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Jan31
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A bid on the largest portion of public wireless airwaves, now being auctioned by the FCC, reached $4.7 billion today, triggering an open access provision which will force the winning bidder to allow any device or software to work on that spectrum. While bidding is anonymous, analysts speculate that Google and Verizon Wireless are the likely bidders on that swath, which is about one-third of the total spectrum currently being auctioned. The FCC is selling off the spectrum that's being freed as part of the switch to digital television in February 2009. The airwaves are considered especially valuable because the frequencies travel long distances and can easily pass through walls. Google had lobbied hard to make open-access conditions part of the spectrum, which the major telecom companies have fought, though AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless have recently relented on open access. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said at a press conference Thursday that the open access rule will help foster innovation in handsets and applications. The spectrum, he added, could make high-speed wireless Internet service "more ubiquitous" and more competitive with cable and DSL.
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Jan30
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Over the past few years many residential and business customers have made the switch from traditional to VoIP telephone service. It’s been common for a few years for large companies to outsource some of their customer service functions overseas, especially,...
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Jan29
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Over the past few years, DSL has been supplanted by cable as the predominant internet access technology in the home. DSL has lost even more market share to new fiber optic services and even to wireless. AT&T is trying to...
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Over the past few years, DSL has been supplanted by cable as the predominant internet access technology in the home. DSL has lost even more market share to new fiber optic services and even to wireless. AT&T is trying to...
Continue Reading
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Over the past few years, DSL has been supplanted by cable as the predominant internet access technology in the home. DSL has lost even more market share to new fiber optic services and even to wireless. AT&T is trying to...
Continue Reading
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Over the past few years, DSL has been supplanted by cable as the predominant internet access technology in the home. DSL has lost even more market share to new fiber optic services and even to wireless. AT&T is trying to...
Continue Reading
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Jan28
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Telecommunications behemoth, AT&T, its giving high-speed internet subscribers free wireless internet access at 10,000+ Wi-Fi hotspots across America. AT&T has about 14 million high speed internet customers mostly using its DSL service. This new perk, which AT&T says could save $240...
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Jan25
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The Federal Communications Commission on Friday said it plans to fine the ABC network $1.4 million for airing an episode of "NYPD Blue" in 2003 that showed a woman's nude buttocks. The company said it opposes the fine and plans to...
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Jan24
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America’s ongoing regulations, that prohibit the use of mobile phones on passenger airlines, simply don’t make sense, according to a recent report by Freesky Research.Passengers in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe are able to be far more productive on...
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Jan23
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Video on Demand also underwent a facelift. FiOS has added movie posters to spruce up the normally text only list of available titles. It’s very nice looking; however, this comes at a small cost. It now takes several seconds longer...
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Jan22
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FiOS has just upgraded its programming guide. The new guide, dubbed Interactive Media Guide IMG, is being pushed to FiOS customers on a state by state basis. Last week they upgraded my box.The new guide is an improvement in some...
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Jan21
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The original high speed internet access, DSL, was once heralded as the greatest thing since sliced bread. In the days of dial up, the always on, super fast internet access was a quantum leap forward. However, in the ensuing years,...
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Jan18
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The winner was the Zyxel P-2302. I found the call quality to be almost as good as a regular land line. The voice quality connecting to my office PBX was as good as a traditional wired phone. Except for the...
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Jan17
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Call quality was very good, but at times there was some echo and some voice delay. I would have to rate the Grandstream’s call quality as the lowest of the bunch. All the other adapters also included a one port...
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Jan16
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All the adapters had a web interface with dozens of settings. The multitude of settings were not universal and were very confusing. The one constant was that the supplied documentation was virtually useless. Tech support was helpful in most instances,...
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Jan15
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A 3rd type of VoIP phone company allows you to bring your own device. These carriers include Broadvoice and Callcentric. This way you can decide what SIP adapter you want to use. Bringing your own device (BYOD) is often less expensive...
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Jan14
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Ever since I started writing this blog, I have received various products to test and review. Manufactures of all sorts have sent me phones, routers, and WiFi devices. One batch of devices has been SIP adapters. SIP, session initiated protocol,...
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Jan11
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VoIP technology has been gaining popularity by leaps and bounds over the past few years. As quality has improved and the technology has propagated, choices have become abundant. Like anything highly technical, when there are lots of choices it can...
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Jan10
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Over the summer Comcast admitted to interfering with certain Internet activety. Specifically, Comcast was blocking or at least slowing file sharing downloads. Comcast’s motives were to lower what it felt was excessive network traffic that slowed everyone’s connection. Now it seems...
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Jan 8
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The much ballyhooed WiMax technology will be coming out as soon as this April. Sprint announced at this weeks Consumer Electronics Show that they will be the first company to roll out WiMax. Sprint plans to release WiMax in Washington...
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Jan 7
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EchoStar has introduced a digital-analog TV converter that people can get for free and use to watch older sets after the country moves to all-digital broadcasting in February 2009. The boxes, called TR-40, will sell for $39.99, but the National...
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Jan 4
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Skype continues to lead the way to bringing free VoIP calling off of the computer. A few weeks ago I reviewed a Panasonic WiFi phone that lets you make Skype calls untethered from your PC. Now Sony has gotten into...
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Jan 3
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How many lawyers does it take to clog up the court system? Verizon Wireless, the second-biggest mobile-phone service in the U.S., is suing Alltel Corp. for allegedly making false statements in television advertisements about Verizon’s cellular calling plans. Alltel, the wireless...
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Jan 2
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Talking on a cell phone while driving is not only dangerous, but a new study claims it also be to blame for traffic jams. This reminds me of a study that people were more likely to quit smoking because it...
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