Hasta La Gadget!

Browsing your email or chatting on the phone will soon be possible at more subway stations in New York City, with the MTA announcing today that the city will be expanding cell phone and WiFi service to 36 new locations. Such a change will affect the more than 8.5 million commuters who use the subways daily, and will make longer commutes a little more bearable.

The information comes from CBS, which says the MTA tested WiFi support in 7 different subway stations late last year, and having experienced positive results will begin rolling out the project on a larger scale. By the end of 2016, it is expected that almost all of New York City’s 277 subway stations will have wireless Internet and cell phone coverage.

The wireless service will be provided via several carriers, including Boingo, Transit Wireless, and all four big wireless carriers, with reports that more will be added. While the project is ambitious, it is also slow going, with technical difficulties being presented. The subway system was constructed over 100 years ago, and certainly wasn’t made with eventual wireless service in mind.

Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, among other carriers, have all joined the project to offer cell phone coverage in the 36 planned subways. As might be expected, some concerns about terrorism and the expanded wireless abilities facilitating it have been posed, but word has it the MTA is working alongside New York City’s counter-terrorism task force with the project. Beyond that it is being tight-lipped, and has nothing else to say.

[via Android Community]

New York City to equip 36 more subways with WiFi and cell service is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Wireless access in New York City’s subway system has so far been limited, at best: two GSM carriers, one WiFi provider and six stations does not a full network make. Coverage is getting much wider, however, as Transit Wireless just flicked on access in 30 extra stations. While cellular service with this batch is still limited to AT&T and T-Mobile for now, it reaches a much wider swath of Manhattan that includes Times Square, Rockefeller Center and the Museum of Natural History. Those on CDMA carriers also won’t be left hanging for long — both Sprint and Verizon have nearly finished making deals to join the project, with Sprint aiming for service later this year. Although the deployment still leaves big holes in carrier support and geographic reach, it’s a big leap for travelers with an urge to stay online while underground.

[Image credit: Retromoderns, Flickr]

Update: Verizon now tells us that it’s also aiming for service by the end of the year.

Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation, Wireless, Networking, Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile

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Via: The Verge

Source: Governor Cuomo

Panasonic has just announced a new mid-range Micro Four Thirds camera, the Lumix G6, that brings a solid list of specs for a mid-range camera. The 16-megapixel shooter can fire at a respectable 7fps in burst mode, has a top sensitivity of ISO 25,600 and like the recently launched Lumix GF6, has WiFi and NFC for device syncing. It also sports a 1,440K-dot OLED LVF, 0.5 second startup time, 3-inch, 1,036K-dot touchscreen with a 180 degree swivel and 270 degrees of tilt, new Venus image engine and full-area touch AF. It’ll likely cheer hard-core video fans as well since it packs a similar sensor to the popular GH2 / GH3 models, along with 1080/60p video, AVCHD or MP4 recording, stereo audio, live autofocus and Touch AF that allows “professional-like rack focusing.” There’s no pricing or availability yet, but expect it to cost considerably less than the flagship Lumix GH-3‘s $1,500 sticker — which may pose a quandary for shoppers on the fence about that model.

Filed under: Cameras

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Although Netgear was one of the quickest out of the gates with 802.11ac WiFi hardware, that doesn’t mean its hardware is the quickest today: without beamforming to optimize the signal, it risks trailing behind newcomers who’ve had more time to prepare. Starting with the R6300 router and A6200 USB adapter, the company will soon catch up through a firmware update that rolls in support for the beamforming standard. The upgrade targets wireless signals at devices’ specific locations, offering a big speed boost at shorter distances — Netgear estimates up to a 60 percent improvement at a 50-foot range. R6300 and A6200 owners can swing past the source links today for their tune-up, while those using Netgear’s other 802.11ac devices should expect brisker speeds around the early summer.

Filed under: Peripherals, Networking

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Source: Netgear (1), (2), (3)

Intel, the world’s largest computer processor maker, does not only come up with the brains of the majority of notebooks and desktops in the world, they have also branched off to different parts of the silicone universe. After all, it is never wise to place all of one’s eggs in a single basket, which was why some years back, Intel did venture into the Centrino range of wireless adapters, where along the way, these have ended up as one of the most highly used wireless adapters by OEM’s in the notebook world. Integrated Wi-Fi capability in a notebook is a given these days, but it seems that lately, many Intel Centrino 6230/6235 users have experience performance issues – no idea on whether the fault lies with the driver or hardware.

It seems that the most common symptom is this – when you first use the notebook, it will be able to hook up to whatever wireless network you have assigned the notebook to without any issues, although problems of disconnection will crop up approximately an hour after use. When you try to reconnect, chances are it will show that the network no longer exists, and one of the main recourse would be the switch the Wi-Fi off and then on again, although this is not a permanent fix as it might run into similar troubles again. Hopefully a permanent solution can be released in due time.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Cooler Master Unveils Quickfire Stealth Mechanical Keyboard, Chrome Makes Itself More Useful At The Office,