News

• Tourism Northern Territory rolls out free Wi-Fi service in Alice Springs

  Alice Springs visitors and locals will be able to access three hours of free Wi-Fi every day following the rollout of a service by Tourism Northern Territory (NT) in the city’s Todd Mall.

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  Faster Wi-Fi network on the way for UNSW students

  An upgrade of the University of New South Wales’ Wi-Fi network is underway which could offer students speeds of up to 1.3 Gigabits per second.

• Smaller cell systems needed for power hungry 4G networks: CEET

  4G long term evolution (LTE) networks could consume up to 59.3 per cent of wireless cloud energy by 2015, according to research by the Centre for Energy Efficient Telecommunications (CEET).

• Hotspot 2.0 will enable enterprises to wholesale Wi-Fi access

  The most widely anticipated but least understood "next big thing" in the networked world is Hotspot 2.0 (HS 2.0).

• Apple leverages Wi-Fi location with latest acquisition

  Apple has bought a small software startup that lets smartphones and tablets pinpoint their location indoors using nearby Wi-Fi signals.

• Hotspot 2.0 will power the mobile Internet

  With an estimated 800 million new Wi-Fi-enabled devices entering the mobile market each year, new Wi-Fi networks are emerging to connect businesses and users inside public venues ranging from malls and airports to hotels, schools and universities.

• FCC approves Google project that will identify unused wireless spectrum

  A Google project designed to collect information on available wireless spectrum into a central database has been given an FCC go-ahead to begin a public trial, the company announced today.

• MWC: Carrier Wi-Fi playing more prominent role

  Underneath the mobile technology buzz at Mobile World Congress 2013 about expanding LTE deployments, and phasing in even faster LTE-Advanced networks later this year, is the strengthening market in operator-based Wi-Fi services.

• NT expands free Wi-Fi rollout on public bus service

  The Northern Territory government will provide free Wi-Fi services on public buses in Darwin and Alice Springs by following the successful introduction of the program earlier this month.

• A giant radio telescope, a small school and a Wi-Fi problem

  Students at a tiny Appalachian public school can't use Wi-Fi because any such network can throw the radio equivalent of a monkey wrench into a gigantic super-sensitive radio telescope just up the road.

• What IT needs to know about near-field communications

  The rise of near-field communications (NFC) has been part of the discussion in the mobile industry for years. Unfortunately, the technology hasn't generated much more than discussion to this point.

• How wireless charging can drive near-field communications growth

  At CES 2013, the Wireless Power Consortium displayed dozens of devices that were designed to the Qi wireless charging standard, suggesting that 2013 may be the year wireless charging becomes a feature consumers expect to come standard in new smartphones.

• Air Force software turns warplanes into wireless routers in the sky

  A software upgrade called Net-T effectively turns U.S. military aircraft into giant airborne wireless routers, allowing ground forces to share information with each other and with their allies overhead.

• Q&A: What the FCC's Wi-Fi expansion means for you

  Mobile devices like the iPhone 5 are embracing the 5 GHz band, and that trend will expand as 802.11ac radios become prevalent even on smartphones starting in 2013.

• NT bus interchanges get free Wi-Fi

  Free Wi-Fi access points will be available for commuters at bus interchanges in Darwin and the suburbs of Palmerston and Casuarina in the Northern Territory under a program to begin in mid-February.