Hasta La Gadget!

It has seemed like Google was close to putting its Street View snooping controversy behind it a few times now, but one thing or another keeps bringing it back to the forefront. Today, it’s an admission from Google that it hasn’t deleted all of the so-called payload data in question after all. That revelation comes in a letter from Google Global Privacy Counsel Peter Fleisher to Steve Eckersley, head of enforcement at the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (or ICO), in which Fleisher says that Google is still in possession of a “small portion of payload data collected by our Street View vehicles in the UK.” Fleisher adds that Google “apologizes for this error,” and says that the data was discovered after an extensive review of its Street View data that it has been conducting in recent months. For its part, the ICO has acknowledged that it received the letter, and notes that the data was supposed to have been deleted in December of 2010, adding that “the fact that some of this information still exists appears to breach the undertaking to the ICO signed by Google in November 2010.” You can find both statements in full at the ICO link below.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Internet

Google confirms it still has a ‘small portion’ of Street View WiFi data, apologizes originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jul 2012 13:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Telegraph  |  ICO  | Email this | Comments

Well, we did talk about Wi-Fi hotspots being banned from the London 2012 Olympics just a few days ago, but here we are with news that the O2 will be offering up free Wi-Fi to the city of London, just in time for the Olympics. With London expecting a huge number of tourists to the city, it is good news that the West End area, including Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus, will feature free Wi-Fi connectivity before July ends. This particular deal will be between O2, Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The good news is this, you will not need to be a subscriber of O2 in order to take advantage of the free Wi-Fi connection.

You can start surfing for free wherever you are – all you need to do is simply register yourself, where you can then hook up automatically each time you are in range of a Wi-Fi hotspot. Tourists will find this free Wi-Fi connection to be especially useful, as it will definitely help one avoid some rather heavy hitting roaming charges.

The locations that will feature free Wi-Fi connection include Exhibition Road, High Street Kensington, Parliament Square, Trafalgar Square, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Tweet sends Greek Olympian home, Samsung Galaxy S3 Premium Edition Accessories Pack launches in Taiwan,

Getting online during the Olympics in London will probably be a chore thanks to the jammed mobile networks, but companies are doing their best to roll out free WiFi across the city. Recently, Virgin equipped multiple Tube stations with free WiFi access on platforms, and now O2 has announced that it will be rolling out free WiFi access outdoors in certain parts of the city.

Typically O2 offers WiFi access to those that subscribe to its service plans, but this latest WiFi scheme is open to anyone. Users simply need only sign up with an email address to receive free access that will be available in multiple parts of the city, including Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Regent Street, Exhibition Road, and High Street Kensington. There’s no word on if the company plans to do the same closer to the Olympic Stadium.

The service may be free for now, but O2 hasn’t indicated what will happen to the hotspots in the future. The company could pull them altogether, or begin charging for access, but we’d hope they remain active for the foreseeable future. Virgin, meanwhile, is currently offering free access on the Tube, but has dropped hints that users will be charged for access sometime later this year. Still, it’s faster than most people’s home broadband, so maybe it really is worth the price of admission.

[via Pocket-Lint]

O2 rolling out free WiFi across London is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you thought the list of banned items at the Olympic Games couldn’t get any longer, now the IOC is gunning for that mobile hotspot in your pocket. The prohibited list includes all of the things you’d expect (weapons, alcohol, toxic materials) but also this:

“Personal / private wireless access points and 3G hubs (smart devices such as Android phones, iPhone and tablets are permitted inside venues, but must not be used as wireless points to connect multiple devices)”

Probably best to leave that router at home and make sure you only activate your smartphone’s hotspot when you’re hidden in a crowd, folks.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Wireless

London bans wireless access points, joy, kittens from the Olympics originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jul 2012 03:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PC World, Giga OM  |  London 2012  | Email this | Comments

A new innovation in WiFi is going to be ushered into the world of consumer electronics early next year. That’s because of a new combo chip invented by Broadcom that promises to deliver the fifth generation of broadband wireless connectivity. The chip, known as the BCM4335, claims to offer “dramatic speed, range and power efficiency.”

The BCM4335 chip is a complete WiFi system, with Bluetooth 4.0, FM radio, and software on a single chip. This includes the MAC, PHY, and RF. Broadcom claims it is the only chip to address “unique interference challenges in systems with both 4G LTE cellular radios and wireless connectivity.” Also, it is platform agnostic so it can be added to any smartphone or tablet.

Additional features of the new chip include: the most advanced idle power consumption performance to improve battery life, 10% faster throughputs than 802.11n speeds when communication with other 5G devices, built-in media processing to off-load host processor, PHY rates of 433 Mb/s, and integrated support for Wi-Fi Driect, WiFi Certified Miracast, and WiFi Certified Passpoint technologies. It will be available in devices in early 2013.

[via Broadcom]

Broadcom 5G WiFi chip introduced is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.