Wireless

Phones On Planes

by Haitham Sabbah July 16, 2004

Airplane 3G mobile phone test successful American Airlines and Qualcomm have completed a test flight of a new system to allow airplane passengers to use their mobile phones while in the air. The 3G “picocell” network used on the 2 hour proof-of-concept flight out of Dallas allowed passengers to place calls, send text messages, and [...]

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Computerising The Body

by Haitham Sabbah July 6, 2004

Microsoft wins patent to exploit network potential of skin. Fact or fiction – carrying a keyboard on your arm. Call it the ultimate wireless network. From the ends of your fingers to the tips of your toes, the human body is a moving, throbbing collection of tubes and tunnels, filled with salty water and all [...]

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GoCar Go!

by Haitham Sabbah June 12, 2004

Talking vehicle knows where riders are, what to tell them. Arizona residents Steven and Ginger Peterson were touring the streets of San Francisco for the first time, yet they became tourist attractions themselves because of what they were driving — a small yellow talking car. “That’s what made it so fun. Everybody was smiling at [...]

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Wi-Fi ‘Smart Collars’ For Networked Cows

by Haitham Sabbah June 12, 2004

Virtual fences to herd Wi-Fi cattle Virtual, moving fences controlled from a laptop could one day herd cattle to fresh fields for grazing, a roboticist told the MobiSys 2004 conference in Boston, Massachusetts, on Sunday. A farmer would control multiple herds from a single server at home as if they were playing a video game, [...]

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Mobile Phones Becoming Wallets

by Haitham Sabbah October 23, 2003

Handsets let users pay for everything from food to gas. Kim Won-jung walked up to a vending machine and bought an orange drink. But rather than insert coins, she paid with the press of a cell phone button. Kim’s Samsung handset has a debit card inside, and pushing its “hot key” beamed the information to [...]

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