Wi-Fi - page 6

Facebook has today rolled out its new VoIP calling feature to Messenger users in the United Kingdom, following its launch in the United States back in January. Available only on the iPhone, the feature allows users to make free voice calls to their Facebook friends over Wi-Fi and 3G.

I thought I’d heard everything there was to hear from wireless speakers. I have tested everything from the smallest, crappiest pocket speaker to the big booming Big Jambox. Then I “hooked” the Libratone Zipp up to my iPhone, and I started to enjoy music again.

In-Flight Wi-Fi service, Gogo, released some numbers today on their blog, showing that Apple devices are still the most popular way passengers are accessing the internet via the service while flying above 10,000 feet.

Tablets and smartphones, according to Gogo, make up 67 percent of the devices used to connect to the Wi-Fi service on airplanes. Tablets themselves are the most popular, with 35 percent, closely followed by 33 percent of folks using laptops and 32 percent using smartphones for their mile-high internet surfing sessions.

It gets even more interesting when you break down which tablets and smartphones are being used.

So, there you are, sitting on the airplane, with your iPad on Airplane Mode. But you’re also on one of those newfangled jets that actually offers internet via Wi-Fi. What’s a jet-setting iOS user to do? Why, turn on Wi-Fi while still remaining in FAA-compliant Airplane Mode, of course.

Here’s how.

Using Skype to subvert your monthly voice minutes is great when the service. Every now and then you get a dropped call because of crappy Wifi or cellular reception though and then you have to go back in and make the call all over.

A new update for Skype just hit the App Store today, and it makes calls a lot better. Rather than having to redial a number when a call is dropped, Skype 4.5 for iPhone will automatically reconnect your call regardless of whether you’re on Wifi or cellular data.

The new 128GB iPad with Retina display is now available to order from the Apple online store. The device is priced from $799, and it’s currently shipping in 1-3 business days. You’ll also be able to find it in your local Apple retail store.

Securifi’s new Almond+ router, a touch-screen router — really the touch-screen router, since the only other router available with a touch screen is the earlier version of the Almond, released mid last year and still available on Amazon for $80 — went live today on Kickstarter. It’s already lassoed over $90,000 in backing as this post goes live, with a goal of $250,000; that’s a third of its funding goal, just within its first day on Kickstarter.

The iOS lock screen is a boring place. It displays the time, any notifications you’ve received since you last unlocked your device, and a shortcut to the Camera app. But that’s it. When you compare it to Android’s lock screen, which now has support for all kinds of cool widgets, it’s clear there’s room for improvement.

One way Apple could start improving it for iOS 7 is with this awesome concept from Jean-Marc Denis.

Tim Cook is on his second visit to China as Apple CEO this week, and during an interview with local reporters on Thursday, he confirmed that the cellular version of the iPad mini will be arriving in the nation in late January. The Wi-Fi only model arriving in China on December 7, just over a month after it launched in the United States.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – The only thing that sucks about the iPod touch is that you don’t have a data connection all the time. You can try to scour the streets for free Wi-Fi, but everyone’s locking their networks now. FreedomPop has a solution that will give your iPod touch the data connectivity of an iPhone for free.

A new Apple corporate job listing suggests that future Macs will have ultrafast 802.11ac wireless tech, more commonly known as “5G Wi-Fi.” Apple is looking for a new System Test Engineer to “develop, design and execute tests for compatibility of Apple hardware and software projects” relating to 802.11 wireless.

It was recently reported that Apple was working with Broadcom to put 802.11ac chips in upcoming Macs. This job listing seems to all-but-confirm Apple’s plans.

While current Macs are already 802.11n compatible, 802.11ac is the next-gen wireless standard that offers nearly 3x faster speeds and 1.3 Gbps down on a triple-antenna setup. The new chips could very well make their way into Apple’s 2013 Macs and even iOS devices, but no one knows for sure at this point.

Source: Apple

Via: Apple Bitch

After redesigning nearly every product under their roof in 2012, Apple’s probably not going to be redesigning the Mac in 2013. There’s still reason to get excited about updated Mac models, though, as Apple’s sure to stuff them with great new hardware features.

If super-fast Internet speeds make your fingers tingle with anticipation, then you’ll be happy to learn that a new report claims Apple will be including a new chipset this year that will bring 802.11ac networking capabilities to the Mac.

Apple released its iOS 6.0.2 update over-the-air to select devices earlier this week, promising a fix for a frustrating bug that could impact Wi-Fi performance. However, the update comes with a nasty problem of its own. There are reports that it has greatly reduced battery life on the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini — even when the devices go unused for long periods of time.

Apple has released a minor Wi-Fi firmware update for “late” 2012 Macs in the Mac App Store. Mac Wi-Fi Update 1.0 address compatibility with the 5GHz Wi-Fi band, a more modern band that offers greater signal quality and less interference than the 2.4GHz band. The update is available for free and clocks in at less than 2MB.

There’s a problem I often run into with my mobile devices, and that’s not enough storage space. I insist on purchasing devices with just 16GB of memory, and then I have to find ways to manage that storage the best I can. Some devices will take microSD cards that will allow you to bump their storage as and when you need it, but others — like Apple’s iOS devices — don’t come with that luxury.

Vantec’s new NexStar WiFi hard drive dock lets you bump your smartphone, tablet, and even PC storage over Wi-Fi. You can use it to store your audio and video collections on your home network, then use Vantec’s dedicated apps to access them wirelessly when you need to.

The promise is simple: Take a small box, stuff in some flash memory and a Wi-Fi radio, and make the contents of that flash storage available to any device on the network via a web browser.

That’s the Packetta from King Jim – a USB dongle which would be just about ideal were it not for a few deficiencies.

Apple has reduced the shipping delay for the iPad mini to just one week in the United States, ensuring orders placed before midnight on December 12 will be delivered in time for Christmas. The new delay applies to both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + cellular models in all capacities — but it still hasn’t made its way to international online stores.

The People People Speaker is a clever solution to a persistent, cruel and terrible first-world problem: big, ugly speakers eating up the visual space of your home. The answer isn’t to make the speaker smaller, but to make the speaker less visible.

Thus the almost invisible speaker was born.

The Unmonday 4.3L is a $700 ceramic AirPlay speaker which comes with its own leather carrying case. It is gorgeous, and if you want to use it to its full potential, you’re going to have to buy another four of them.

In keeping with the “connect other controllers to play Mac games” theme this week, I thought it’d be fun to look at a Mac game that can use an iPhone as an external controller.

Chopper 2 is available as a Mac game for $4.99 in the Mac App Store. It has 36 missions across 12 unique location maps and uses a gorgeous 3D game engine to recreate the classic side scrolling joy of the original Chopper game.

Here’s the app store description:

Escort a convoy of vehicles across the desert, or defend a train from enemies emerging from underground mines. Use your laser sight to line up enemies emerging from stairwells in the city. Chase down lines of enemy tanks and choppers while avoiding heat seeking missiles, gunfire and bird strike. Help your allies defend against advancing armies, and rescue stranded civilians, all while trying to complete your mission as fast as possible for the highest score.

Now, if you have an iPhone or iPod touch, you can use it to control the Mac version of Chopper 2 via WiFi.

While the iPod touch is a terrific little device, it would be so much better if Apple gave it a data connection. It’s so frustrating when you quickly want to check on a sports score or load up a map and you’re in an area where there’s no Wi-Fi connection. Thanks to FreedomPop, however, you can now pick up a new case for $99 that comes with built-in WiMAX.

Libratone’s Zipp is a another AirPlay speaker, only this one has a couple of twists. The most obvious difference between this and the Big Jambox (its closest competitor) is the colorful wool felt cover. The other difference is in how it connects: The Zipp creates its own Wi-Fi access point.

Apple’s upcoming iPad mini is set to shake up the tablet industry for a second time later this month. Its 9.7-inch tablet is the king of premium slates, and the smaller model is expected to dominate the entry-level market. But it won’t just cost rivals like Amazon and Google — it’ll cost Apple, too. You see, for every five iPad minis sold, the Cupertino company is expected to lose one 9.7-inch iPad sale.

Eye-Fi has updated its top-of-the-range Pro X2 SD card from 8GB to 16GB, upped the speed to Class and kept the price at the same ridiculous $99. The X2 is the card to buy if you need everything Eye-Fi has to offer: geotagging, direct transfer to your iDevice and RAW file support. But it might not necessarily be the one you want.

Apple has issued its first software update to the iPhone 5 just over a week after the handset was released — but you’ll only see it if you’re on Verizon. No, the update doesn’t make Maps work. Instead, it “resolves an issue in which, under certain circumstances, iPhone 5 may use Verizon cellular data while the phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network.”