a security advisory from the chipmaker.

Aside from the aggregated patch which is supposed to be 129MB in size (!), Intel also has provided a tool to identify Centrino systems that are vulnerable.