wireless Archive

  • GSM call encryption code cracked, published for the whole world to see

    GSM call encryption code cracked, published for the whole world to see

    Posted on December 29, 2009 | No Comments
    var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/security/GSM_call_encryption_code_cracked_published_for_the_world'; Did you know that the vast majority of calls carried out on the 3.5 billion GSM connections in the world today are protected by a 21-year old 64-bit encryption algorithm? You should now, given that the A5/1 privacy algorithm, devised in 1988, has been deciphered by German computer engineer Karsten Nohl and published as a torrent for fellow code cracking enthusiasts and less benevolent forces to exploit. Worryingly, Karsten and his crew of merry men obtained the binary codes by simple brute force -- they fed enough random strings of numbers in to effectively guess the password. The GSM Association -- which has had a 128-bit A5/3 key available since 2007, but found little takeup from operators -- has responded by having a whinge about Mr. Nohl's intentions and stating that operators could just modify the existing code to re-secure their networks. Right, only a modified 64-bit code is just as vulnerable to cracking as the one that just got cracked. It's important to note that simply having the code is not in itself enough to eavesdrop on a call, as the cracker would be faced with just a vast stream of digital communications -- but Karsten comes back to reassure us that intercepting software is already available in customizable open source varieties. So don't be like Tiger, keep your truly private conversations off the airwaves, at least for a while.

    GSM call encryption code cracked, published for the whole world to see originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • TeliaSonera launches world’s first LTE network, awaits phones eagerly

    TeliaSonera launches world’s first LTE network, awaits phones eagerly

    Posted on December 14, 2009 | No Comments
    TeliaSonera has today flicked on the green light for its LTE networks in Stockholm and Oslo, officially starting the countdown for LTE-enabled phones. For the moment, keen mobile webstronauts will only be able to hook up their laptop or other USB-equipped device via the Samsung-provided 4G modem, but 100Mbps download speeds on the world's first commercial LTE network are still nothing to sniff at. This rollout is in fact slightly ahead of schedule, and the other major cities in Sweden and Norway are likely to soon get treated similarly well, while TeliaSonera makes a point to mention it has a license to do similar damage to Finland's 3G operators. The US might not be too far behind, either, given that the modem in use in Scandinavia recently cleared the FCC. Now if only we had phones that could ride these massive waves we'd be all set.

    TeliaSonera launches world's first LTE network, awaits phones eagerly originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • FCC starts up white spaces database, devices now inevitable

    FCC starts up white spaces database, devices now inevitable

    Posted on December 1, 2009 | No Comments
    White space devices seem likely to play a major part in the FCC's solution to the wireless spectrum crisis. Operating in the buffers between frequencies used by television broadcasts, these devices will be able to exploit TV's airspace without interfering with the incumbent users' traffic. The unlicensed utilization of white spaces has been approved going on for a year now, but really important government stuff has gotten in the way of making that vote a reality. It was only recently that Claudville, Virginia got the very first such network, and initial results show that it hasn't disrupted any of the fine, fine programming percolating the local airwaves. The only issue we see is that your WSD will need to be capable of both identifying its own position by GPS and hooking up to the database to find out what bands it may use, but then it's not like anyone sells smartphones without these capabilities nowadays, is it?

    FCC starts up white spaces database, devices now inevitable originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Blinking LEDs to give QR codes a run for their (ad) money

    Blinking LEDs to give QR codes a run for their (ad) money

    Posted on November 23, 2009 | No Comments
    We're still waiting for this so-called QR code revolution to hit North America, but our contemporaries across the Pacific are already looking to develop the next big thing. Reportedly, a smattering of mega-corps (including the likes of Toshiba and NEC) are joining hands in order to concoct a rivaling technology that requires even less effort to get content from billboards, books and posters to one's mobile. The heretofore unnamed system utilizes blinking LEDs to send data to phones, and so long as an ad has enough room for a minuscule light, consumers can come within five meters of it and receive the associated information by simply pointing their handset in the direction of the light. If all goes well, the technology will be ready for commercialization by 2013, or just after phase one of the Robot Apocalypse.

    Blinking LEDs to give QR codes a run for their (ad) money originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Samsung pays Qualcomm $1.3 billion to secure wireless licenses

    Samsung pays Qualcomm $1.3 billion to secure wireless licenses

    Posted on November 9, 2009 | No Comments

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    Samsung and Qualcomm have wrapped up a cross-licensing deal with ten figures of US currency in it, which will permit the Korean giant to continue producing 3G- and 4G-enabled wireless devices for the next 15 years. In exchange, Samsung is letting Qualcomm make use of its own 57 patents on mobile technology and splashing out a further $1.3 billion as a down payment. Further royalty payments are involved, but not detailed, but just as a reference point, that's more than the new Dallas Cowboys stadium and its ultra-huge scoreboard cost to build. The move is a renewal of the two companies' current arrangement and Samsung has boldly claimed the terms of the new contract are more favorable to it, but we get the feeling the champagne will be flowing in San Diego this week.

    [Via MobileTechWorld]

    Samsung pays Qualcomm $1.3 billion to secure wireless licenses originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Verizon jumps on prepaid data bandwagon

    Verizon jumps on prepaid data bandwagon

    Posted on November 5, 2009 | No Comments
    Oh pretty netbook lady, you go about your daily life with your face buried in the goings-on of your hectic corporate lifestyle, unwilling to avert your gaze from the tiny 10.1-inch screen that dictates your graceful movements for even a mere moment in time.

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  • Klipsch ProMedia speakers rock the wireless

    Klipsch ProMedia speakers rock the wireless

    Posted on November 4, 2009 | No Comments
    Klipsch announced their new ProMedia 2.1 speakers today. Designed for use with a laptop system in mind, these THX-certified speakers are totally mostly wireless.

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  • Nintendo considering adding Kindle-like wireless access to future DS

    Nintendo considering adding Kindle-like wireless access to future DS

    Posted on November 3, 2009 | No Comments
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Amazon Kindle the first device to launch with built-in wireless (that is, cellular data) access? You know, you pay for the device, and then you don't have to pay monthly wireless access because it's already included in the cost of the device? It's pretty neat, I think I can say without too much grief, and is a model that's been copied by other e-book readers. Now it looks like Nintendo is considering such a model for future versions of the Nintendo DS (and not necessarily the XL, mind you). Exciting!

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  • Sprint lights up WiMAX in NC, Chicago and Dallas, launches subsidized Mini 10

    Sprint lights up WiMAX in NC, Chicago and Dallas, launches subsidized Mini 10

    Posted on November 2, 2009 | No Comments

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    Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? Or better yet, when a leaked roadmap doesn't get delayed in the slightest? After months upon months of waiting, broadband-lovin' citizens in the North Carolina Triangle and Triad will be celebrating alongside DFW residents and Chicago natives as Sprint's 4G WiMAX service rolls into town. As of right now (that's today, junior), consumers in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point and Charlotte, NC; Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas and Chicago, Illinois can roll into a Sprint store and snag a U300 3G / 4G WWAN modem on a $69.99 monthly data plan. We're told that San Antonio and Austin will get lit up later this month, while Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii; Salem, Oregon and Seattle, Washington will join the fray before 2010. Oh, and did we mention that Palm's favorite carrier finally snagged itself a WWAN-equipped netbook? 'Cause the Dell Mini 10 is available starting today for $199.99 at select Sprint stores in the metropolitan Baltimore area.

    Read - Sprint WiMAX in the Triangle
    Read - Sprint WiMAX in the Triad
    Read - Sprint WiMAX in Charlotte, NC
    Read - Sprint WiMAX in Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
    Read - Sprint WiMAX in Chicago, IL
    Read - Sprint's first netbook is Dell Mini 10

    Sprint lights up WiMAX in NC, Chicago and Dallas, launches subsidized Mini 10 originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Samsung and TeliaSonera bringing LTE to vikings in 2010

    Samsung and TeliaSonera bringing LTE to vikings in 2010

    Posted on October 22, 2009 | No Comments

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    Scandinavian folks tend to be a pretty cheerful bunch during the summer, and now Swedes and Norwegians will have reason to smile through the cold dark winters as well, with Samsung announcing an agreement to provide TeliaSonera with "mobile broadband devices for commercial service next year." This agreement relates to Sammy's Kalmia 4G USB modem and adds to the Swedish operator's LTE push, which already counts Ericsson and Huawei among the contracted hardware providers. So that's 100Mbps mobile broadband, coming to a snow-covered nation near you within the next dozen months or so. All we would ask of our viking friends now is that they remember their world-conquering ways of the past and start spreading that goodness globally. Come on, it's our right! Full press release after the break.

    Continue reading Samsung and TeliaSonera bringing LTE to vikings in 2010

    Samsung and TeliaSonera bringing LTE to vikings in 2010 originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Best Buy announces the launch of Rocketfish Rocketboost

    Best Buy announces the launch of Rocketfish Rocketboost

    Posted on October 21, 2009 | No Comments
    No, it's not a new type of pet disposal system, it's a wireless whole house audio delivery system. Rocketfish takes the audio output from your device, and the transmits it to the strategically placed speakers throughout your home.

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  • Bose hops on the wireless streaming bandwagon

    Bose hops on the wireless streaming bandwagon

    Posted on October 21, 2009 | No Comments
    Wireless has always been the new exciting thing in consumer electronics. Remote controls, game console controllers, Sony's <a href="http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/10/05/sony-develops-cord-free-power-transfer-system-for-home-electronics/"wireless power transfer, and now Bose is getting in on the action. The latest in their Wave System series, SoundLink allows you to stream audio to the unit from your computer.

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  • Tiny $80 travel router does wireless N

    Tiny $80 travel router does wireless N

    Posted on October 19, 2009 | No Comments
    Take it from me: a good, inexpensive, small travel router is hard to find. This $80 pocket-sized wireless N-compatible router may be just what the doctor ordered, assuming your doctor is progressive enough to write you prescriptions for computer peripherals.

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  • TENQA rolls out three new Bluetooth audio devices

    TENQA rolls out three new Bluetooth audio devices

    Posted on September 30, 2009 | No Comments
    Bluetooth is a really versatile technology, and despite the fact that it has been out for years, we're still seeing new stuff come out that uses it. That's where this latest example comes in from TENQA.

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  • Toshiba announces universal wireless docking station

    Toshiba announces universal wireless docking station

    Posted on September 17, 2009 | No Comments
    Toshiba announced a new wireless docking port station. It's designed to provide a connection to a full size keyboard, mouse, and monitor, docking stations previously required users to physically place their laptop or notebook computer on a connection.

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