network

Review: Schemes - Scheduled Networking schedules texts, tweets, and updates

Schemes - Scheduled Networking can help you schedule text messages, Facebook updates, tweets, and much more. If it gave notifications when it sent a text, it would be the perfect solution to scheduling messages. As it is now, it's still an awesome, stylish way to do it.

The app's gorgeous interface fits right in with Android's style. It almost looks like it was designed by Google, itself. In order to gain access to your Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ account, you have to actually log in, not just approve the app. Once you've done that, you can … Read more

Mobile carriers snap back at European roaming reform

A consortium representing mobile network operators didn't like what it heard last week when a top European Commission official called for an end to the roaming fees consumers must pay to use their mobile phones outside their home countries.

Neelie Kroes, the vice president of the EC leading the digital agenda, said she wanted an end to roaming fees by Easter 2014. "I want you to be able to go back to your constituents and say that you were able to end mobile roaming costs," Kroes told members of a European Parliament committee in a speech on … Read more

Broadcom brings Gigabit and Wi-Fi to power line networking

Power line networking -- the technology that enables electrical wiring to transfer data -- is about to get a lot faster.

Broadcom announced on Monday what it claims to be the industry's first HomePlug AV2 power line system-on-a-chips (SoCs) that deliver up to 1.5Gbps data speed. That's about three times the speed of the top existing power line devices.

HomePlug AV2 is the next-generation power line standard that uses an extended frequency band of up to 86MHz, while HomePlug AV was limited to 30MHz. In addition, HomePlug AV2 supports Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) -- a technology … Read more

Top proxy firm ISS likes SoftBank's offer for Sprint

A top adviser to mutual funds and other large investors says Sprint shareholders should give the thumbs-up to SoftBank's offer to buy the company, but it doesn't address a rival, preliminary -- and higher -- offer from Dish Network.

In a report, proxy firm Institutional Shareholder Services said, according to The Wall Street Journal, that SoftBank's $20.1 billion offer "addresses Sprint's most compelling need: capital to acquire additional spectrum and complete the transformation of its network, enabling it to fully compete in the U.S. market."

The compelling need for capital aside, ISS … Read more

Twitter amps up lists feature, lets users create 1,000 lists

Update to Twitter lists: You can now make up to 1,000 lists (up from 20), and each list can include up to 5,000 accounts (up from 500).

— Twitter for News (@TwitterForNews) May 30, 2013

Aiming to please those power tweeters, Twitter announced Thursday that it's expanding its list feature. Now users can make up to 1,000 lists that can each include 5,000 accounts.

This is a significant increase. Before today people could only have 20 lists, each with up to 500 accounts.

Twitter launched its lists feature in 2009 amid much fanfare. The long-awaited feature … Read more

EC leader calls for unified European mobile networks

International barriers in the telecommunications industry such as roaming fees are hurting consumers and should be eliminated within a year, a top European Commission official said today.

"I want you to be able to go back to your constituents and say that you were able to end mobile roaming costs," said Neelie Kroes, the EC vice president in charge of its digital agenda, in a speech to members of a European Parliament committee on Thursday. "Whether they need it for travel, for trade, or for transactions -- our people need this reform."

With roaming fees, the … Read more

Dish Network dishes out social app for its subscribers

Dish subscribers can now combine a bit of social networking with their TV viewing.

Available starting Wednesday, Social is the name of a new app for Dish's Hopper Whole-Home DVR that lets people watch a show and follow relevant posts or comment about it at the same time.

The app taps into both Twitter and Facebook.

Dish subscribers can follow a Twitter feed related to the show or channel currently being watched. They can access their own Twitter feed to tweet, reply to a tweet, favorite a tweet, or retweet someone else's post. They can also log into … Read more

Meeker: We'll share 1B photos a day by 2014

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. -- In 1993, on the Internet nobody would know you were a dog. In 2013, everybody knows that you are a dog. That's how Mary Meeker, a general partner with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, described changes over the last two decades in her Internet Trends 2013 presentation at the All Things D conference.

Data is exploding. About 500 million photos are uploaded and shared on the Internet each day, and that number is expected double year on year. "It looks like we are going to double in 2013. The major driver of that … Read more

Google may build wireless networks in emerging markets, WSJ says

Google's bid to connect everyone to the Internet may have it entering the wireless service business.

The company is looking at building cellular networks and offering service to emerging markets such as sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, according to The Wall Street Journal. Citing anonymous sources, WSJ reported that the networks would be available outside of big cities, where service is spotty or not available. Google is reportedly working with local companies on a possible deployment and thinking up business models to support the networks.

Google is also looking at building low-cost phones using its Android operating system, considering … Read more