wireless

It's been so long we almost forgot about it, but Verizon Wireless finally delivered on its year-old promise to bring TiVo services to cell phones. As a refresher, TiVo Mobile will allow Verizon customers to schedule recordings on their Series2 and Series3 DVRs from their phones. That's pretty neat by itself but Verizon also is pushing a selection of "premium content" that will come with a TiVo Mobile subscription. Included will be a customizable channel lineup, the most popular and most recorded shows, and a current list of TiVo recommendations. The service is available for a … Read more

After weeks of rumors of a new Samsung phone for Verizon Wireless, the Samsung SCH-U540 is now officially on deck. According to Verizon's Testman Web site, long a reliable source of what's coming soon for the carrier, the SCH-U540 should land in stores very soon. The design is far from exciting--basically your dull silver flip phone--but the inside promises more offerings than we thought originally. Its features should include a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, a speakerphone, a microSD card slot, EV-DO support, V Cast and V Cast Music compatibility, voice commands, and support for Verizon's VZ Navigator … Read more

Just last week, Crave was in a bit of fix over the launch of V Cast TV from Verizon Wireless. Though we were excited to see the service take off, we couldn't help but bemoan the fact that only the Samsung SCH-U620 was supported at launch. It's not that the SCH-U20 was particularly bad, but rather that the other V Cast TV phone, the LG VX9400, was especially good. Not only did the quality look better on the VX9400, but we also loved the nifty swivel design of the ample display. Now, thanks to an anonymous tipster, Engadget Mobile … Read more

Our somewhat unhealthy obsession over wireless speakers notwithstanding, we now see that we totally overlooked a related technology in the workplace: the wireless speakerphone.

Even the best speakerphones seem to require people leaning over with their noses in the microphone to ensure that they're heard. (It can be quite undignified.) And when the boss speaks, a gaggle of minions invariably rush to place it in front of him--often dragging cords and knocking over cell phones and coffee mugs in the process.

That can all be a thing of the past with a new wireless speakerphone from Panasonic and Willcom, … Read more

If the iPhone ushers the phone industry into a new generation of touch-sensitive buttons, keyboards might be the next to follow the trend. A company called AMEW Digital (we've never heard of it either) is trying to get out in front of that curve with its TSK-VX7 wireless keyboard, which features a full set of touch keys in a compact frame. It's still too big to fit into your pocket at 11 inches by 4.3 inches and about half an inch thick, though it's certainly smaller than any standard keyboard. If you're really looking for … Read more

How quickly things change. Barely a couple of months ago we were whining about the dearth of wireless audio systems on the market; now it seems as if our cup runneth over.

The latest to join the fray is a new home theater system from Acoustic Research, a subset of Audiovox, which promises "CD performance" in its sound. The wireless setup includes five "voice-matched" satellite speakers that the company says uses a special channel so it won't conflict with the frequencies of phones, computers, microwaves and other household devices, according to Electronic House.

All this … Read more

Sure, everyone knew this was coming but Verizon Wireless formally switched on its new V Cast TV network today in 20 markets. As we told you earlier this week, the lucky locales for the Media Flo-powered service are concentrated mostly in the Midwest and West with Jacksonville, Fla., and Norfolk/Richmond, Va., being the sole outposts on the East Coast. The full list includes Tucson, Ariz.; Palm Springs, Calif.; Denver/Boulder and Colorado Springs, Colo.; Chicago, Ill.; Wichita, Kan.; New Orleans, La.; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.; St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo.; Omaha/Lincoln Neb.; Albuquerque/Santa Fe, N.M.; … Read more

Here at Crave, we've been patiently awaiting the launch of Verizon's Wireless V Cast Mobile TV. And after we reported last week that all signs were pointing to a March 1 launch, we now have official (in a roundabout sort of way) confirmation that the game is on for Thursday. A sharp-eyed Crave reader pointed us to the coverage map section of the Verizon Testman Web site where V Cast Mobile TV is noted as launching on March 1. (To see the map, pick your city and then click the "V Cast TV" box on the … Read more

I discovered Hotspotr at SF Beta this past week. It's a neat little service that mashes up Google maps with a local Wi-Fi hotspot finder. The real pull of the service is you can rate and comment on hotspots as you would with restaurant reviews on a review site like Yelp. It's the perfect service for the casual Wi-Fi traveler to benefit from road warriors who are willing to take the time to review a wireless access point.

The ratings aren't just things such as the overall quality of the wireless signal either; you also can rate … Read more