Google’s Home Entertainment System testing isn’t the only prototype hardware the company is putting through its paces; filings with the FCC also reveal a “next generation personal communication device” in the pipeline. Details on the new Google gadget are sparse, though the FCC request does confirm both WiFi and Bluetooth, with the search company requesting permission to trial 102 units in different locations across the US.
Take the portability out of mobile broadband, and you’re left with a plain old broadband connection, but what if your home or office doesn’t get a high-speed hookup or you’re only going to be around for a short chunk of the typical 12-24 month agreement? Carrier Three believes it has the answer with the Web Cube, in effect a mobile broadband router that can’t go any further than an AC socket. In return, you get convenience, some degree of mobility and – every geek’s favorite – blue LED lighting. But is a non-mobile mobile modem niche or nonsense? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
Canon has gushed its latest torrent of point-and-shoot cameras, a ten-strong update to its PowerShot line that includes weatherproof options, lengthy zooms and the choice of touchscreen control. Most interesting are the new PowerShot ELPH 530 HS and ELPH 320 HS, which each get WiFi and a 12x and 5x optical zoom respectively. The 530 HS has a 10-megapixel sensor and is 0.78-inches thick, while the 320 HS has a 16.1-megapixel sensor. Both have a 3.2-inch touchscreen and shoot Full HD 1080p video. The 530 HS will ship in April for $349.99, while the 320 HS will ship in March for $279.99.
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UK carrier Three has answered the (perhaps unasked) question of what you call a mobile hotspot when it's not actually mobile: the Three Web Cube, packing a 3G HSPA+ connection into a fixed WiFi router. Promising plug-and-play simplicity, the box comes with a SIM pre-installed and a choice of tariffs with up to 15GB of data per month.
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Webcams aren’t new, and WiFi isn’t new, but it’s taken a while for WiFi-enabled video streaming cameras to come down to a level where remote home surveillance is reasonably affordable. Dropcam’s second-gen offering, the Dropcam HD, is a compact webcam with integrated wireless network connectivity, together with a suite of online and smartphone apps that all link up with the company’s cloud-based backbone. We’ve been under the watchful eye of the Dropcam HD; check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
Qualcomm's mirasol color e-paper technology has found its way into another device, the Koobe Jin Yong eReader, a 5.7-inch XGA slate targeting ebooks, digital comics, animated picture books and magazines. The Koobe model is the fourth to use Qualcomm's screen tech, and like models from Kyobo it runs a reskinned Android 2.3 on top of the chip company's 1GHz Snapdragon S2 processor.
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Several updates to software surrounding AirPort and Time Capsule have been sent out by Apple today, each of them coming to users through Software Update. The first update is to 802.11n AirPort Express, 802.11n AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule models - in it, users get an issue fixed for wireless performance amongst other smaller issues. The other update is for AirPort Utility 6.0 for Mac OS X Lion, it being an update for you to more effectively manage your Wifi network and AirPort base stations galore.
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'Super Wi-Fi' has been in the works for years now, and the first in the nation has finally deployed in Wilmington, North Carolina. This new network is running on the currently bare "white space". In 2010, the FCC had reported their approval for devices to run over this spectrum. At this same time, the FCC had required manufacturers to install special equipment into devices that would benefit from Super Wi-Fi.
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Linksys has outed a new line-up of HomePlug Powerline adapters, promising up to 200Mbps network connections passed over your regular home electricity wiring. Billed as ideal for consoles, streaming media adapters and the like, the new Linksys AV 1-Port (PLEK400) and AV 4-Port (PLSK400) offer one or four 10/100 sockets respectively, and will be joined by a wireless bridge later this quarter.
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The "Internet of Things" drive, where every electronic device can communicate with each other in a mesh of digital linkery, continues to gather pace, with Texas Instruments unveiling a low-cost embedded WiFi chipset targeting everyday gadgets. The TI SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3000 is described as a "self-contained 802.11 network processor" that minimizes the effort involved at making consumer, home and office devices internet-aware.
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Fitbit has launched Aria, the company's first WiFi-enabled scales, capable of automatically recognizing up to eight different users and squirting their weight to a cloud-based fitness center. Best known for the clip-on Fitbit dongle that tracks exercise, Fitbit says these new scales were actually prompted by user-requests; however it's also worth noting that Withings has been offering wirelessly-enabled scales for some time now.
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Samsung today announced two new Blu-ray players, the BD-E6500 and the BD-ES6000, at CES 2012. The company introduced a new feature for the players called Disc to Digital and also added WiFi capabilities to the flagship BD-E6500 model, allowing the player to connect directly to other devices over a WiFi network without the need for a PC or other central access point.
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