Wi-Fi - page 8

Like its predecessors, Apple’s latest iPad promises to provide you within around ten hours of battery life for surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music. But with its high-resolution Retina display and LTE connectivity, it needs a much bigger battery to do that.

And we all know how long it takes for that battery to charge, because it has been well documented since the device made its debut earlier this year. But the cost of keeping it running may be a lot less than you think.

LTE devices, including iPads, offer users two major advantages: speeds typically faster than many wired providers (in my neck of the woods, Verizon LTE is just over twice as fast as Time Warner’s Roadrunner Turbo) and ubiquitous access for LTE devices (and any devices tethered to them) that is a lot more convenient than relying on public network or hotspots like those found in your neighborhood Starbucks. A downside is that LTE’s speeds make it easy to rack up a large bill.

If you’re looking for another high-speed wireless option that offers better bang for your buck, there’s one joining the field to consider  – and it’s coming from an unlikely source with an unlikely price. Five major cable companies are joining forces to deliver ubiquitous Wi-Fi coverage for any of their subscribers… for free.

An “iPhone 5” SIM tray that was leaked by one parts supplier earlier this month suggested Apple’s sixth-generation iPhone may not get that long-awaited redesign after all, launching instead with a look that resembles its last two predecessors, the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S.

However, a new headphone jack & earpiece component that has been leaked by the same supplier contradicts that belief, and indicates that the new iPhone will indeed sport a whole new look.

Despite its focus on a speedy international rollout for the new iPad, which has seen the tablet hit 57 countries in just over one month, Apple is still keeping on top of demand and working to reduce shipping delays in its initial launch territories. After delays dropped to just 3-5 days in the United States last week, customers in Europe are now facing a wait of just 7 days.

Despite steady demand since the device made its debut back in March, Apple has still been able to maintain a speedy international rollout for its latest iPad. The new device is now available in 57 countries around the world, and what’s more, its shipping delay in the U.S. has now dropped to just 3-5 days.

There’s an unforeseen cost for companies as workers become more mobile and trends like BYOD become ever more common. It isn’t the cost of a mobile management solution, deploying iOS apps, or even supporting iPads and iPhones that users want to use to connect to the work email and other business resources.

What is this hidden cost? Wi-Fi.

The most exciting part of Nikon’s [D3200 announcement](https://www.cultofmac.com/161700/new-nikon-d3200-slr-connects-to-ipad-over-wi-fi/) was the WU-1a (Woo-la!) Wi-Fi adapter, a dongle which hangs annoyingly out of the open side hatch of the SLR’s body and allows for wireless communication with a smartphone. An iOS app is promised later this year, but above you can see a demo of the Woo-la in action with an Android handset.

Speaking of Wi-Fi connected cameras, Samsung’s entire new range of NX mirrorless cameras has Wi-Fi inside. This is an improvement on Nikon’s new D3200 – also announced today – which requires an awkward dongle to do the same trick.

There are three new models, the NX20 and NX210, which replace last-year’s NX10 and NX200. There is also the brand-new entry level NX1000. All share the same 20MP sensor as the old NX200.

We’ve been banging on about connecting proper cameras to the internet for quite a while now, and it seems that at last these cameras are starting to catch up to the world of smartphone cameras. Nikon’s new D3200 SLR updates the D3100 with some slightly better specs, but the big news is that it can be used with an optional Wi-Fi unit for sending photos to your iPhone, iPad, or whatever piece of junk you use instead.

If you’re thinking “Whatever, Charlie. This is Nikon. How much does this thing cost?” then I have your answer. A surprisingly cheap $60. That’s way less than an Eye-Fi card, and hopefully it’s way more reliable.

Apple’s latest iPad has already been plagued by issues related to its Wi-Fi and 3G connections, but it seems its problems don’t stop there. No, I’m not talking about its slightly warmer feel, which isn’t a real issue. I’m talking about issues with its new Retina display, including yellow, blue, and pink tinting; dead pixels; dust; backlight bleeding and blotches.

If you have already paid $6,000 for a new Nikon D4, you are either rich enough not to care that adding Wi-Fi costs another $900, or your bank account is now so wiped out that you can’t even afford to charge the battery. If you fall into either camp, though, you might still want to try out his great DIY project which adds Wi-Fi to your supercamera for just $30.

After ripping into the new iPad when it finally landed in their hands on March 16th, a sizable number of customers began to notice their tablet experiencing issues with Wi-Fi. Worse, it’s not an isolated problem with a few bad iPads: in fact, there are enough people complaining that they’ve managed to fill up a huge thread on Apple’s official support forums.

So far, Apple’s remained mum on what’s causing the issue. However, a repair expert thinks that the issue with the iPad’s Wi-Fi may be caused by bad power management to the Broadcom BCM4330 chip that handles Wi-Fi on the device. While it’s a hardware issue, though, the expert says Apple could probably fix it with a software update. 

MyWi is widely regarded as one of the best jailbreak utilities for the iPhone, allowing users to turn their smartphone into a Wi-Fi hotspot and share its data connection with other devices without paying additional carrier charges. Its latest 5.5 update brings iOS 5 compatibility (finally!), faster speeds, Wi-Fi sharing, and more.

Following reports that the new iPad may be experiencing Wi-Fi issues that lead to unreliable connectivity and slow connections, a leaked AppleCare document confirms that Apple is investigating the issue, and will replace units that are affected… in the U.S., at least.

Chances are to save on your 3G dataplan, you’ve enabled Wi-Fi on your iPhone. However, if you’re an Android user, you’re less likely to do so. According to a new study by ComScore, 71% of iPhone users are connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot, while only 32% of Android users are. So what could be the reason? Perhaps connecting to Wi-Fi on an iPhone is a bit easier. 

Announced at CES 2012 in January, Verizon’s Jetpack MiFi 4620L is finally launching on April 12th, Verizon announced today. The Jetpack MiFi 4620L packs 4G LTE and 3G and will be available for $50 with a two-year contract, after a $50 mail-in-rebate. If you don’t yet have a Verizon LTE enable iPad, this will be a nice way to get Verizon’s blazing fast 4G speeds on all of your devices. 

Andy Patrizio of Tablet PC Review decided to get to the bottom of the sporadic reports of bad Wi-Fi reception in the iPad 3. Armed with the new iPad, a first-gen iPad, and a couple of iPhones (3GS and 4S), he fired up the SpeedTest app and pointed it at his Cisco WRT310N 802.11a/b/g/n router. The results? The iPad 3 came in dead last, but it’s not as bad as you might have heard.

This morning we reported that a number of new iPad owners are suffering from poor Wi-Fi performance on their new tablet. If you’re one of the unlucky few, then this simply fix might just solve the issue, and in turn save you a visit to the Genius Bar.

Forget the slight increase in temperature issue-that-shouldn’t-even-be-an-issue affecting the new iPad. According to some early adopters, the third-generation tablet has its own antennagate. Many users are taking to Apple’s Support Communities forum to complain that the Wi-Fi signal on their device is a lot weaker than that of their iPad 2, and even their iPhones and MacBooks.

Carriers are constantly talking about the limited spectrum available for mobile devices. That’s the reason that give for instituting data caps and throttling heavy users. It’s reasonable to assume that carriers exaggerate the real issues somewhat when the trot this argument out as a case for data caps and tiered data pricing (they make a lot of money that way), but it is true that radio spectrum is a finite resource. With Cisco predicting an 39-fold increase mobile traffic use will over the next four years, carriers will need to find creative ways to manage the slices of spectrum that they have.

One option is to offload service to Wi-Fi networks. All iPhone (or other smartphone) users do this already to some extent when we connect our iPhones to our home networks. They deliver better performance and let use as much data as we want without having to worry about it impacting our next bill. Two mobile trade groups are looking to turn this same offloading model into a large scale option for carriers to deliver better mobile broadband while taking the load off their 3G or 4G networks.

This shouldn’t take anyone by surprise, but with the new iPad going on sale on Friday at 8 a.m. at Apple Stores around the country, AT&T will also have units that they’ll be selling at their retail outlets on the same day. Don’t count on being able to easily get one, though.

One of iPhoto for iOS’s most useful new sharing features is called Beaming. It lets you send your photos quickly and directly to anyone sharing your Wi-Fi network and also running iPhoto.

As good, long-time Mac users we remember the bad old days of networking, where getting two Macs to talk to each other was all but impossible, and hear-tearingly frustrating at best (even when they were joined to opposite ends of the same Ethernet cable). Clearly, something has changed. So just how does iPhoto Beaming work?

I myself have had issues with OS X Lion not remembering my home wireless network. Or, more accurately, not choosing it when waking my MacBook Air from sleep. So when I came across this tip, I figured I’d share with the rest of you.

U.S. retailer Meijer has begun slashing the price of Apple’s iPad 2 as rumors continue to claim that its successor will be unveiled early next month. The 16GB Wi-Fi only model is now available for $429, with $70 off its original price, and that price will run until the retailer shifts its remaining stock.

Once you’ve connected to a Wi-Fi network on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, your device remembers its credentials and, for your convenience, connects automatically next time. However, this isn’t always helpful. Sometimes we connect to hotspots accidentally, and it’s frustrating when your device connects to a network you don’t want it to.

You can prevent this by “forgetting” the networks you’ve previously connected to. Once forgotten, your device will no longer connect automatically, and only when you tell it to. Here’s how to forget a Wi-Fi network.