wi-fi

Intel's president and chief executive officer Paul Otellini sees cell phones, consumer electronics and emerging markets as the next big engines of growth for Intel.

Speaking at a conference in New York City Thursday, he told financial analysts that he sees three $10 billion chunks of business that Intel could address in the next several years.

The first major opportunity will come from a proliferation of Internet-enabled consumer electronic devices. By 2011, the entire consumer electronics market will be worth $60 billion, he said. Otellini believes that about $10 billion of that market will require technology to connect those … Read more

Chip start-up Eye-Fi believes it's easier to put Wi-Fi into memory cards than into cameras.

The company has created a memory card that includes a Wi-Fi chip. When a picture is taken, the photo is automatically sent to a photo site, according to Ken Elefant, a partner at Opus Capital, which has invested in the company. (Ken told us about the product during a meeting in the middle of April. We then contacted the company, but they declined to comment.) The card fits the standard SD format because the memory chips are stacked.

One element that Eye-Fi is trying … Read more

We've all seen what happens when we give robots an inch--Terminator 2: Judgment Day--but perhaps we should consider passing laws to make robot murder, if not a crime, at least something we socially frown on. The delicate issue is put on trial in this week's Crave Podcast. If that subject doesn't slice your pie, then what about city-wide free Wi-Fi networks? Or does the iAxe 393 USB Guitar appeal to your rockstar daydreams? We review it in this episode.

Other treats include the Crave team's reaction to news that Bob Geldof plans to launch a "Dictionary Of Man" online… Read more

Chicago is shaping up to be a hotbed for new wireless services. The Chicago Tribune reported Friday that EarthLink and AT&T are duking it out for a contract to build a citywide Wi-Fi network. Meanwhile, the city is also going to be one of the first places to get Sprint Nextel's new WiMax service.

The story, which quotes executives from AT&T, EarthLink and city officials, says that Sprint's service is unlikely to compete with the planned Wi-Fi network. Wi-Fi signals travel for blocks, while WiMax signals travel for miles. WiMax also provides service when … Read more

Ever wish you didn't have to get your hands anywhere near those icky-smelling flakes of fish food? Well, here's an answer to your problem. An Egyptian professor, Mohamad Abou El-Nasr, won third prize at last week's Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose, Calif. for creating a home aquarium that allows the owner to remotely control it from anywhere in the world. With the Wi-Quarium, you can adjust the heat, water filter, and lights in the tank, as well as feed the fish on command. You can also watch them on a webcam and obtain e-mail reports of … Read more

The Wii is quickly solidifying itself as the gadget that is perpetually making us think, "Hm, I never thought of that, but it's a cool idea." First the whole Wiimote thing, then Wii Sports, then the Opera browser, then the weather and news channels...this is one gaming console that's full of nutty features and add-ons that might seem wacked out at first, but which inevitably catch on in that kitschy Nintendo way.

And Nintendo's far from finished. Rumors are flying about the latest additions to the Wii, and the video game blogs are scrambling … 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

Go ahead, take the kids to McDonald's to get their Happy Meal Robosapiens. You know you were going to have to make a trip there anyway, sooner or later. Besides, that'll give you another excuse to get a robot of your own soon--the "Spyke."

As noted when it was introduced last month, this spy bot made by France's Meccano is outfitted with a Webcam, Wi-Fi connection and Skype's latest VoIP software. And now, thanks to Uber-Review, we know its price and availability: 200 pounds in the U.K., or about $391, with an April … Read more

It's spring, and new cameras are in the air. With the PMA expo in Las Vegas early next month, companies are already announcing their newest cameras. Nikon just revealed a handful of compact shooters to use when it's finally warm enough to leave the house again.

If you were to put the Coolpix S50 and the S50c next to each other, you probably wouldn't be able to tell them apart. They look alike, they shoot alike, they have the same 7-megapixel sensors, 3x lenses with mechanical image stabilization, and 3-inch LCD screens. Despite these similarities, these two … Read more