Stories about: Data Connection

One thing you can depend on these days is that the claims made for wireless routers, like 300Mbit/sec. throughput and 1,000-foot range, are nothing more than digital pipe dreams. The plain and simple truth is that these speeds and distances just aren't going to happen in your home, office or any place on this planet.

Apple yanked an application Thursday from its online App Store that would have let iPhone owners share its cellular data connection with a notebook.

Nearly overlooked in the hoopla over its new 3G smart phone this week has been Apple's creation of an iPhone development platform, analysts said Thursday.

The new Office servers I've discussed in recent weeks are diverse, opening up a wealth of opportunities: online forms, anywhere/anytime collaboration, advanced presence detection and VoIP technology, project management solutions, business intelligence with digital dashboards, and high-caliber search abilities. Microsoft has certainly granted users several computing capabilities through the Office suite.

Free. It's the magic word for an ever-expanding wealth of downloadable software and online services. Free doesn't necessarily mean good, however, and hunting for freebies can mean sifting through a lot of junk.

A company called Dashwire this week unveiled free new software that essentially mirrors your mobile phone on the Web, backing up all your data -- contacts, text messages, calls, photos, videos and phone settings -- and letting you access everything online. It does this not when you connect to your PC, but constantly over your phone's data connection.

Users of Google Calendar can now access their schedules from their mobile phones.

If you're wondering what fourth-generation wireless deployments and services mean to you, you're not alone.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has approved Apple's iPhone, clearing the way for the combined phone and music player to hit the shelves.

My heart sank when I first saw Al Gore pull out his BlackBerry. It was in the waning weeks of the 2000 US presidential campaign, and there he was on the TV, tapping away on his then-novel converged device. Though I had no evidence, I was positive that whatever he was reading had already been perused by some conservative skunk works, with his responses scrutinized not long after. Given recent revelations about the opposition's ethics and panting obsession with domestic spying, I still suspect that any eavesdropping technically possible at the time was probably being done.

No matter who you are, you can embrace the new Bedouinism. You don't have to live in the Bay Area or the desert or work for a start-up. You don't even need access to a coffeehouse. It's easy, and I'll tell you how. But first, let me tell you why becoming a Bedouin can improve your life.