Carmen Nobel

Having dealt the Palm operating system a damaging blow, Microsoft Corp. is turning its attention toward Research In Motion Ltd.s BlackBerry platform with the hope of rendering mobile middleware obsolete. Last week, Microsoft, Palm Inc. and Verizon Wireless Inc. announced Treo for Windows, Palms first device to run anything other than Palm OS. Verizon Wireless […]

SAN FRANCISCO—While Nokia and Microsoft intend to compete against BlackBerry maker Research in Motion head-on, Intel and RIM have a new partnership. These were among the main messages of the first-day keynotes at the CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment show here on Tuesday. Suzan DelBene, Microsoft Corp.s vice president of marketing for mobile and embedded […]

Under a new rule designed to increase the capabilities of wireless hardware, the Federal Communications Commission has begun certifying the use of software-defined radios for Wi-Fi access points. Cisco Systems Inc. last week announced that the FCC has approved its 802.11a radios as SDRs. With an SDR, “you can completely change the nature of the […]

Several mobile e-mail access companies this week will announce products and services designed to compete with Research In Motion Ltd.s BlackBerry platform, but RIM continues to hold its own, with new carriers and device partnerships due by years end. At the CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment show in San Francisco, Intellisync Corp. will introduce Intellisync […]

Google last week confirmed it is conducting beta trials of a free Wi-Fi service in a few San Francisco locations but declined to say whether the service will be deployed elsewhere. A Google search of “Google WiFi” yields about 10.7 million hits, and there are several references to a Google Wi-Fi service on Googles own […]

Peer-to-peer VOIP player Skype is aiming to become “an ecosystem where people around the world can be connected for free,” CEO Niklas Zennström said in a keynote speech at the Fall VON show in Boston last week. At least thats what it sounded like. Zennström, founder of the worlds most popular P2P voice-over-IP software company, […]

For Walter Overby, hurricanes and other severe-weather events are a part of daily life on the Gulf Coast. Having endured Hurricane Ivan last year, Overby, vice president of systems delivery services for Alfa Insurance, in Montgomery, Ala., knew what kind of misery and devastation such storms could bring, and he had no intention of being […]

BOSTON—Peer-to-peer VOIP player Skype is aiming to become “an ecosystem where people around the world can be connected for free,” CEO Niklas Zennstrom said Tuesday. Furthermore, the company wants to use its technology to connect users with services. For example, a German businessman and a Japanese businessman might be in need of a translator who […]

As the American public responded to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina with unprecedented generosity, the donations not only overwhelmed survivors and aid workers but also nearly overwhelmed the IT infrastructure of the American Red Cross. Upgrading online donation capacity in the wake of a disaster is par for the course at the Washington-based charity and […]

A Silicon Valley networking company this week will relaunch itself with a new name and mission—to help carriers offer wireless multimedia services throughout homes and small offices. Ruckus Wireless Inc., formerly Video54 Technologies Inc., is focused on managing voice, data and video traffic with a series of routers and adapters that employ 802.11g Wi-Fi and […]