October 7th, 2008
Future wireless networks could be powered by “smart lighting”
A light bulb went off in the head of researchers at Boston University about a new wireless networking technology, which was very appropriate considering that it involves, well, light bulbs. The Smart Lighting Engineering Research Center has been created to develop technology that would allow low-powered LED lights to transmit data to other devices.
Such a network could be a boon for home automation, since you could just replace existing lighting with new LED bulbs instead of having to outfit your house with new communications equipment. There are a couple of caveats, though, that mean this network won’t be replacing your radio-based Wi-Fi one for many duties. For one thing, because light can’t travel through walls and other obstacles, its range is extremely limited. Its throughput is also limited by today’s standards, offering data rates between 1Mbps and 10Mbps, or what roughly what 802.11b networks can pump out.
And don’t go tossing out your light bulbs just yet. According to the center, this new networking technology probably won’t be available for another 10 years.
[Via TrendRadar UK]
October 4th, 2008
Hands-on review of the Logitech Squeezebox Boom
After seeing my mildly skeptical post about the release of its Squeezebox Boom Internet radio device, Logitech offered to send me a sample unit to review, promising me I’d be pleasantly surprised with the audio output from the compact unit. I’ve been testing it out over the last few weeks, and here’s what I’ve found in my everyday use of it.
The Boom is the size of a traditional tabletop radio, and while not exactly featherweight, is portable enough to be carried from room to room. Unfortunately, you’ll also need to carry its wall-wart AC adapter, because the unit doesn’t include a battery option. Worse, the adapter is big enough that it covers two outlets unless you get a little creative in how you plug it in.
Setup was very easy, as the Boom both detected our wireless network and assigned itself an IP address in a matter of seconds. (It also includes an Ethernet port for wired networking.) You’ll need to sign up for a SqueezeNetwork account at www.squeezenetwork.com; it’s Logitech’s gateway to the various streaming sources the Boom can access. (More on these below.) If you want to listen to music files from your PC(s), you’ll need to install the SqueezeCenter software to your computer. This was the only part of the setup process where I experienced a couple of hiccups. Though I was able to install SqueezeCenter on my Mac successfully (at least according to the installer), I was unable to find the app without doing a search for it. I needed to do this because Mac users need to create manually an exception for SqueezeCenter for OS X’s built-in firewall. Considering this is a mandatory step for the Boom to access a Mac’s files, I’m not sure why Logitech didn’t just make this the final step of the SqueezeCenter install process instead of requiring the user to muck around with firewall settings.
The Boom’s controls are dominated by a large jog wheel smack dab in the middle of the unit. You click it to select menu items and turn it to scroll through options. You also get a standard array of buttons, including power, play, back, pause, fast forward, rewind, a “+” to add a station to your favorites, and a volume slider. A remote replicates many of those controls, but adds a home button as well. It’s magnetized, which could come in handy because the tiny unit is otherwise easy to misplace.
When you turn the Boom on after setup, you are given a menu of several options, though I primarily used only Music Library, Internet Radio, Music Services, and Favorites. There’s an alarm clock setting (useful if this becomes your bedside radio), plus some info-related extras, like the ability to display news tickers and RSS feeds, and some oddball options like a Tetris-like game and a library of sound effects. (The natural ones I get, but why would you want to listen voluntarily to the blaring of an ambulance?) You’ll find your computer’s music files under Music Library. With a large collection of music files on my drive, I was happy to have the jog wheel to zip through artists whenever I wanted to hear something from a band that started with “S.” Playback of my iTunes library was flawless. As with many of these devices, the Boom doesn’t handle audio tracks secured with Digital Rights Management, so tracks purchased from the iTunes Store in AAC format won’t be accessible.
Under Internet Radio, Logitech offers staff picks to help you find a suitable station, and these run the gamut of genre and locations. Unfortunately, there were some stations (like BBC4) that I was never able to connect to successfully, though other stations didn’t present a problem. One nice touch for those who still listen to AM/FM is the Boom’s inclusion of local stations through RadioTime—AM stations usually come in with plenty of static at my house, so it was actually an upgrade to listen to the same stations on this device instead. You can also add any stations not already punched into the Boom by adding them online at the SqueezeNetwork Web site. The site additionally lets you streamline your menus, allowing you to delete services and other items that you don’t use.
Music Services is where you find subscription-based services like Sirius Satellite Radio or Rhapsody or sites that require login info like Last.fm and Pandora. You need to enter your account info on the SqueezeNetwork site in order for the Boom to access a service’s stream. A big thumbs down goes to the Sirius service, which requires the premium upgrade for an extra $2.99 per month. Presumably that’s so the audio quality is better, but it will bum out regular subscribers hoping to ditch their antenna-based radios and who really don’t need to listen to Howard Stern at CD-quality bit rates. Pandora worked without a hitch, and the jog wheel handily functions as the thumbs up/thumbs down buttons that you use on the Web version to tell the service which tracks you like and dislike. It even lets you select to stop playback of a song on your station for 30 days, something I find invaluable when I’m listening online.
Logitech has hyped the audio quality of the Boom, which it says stems from the included preamp and premium speakers. And given its compact size, the Boom really doesn’t disappoint compared to other similar-sized devices. Sure, it doesn’t provide the low-end depth that puts the “boom” (pun intended) into hip-hop, for instance, but it provides enough bass that you won’t be calling it “tinny-sounding.” You can add your own subwoofer via the headphone jack if you need as much bass as possible, and there’s also a line-in jack if you want to hook up your iPod or a CD player.
Overall, I was very impressed with the Boom, from the good sound quality to its versatility. I’ve encountered a few streaming hiccups, but it certainly wasn’t flaky at all in the way some wireless network devices can be. The primary disappointment I had with the Boom (other than the bait-and-switch that promised Sirius support, but required the premium upgrade) is the lack of a rechargeable battery. Even if the battery could only provide a couple of hours of juice, it would be worth it to bring it out on a deck without needing an extension cord.
At $299.99, the Boom isn’t going to find a place on everyone’s nightstand, especially in this economy. If you can afford the price, however, it’s certainly a worthwhile purchase for those who are Internet radio or Pandora (or Rhapsody or Last.fm) addicts or who want to play the music on their computer in another spot in the house and demand decent audio quality.
October 2nd, 2008
D-Link ships new Xtreme N Dual Band Gigabit Router (DIR-825)
Having pretty much juiced everything they can out of “Draft N” as a buzz term, router manufacturers have turned to “dual band” as the hot concept in 2008. With its new Xtreme N Dual Band Gigabit Router (DIR-825), D-Link adds another one to the list, though it’s of the rarer breed that can simultaneously broadcast over both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands (following in the footsteps of the Linksys WRT610N Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router).
D-Link has gone with the Apple white color scheme for the router, which makes it like most of the products in the Xtreme N line. The company is also touting its SharePort technology, which makes it easy to share devices like printers and storage drives by making the router’s USB port appear local to any computer on the network D-Link is also jumping on the green bandwagon, as the DIR-825 makes use of a D-Link Green Ethernet technology that uses the length of your network cable, among other factors, to adjust the power output. It also allows users to program times (like when you’re asleep) when the router can be powered down, though that’s not as easy as the on/off switch that the new Netgear WNR2000 offers as a power-saving measure. Also touted is HD Fuel, a quality-of-service technology that optimizes high-bandwidth traffic like HD files over the 5GHz band.
Here’s one reason the dual-band trend is spreading: price. Basic routers—even Draft N ones—are priced under $100 and subject to intense competition including from cheaper 802.11g hardware. But by claiming to offer two networks in one device, dual-band routers can command a nice premium. The DIR-825 is no different, as it’s priced at $199.99.
September 29th, 2008
Netgear unveils new energy-efficient Draft N routers
The networking world has finally caught on to the whole green movement, with Netgear following in the footsteps of D-Link in releasing new routers that claim to be more eco-friendly.
The Wireless-N Router (WNR2000, pictured) and Wireless-N Modem Router (DGN2000) both come packaged in material that’s at least 80 percent recycled in origin, and also come with this new thing called an on/off switch. Amazingly, that switch is something of a new feature for networking devices, which remain on and sipping power even when no one’s making use of the wireless signal. (In the DGN2000’s case, you can switch off the Wi-Fi feature while still using the modem when you’re surfing the Net on your main PC.) They also come with power supplies that sport the EnergyStar label.
The units make use of the Draft N spec, which is the latest version of 802.11n, the long-awaited Wi-Fi standard that still hasn’t been officially ratified, though all major router manufacturers have released Draft N products for some time now. They also come with a litany of features that are common on most new routers: Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), NAT and SPI firewalls, WiFi Protected Access (WPA, WPA-2) security, and so on.
Both routers are available immediately, with the WNR2000 priced at $89 and the DGN2000 costing $119. Of course, you’ll probably want to pair that new router with a Draft N adapter for a laptop or secondary computer. The WNR2000 comes bundled with a USB adapter in the WNB2100 kit, which is priced at $129. For some reason, the same bundle for the DGN2000 is only available in Europe and Asia.
September 26th, 2008
Samsung develops NaBee Wireless USB solution for digital cameras
Cameras with built-in Wi-Fi haven’t been as plentiful as you might expect, considering the extra step it eliminates of either plugging the camera into a USB port or inserting the memory card into a slot in order to upload photos. But this week Samsung (along with chipmaker Alereon) announced a new wireless solution that it hopes will make more of an impact with the digital shutterbugs of the world.
Called NaBee (apparently Korean for “butterfly”), the solution uses Wireless USB technology to transmit images via a pair of dongles, one that connects to the camera’s USB port and the other to a port on a PC (or a printer). The Wireless USB standard supports theoretical speeds of up 480Mbps at distances of 10 feet and under, which is faster than the current maximum throughput of Wi-Fi, and even can transmit at 110Mpbs at a distance of roughly 30 feet. On the other hand, previously launched Wireless USB products have not fared well, so it’s a bit uncertain that NaBee will work exactly as advertised.
Nonetheless, Samsung hopes that NaBee can provide a viable alternative to Eye-Fi SD cards, which sport built-in Wi-Fi to transfer images. Pricing may determine how that plays out. Samsung has yet to announce what the NaBee package will cost, but the company says the product will be released in December.
September 24th, 2008
AT&T HomeManager: The future of home phones?
Want a home phone that does something a little more 21st century? AT&T has started rolling out its HomeManager package, which includes a wireless touch screen device with Internet access and speakerphone, in nine major cities.
In addition to the device that AT&T is calling a “frame,” and includes a 7-inch color display, HomeManager comes with a cordless handset and a base station. In addition to being able to place calls with the handset, you can also make calls with the frame via its built-in speakerphone. Calls can be made over an AT&T landline or using VoIP. The touch screen unit offers visual voice mail a la the iPhone, as well as e-mail access and a variety of online content (sports, weather, news, etc.). It also provides address book syncing with an AT&T cell phone through the AT&T Mobile Backup application. The frame comes with 256MB of internal memory, along with a USB port and a SD card slot—these can be used to turn the device into a digital photo frame. In addition to letting you access the interface via touch, the gadget also includes a stylus.
In order to use HomeManager, you must agree to a two-year AT&T High Speed Internet agreement (or already have the service) or a bundle that includes the company’s U-verse TV and voice calling services. You’ll also need a router. You’ll need to be willing to fork over $299 for the package, too. At that price, the home-phone revolution AT&T envisions with HomeManager will be slow in coming, though it will be up to customers in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, San Antonio, San Diego, and San Francisco to decide how much they want to invest in the future of the home phone.
September 23rd, 2008
Giant 32-inch wireless photo frame introduced
There’s been quite a pissing match going on lately in the world of Wi-Fi enabled digital photo frames. First, Samsung and Sony jumped into the game with new offerings, then Kodak did them one better by unleashing the first frame using OLED display technology (albeit for several hundred dollars more than other wireless frames). Now a company called Smartparts has released a—get this—32-inch Wi-Fi frame. The SP3200WF dwarfs the 8- or 10-inch frames that are the most common sizes currently available.
While a digital frame that size has some obvious commercial applications, Smartparts isn’t shying away from pitching the SP3200WF to consumers who like really, really big photos of themselves and their families. It’s wall mountable and comes with a dark wood frame, instead of the black frame design many competitors possess. Aside from its massive size, the SP3200WF has the usual features you’d expect from a digital photo frame, including video playback support, 256MB of internal memory, multi-format memory-card slot, built-in speakers, and Windows Live Photo Gallery support for grabbing photos from an online account. Of course, if you have a fairly recent HDTV with full 1080p resolution and a memory-card slot or USB port, you can display higher-resolution images on your TV instead (the SP3200WF’s resolution is 1,366×768) and probably save yourself a few hundred bucks.
Pricing for the SP3200WF has not been finalized, nor has a shipping date been confirmed. Smartparts says the frame will be sold at “photo specialty dealers,” so don’t go looking for it at Best Buy or Costco.
I’m getting a little burned out on all this wireless photo frame coverage, so unless we start seeing such unlikely combos as a Wi-Fi frame/router or Wi-Fi frame/network storage drive, we may have gone as far as we can with the latest and greatest tech in this emerging niche. Are any of the new Wi-Fi frames enticing to you? Would you ever think of buying a 32-inch version? Let me know in Talkback.
September 22nd, 2008
Kodak introduces two wireless all-in-one printers
Hot on the heels of new wireless multifunctions from Canon and Epson, Kodak has announced two printers that are also Wi-Fi enabled and will compete with those other units. At $199.99, the Kodak ESP 7 All-in-One Printer will be priced similarly to the Epson Artisan 700, while the $299.99 ESP 9 All-in-One Printer goes print-to-print with the Canon Pixma MP980 and the Epson Artisan 800.
Kodak has tried to differentiate its recent forays into the printer market by offering low-cost ink cartridges—for example, replacing the ink in these ESP printers will cost just $9.99 for black and $14.99 for color. Unfortunately, a recent review points out that the previously released ESP 5 had some poor mechanical design choices that these printers will have to overcome, though print quality had improved over the ESP 3. In its favor, Kodak has added built-in duplexing to both of these units, with the ESP 9 also sporting an automatic document feeder and faxing capabilities.
Of course, in addition to Wi-Fi, the Kodak printers offer an Ethernet port for wired network printing. What’s interesting is that the company hasn’t been pushing Wi-Fi into its digital cameras (save the older EasyShare-One), which seems like a natural synergy if it wants to stay in the printing game. In any event, the trend is clearly to add wireless networking to all-in-ones at the higher end of the price range; the only question is how soon it will be added to budget multifunctions and then more inkjet and personal laser printers.
September 20th, 2008
Audiovox’s RCA Infinite Radio: Internet radio with Wi-Fi for $149
I wrote about Logitech’s Squeezebox Boom Wi-Fi-enabled music streamer a couple of weeks ago (and will have a hands-on review later this week), and mentioned that at $299, the Boom wasn’t really going to take Internet radio much closer to the mainstream at that price. Now Audiovox has released the RCA Infinite Radio, which cuts that price in half but keeps the Wi-Fi connection.
The Infinite Radio offers a few other goodies, including a subscription to Weatherbug and support for Slacker’s Personal Radio service as well as good-old AM/FM radio support. It comes with 512MB of internal memory, which allows you to store up to 10 hours of programming. The device doesn’t offer as broad support for other Internet audio sources as the Boom does—Logitech’s radio lets you listen to Pandora and Sirius, among others (though you must have a Sirius account and the Premium online upgrade)—nor does it appear to be able to match the Boom’s audio quality (which is surprisingly good for a unit of its size). You also can’t access your PC’s digital music collection, as you can with the Boom.
Whereas the Boom would be the tabletop radio of choice for Net radio lovers with deeper pockets, the Infinite Radio could serve as a bedside radio for those who are willing to sacrifice audio quality for the lower price. There’s no reason that basic Wi-Fi audio streamers couldn’t cost under $100 in the near future; the Infinite Radio marks a big step toward that magic price point.
September 17th, 2008
Kodak introduces world’s first OLED wireless photo frame
Kodak takes the competition in the suddenly crowded field of wireless photo frames to the next level with its announcement of the OLED Wireless Frame. The camera company joins Samsung and Sony in introducing new frames that feature built-in Wi-Fi to stream photos from your hard drive or the Internet.
But Kodak’s entry stands out for its 7.6-inch OLED screen, the first on a digital photo frame. The display technology promises superior contrast ratios over LCDs, and Sony has already released a 11.1-inch TV, the XEL-1, that is OLED-based. The OLED Wireless Frame also stands out by offering 2GB of internal memory to store photos, whereas Samsung and Sony’s new Wi-Fi frames offer a comparatively paltry amount. Kodak is additionally rolling out new Easyshare Digital Display Software for PCs to make it easy to organize media (including music and videos) that you want to stream to the OLED Wireless frame.
Of course, there’s a catch, and that’s price. As the $2,500 price tag on Sony’s XEL-1 suggests, the market for OLED is in its infancy, and consequently products using the display tech are highly expensive. Kodak’s OLED Wireless Frame will cost a whopping $999 when it is available for purchase in November. The good news is that this product will probably prod other frame manufacturers into creating OLED frames of their own, which will drop prices over the long term. In the meantime, you can just drool over your rich friend’s OLED Wireless Frame when he or she plunks down a grand for one.
Sean Portnoy spent several years as an editor at Computer Shopper magazine, most recently serving as online executive editor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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