Having poor cell phone reception is a frustrating thing and it seems there’s always a zone you can’t get a call, regardless of courier. I’m lucky enough to get 4 bars of reception at my location, but my neighbor who works less than 1 mile away, gets only one lousy bar.
Southern California has rolling hills which plays havoc for cell phone providers. Until now that is. If your home or office is in a dead zone, or an area with low quality reception consider this cell phone signal booster, or signal extender.
This bad boy will boost your weak signal into full bar reception. All you need is at least one bar to let the cell phone extender do it’s boosting.
The mobile phone signal booster will add 2,500 square feet of pristine clear reception to where ever the installation is…that’s about 3 additional rooms or offices.
So what does something like this cost you? Just slightly more than cancelling your cell phone contract, about $250 bucks.
Jump over to ThinkGeek to get the details and different models available. You need to select the correct model for your courier service. It’s one of ThinkGeek’s hottest sellers, so it’s obviously worth the investment.
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The United States is no longer the nation with the largest number of internet users. China overtook the US last month in users for the first time, according to the state-run China Internet Network Information Center.
Researcher BDA China Ltd. estimates there are now over 220 million internet users in China, compared with 217.1 million in the U.S. Online ad revenue continues to lag in China, however, totaling $1.3 billion in 2007 compared to e-Marketer estimates of $21.4 billion in America.
Maybe it’s time for me to start promoting the Chinesse translation of my blog.
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Update:Â Review Wi-Fire from hFieldhField Technologies launched their Windows Vista compatible version USB WiFi Adatper for high-performance, long-rage boost earlier this week.
The Wi-Fire boosts signal strengths up to 1,000 feet making it extremely easy for Windows XP and Vista users to login and work surf. This is more than 3 times the range of a typical 802.11 b/g network.
And for you Mac fans stop your b!tching because the hField USB WiFi extender version was released back in August.
“Wi-Fire is the perfect device—light weight and easy to use—for the seriously mobile Vista user and those who have problems connecting to their regular wireless network because of distance, obstacles or other interference,†said Tom DiClemente, hField’s CEO. “We’re dedicated to empowering people to connect better, faster and more economically.â€
Eltima released their latest USB to Ethernet Connector software, version 2.4. The Eltima solution makes it possible to connect to any USB device over a LAN or Internet connection.
So how does Eltima get a USB device to work over Ethernet or LAN? In a nutshell their application intercepts USB port activity for the prepared (shared) device and redirects it via TCP/IP network to the remote site, where the protocol is handled appropriately.
To make this theory a reality, the USB to Ethernet Connector 2.4 must be installed on both computers. Here is a diagram:
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Franklin Wireless is churning out their smallest EVDO USB Modem so you can be your own hotspot – whether you’re hot or not.
EVDO or Evolution Data Only/Evolution Data Optimized provides fast wireless broadband (3G) internet service directly to your [I’m assuming] laptop [or any computer really]. All this access is now portable and available via Franklin’s USB CDU680 modem. You can take the internet with you and surf the web in your car, on the train, in the airport, at your Starwars technology convention or in your Luv Bus RV.
Some exceptional features too. 64MB flash drive – okay maybe THAT’S not impressive, built-in GPS, antenna port for external signal boost, pre-configured for PC/ Mac and swivel base USB connector.
Hyundai Motors will place a USB port into their 2009 Elantra car for stereo connectivity and support of the Microsoft automotive initiative Blue&Me.
Given the fact you’d find yourself in a Hyundai it’s not clear on how you can actually use the USB port, although it’s obvious the USB port would give you access to sync GPS devices, access the stereo for flash based music libraries and display contact information from your PDA on the upgraded nav station.
Icron brought us the ExtremeUSB technology making it possible to connect via USB from over a mile away, now Icron is bringing us USB over power lines. Not bad, not bad at all.
Integrating Icron’s patented ExtremeUSB technology and Panasonic’s leading edge HD-PLC power line communications devices, the system extends USB 2.0 over standard power lines enabling remote connection of standard USB devices such as keyboards, printers, flash drives, hard drives and web cameras over the AC outlets in your home or office.
“We are excited to once again be able to showcase the flexibility of our ExtremeUSB technology. With the help of Panasonic’s leading edge HD-PLC devices, we have been able to quickly implement our platform to extend USB 2.0 over standard power lines.†stated Robert Eisses, President and CEO of Icron Technologies. â€With power line technology poised to be a major catalyst for converged home network solutions, we are pleased to be working with Panasonic to add USB 2.0 to that pictureâ€.
In case you are scratching your head about the HD-PLC technology, this explanation might help:
Power Line Communication (PLC) is a technology that uses power lines to both supply electric power and transmit data. Electricity travels in large, slowly changing waves, while data signals move in small, quickly changing waves. Since these waves travel at different speeds, there is no mutual interference when they travel together. This makes it possible to send data signals through power lines, and access the Internet from power outlets. Original Panasonic HD technology uses this principle to provide the large data transmission capacity and high speed of the HD-PLC Ethernet Adaptor.
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Linksys, a division of Cisco, released their new Wireless G USB Network Adaptor aimed at small business. What Linksys did with this product is incorporate range booster technology to increase signal strength and improve data transfer speeds.
The RangeBooster technology makes the claim that range will increase by double and data transfer speed will increase by about 35%.
And if you’re concerned about security, well then wireless products might be a little scary. Linksys covered their bases with a WPA2 256-bit encryption engine along with a Security Monitoring abilities to get the low-down when there’s a crack-down.
No word on pricing or availability.
The long awaited wireless USB hubs are starting to show their face. Belkin did a push for nearly a year before their wireless hub came out; Gefen just made their announcement about a 4 port wireless USB hub.
This is an excellent choice for those having peripherals further then a common USB cable connection. The Gefen WUSB hub uses a USB dongle at the host PC and will communicate up to 60 feet to the wireless hub.
Since these types of products have not hit the shelves yet, the real-world transfer rate is yet to be determined. The specification calls for data transfer rates between 55Mb/s to the max of 480Mb/s (wouldn’t that be nice) but I believe that will depend more on distance.
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IOGear is like a rising tide when it comes to cranking out USB products for Geek consumption. It just never stops coming.
From the long list of new IOGear products, here are the four most needed geek items you must have.
1) The IOGear wireless laser mouse with germaphobe coating. I mention this because not only having a wireless mouse is a must-have, but raising the geekness level to the antibacterial state is definitely cool.
2) Show me one Geek who wouldn’t like to have another monitor. And since a primary intrinsic value of geekness is saving space, working from a laptop is very standard, thus limiting the options for endless monitor configurations. The IOGear USB VGA video card adaptor is definitely a must-have for the monitor lacking.
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Wireless technology is everywhere. Whether it’s buzz about something new or a product currently available, I cannot go through a day without reading or bumping into something related to wireless technology.There are seven built in wireless technologies that make the world go round. When I say “built in” I’m talking about products which have wireless technology inside the device. Most familiar to most people are Wireless USB, Bluetooth and RFID. However, there are four more technologies you should at least know about. So here are all seven technologies: WUSB, Bluetooth, RFID, WiMedia, UWB, NFC and ZigBee.
WiMedia – WiMedia refers to the Ultra Wide Band radio platform which enables high data transfer rates. The goal of WiMedia is to standardize the protocols or code used in wireless devices. For example, WiMedia standards are used in Ultra Wide Band (UWB), Bluetooth and WUSB technology products. The end result for a consumer is that WiMedia guarantees
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GetUSB.info has reported on several off-the-shelf USB extenders, but they are high priced, at least for the home user. If you have low signal strength and on a tight budget, here is a tutorial on making your own beefed up WiFi USB extender.
Using this home-brew WiFi extender will help pick up dozens more hot-spots in your area; don’t believe it – we’ll you’ll just have to try it – this really works. The premise of this solution is taking a parabolic dish and bouncing all possible waves into the focal point of the “dish” or in this case, the WiFi USB stick.
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Researcher BDA China Ltd. estimates there are now over 220 million internet users in China, compared with 217.1 million in the U.S. Online ad revenue continues to lag in China, however, totaling $1.3 billion in 2007 compared to e-Marketer estimates of $21.4 billion in America.
Maybe it’s time for me to start promoting 
