Hasta La Gadget!

The headset news just keeps on rolling. Joining Sony, Bose, and Sennheiser, Logitech has announced the Wireless Headset H760 for VoIP calls.

Just because it’s designed for VoIP doesn’t mean it’s limited in use. You can also use the headset to listen to music or watch movies on the computer. While the headset probably isn’t ideal for  serious gaming, the casual gamer can use it for Facebook games or other Flash games online.

The wireless H760 has a built-in equalizer for optimizing sound for voice, music and movies. Step away confidently from the computer without losing the call, as long as you don’t go further than 40 feet.

Logitech claims the battery life is up to 6 hours, and it will take 2.5 hours or less to charge via USB.

The behind-the-ear headset has an adjustable headband and has a flexible microphone boom that can be moved out of the way when you are not on the phone. When it is moved out of the way, the noise-cancelling microphone automatically mutes itself. The sculpted, pivoting ear pads also makes it comfortable to wear..

The Logitech H760 is available for pre-order at $99.99.

Oftentimes in this business, loyal customers simply get left in the dust when the latest and greatest hits the scene. Not so with Pogoplug, which just busted out an impossible-to-resist new offer concerning an impossible-to-resist new device. The simply titled Pogoplug Wireless Adapter is a USB dongle that plays nice with 802.11b/g/n networks, and for all intents and purposes, finally lets you place your Pogoplug somewhere other than next door to your router. Just plug this guy in, and your Pogoplug is instantly WiFi-enabled. The device is available for pre-order now at $29 (ships in “3 to 4 weeks”), but in a glaring act of awesomeness, the company’s handing ’em out for free to existing Pogoplug owners. Details of the offer are parked in the source link, and if you’re looking to buy in for the first time, the Pogoplug unit itself has been reduced $30 to just $99. Try beating that with a stick… we dare you.

Pogoplug Wireless Adapter enables cord-free access, comes free to existing owners originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Network neutrality is the battle to keep companies from filtering your access to whatever you want on those great, united internets. But, as we explored in depth last week, Google and Verizon think they should only have to play nice when it comes to wired broadband — that wireless should be exempt from neutrality-related FCC regulation. The FCC wasn’t too pleased with that sentiment, but we found someone who is: AT&T VP Joan Marsh, who posted a lengthy statement entitled: “Wireless is Different.” In it she continues the theme of explaining how meeting demand on a wireless network is much more difficult than on wired, even going so far as to place some of the blame on local communities:

We are constantly striving to increase the efficiency of our spectrum resources, but the amount of available spectrum in any given market is finite. And while we regularly split cell sectors and add additional cell towers, there are very real limits placed on cell site construction by zoning and local approval boards.

This is surely a real problem, but what we haven’t heard yet is just how letting companies like Verizon and AT&T create premium tiers for wireless content will do anything other than allow them to make more money while still complaining about the same ‘ol problems.

Meanwhile, a company that has virtually no skin in the wireless game, Time Warner Cable, isn’t so keen on this stance regarding traditional, wired broadband. CEO Glenn Britt says his company would never throttle content in a way that would violate net neutrality, but still doesn’t want more rules put in place that would prevent them from doing so. Funny how everyone likes net neutrality until it threatens to cramp their style, isn’t it?

AT&T likes Google & Verizon’s wired-only net neutrality stance, Time Warner Cable doesn’t originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Aug 2010 08:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink ars technica  |  AT&T Public Policy Blog, Wall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

If you’re looking for a stylish but feature-rich keyboard and mouse combo for home or the office that won’t look out of place in either,  the newly announced Logitech Wireless Combo MK520 may be for you. The MK520 is the latest in Logitech’s line of wireless keyboard and mouse combo packages, and features a full-sized media keyboard and number pad with the new low-profile, quiet keys that Logitech has been introducing on all of its keyboard models.

The included laser-mouse is dual-handed, and while it doesn’t include Logitech’s new Darkfield technology that allows you to track on mirrored surfaces and glass, it does track on just about any other surface. The MK520 also comes with Logitech’s Unifying Receiver, the 2.4GHz wireless receiver small enough to fit and stay in a USB port even if you have to move your computer. The Wireless Combo MK520 is scheduled for release later this month and will retail for $59.99 US.

Back in October of last year, Google and Verizon came together in order to provide an intense amount of corporate support for the FCC’s then-fledgling net neutrality push. Today, said push has turned into quite the monster, with a recent court ruling asserting that the FCC doesn’t actually have the authority to impose net neutrality. Since then, a cadre of telecommunications firms have banded together in one form or another to attempt a compromise (and slyly get what each of them really want), and today the Big G and Big Red have taken the stage together in order to publicize a well-thought out policy proposal for “an open internet.” Both firms seem to agree that web users “should choose what content, applications, or devices they use,” and they both want “enforceable prohibition against discriminatory practices” — and yeah, that definitely includes prioritization and blocking of internet traffic, including paid prioritization. In an odd twist, what seems to be happening here is that both Google and Verizon are actually in favor of more government oversight on the internet, but they want that oversight to be beneficial to consumers. In other words, more regulations from the feds to enforce fewer regulations imposed on you from your ISP. Get all that?

Where things really get interesting is when they touch on the wireless angle; essentially, they’re admitting that the very proposals they are putting forth for wireline shouldn’t apply to wireless just yet (aside from the whole “transparency” thing). It seems that the prevailing logic is that there’s simply not enough spectrum for this idyllic “play fair” scenario to truly work, so fewer restrictions would be necessary for the wireless internet space to blossom as the wireless side already has. Moreover, we get the impression that these guys feel the wireless space as a whole is simply too competitive right now to withstand any red tape.

The proposal also mentions that, if passed into law, the FCC would have the ability to fine “bad actors” (read: misbehaving ISPs) up to $2 million for breaking any of these “open internet” stipulations, and naturally, both outfits are highly in favor of the National Broadband Plan taking hold, moving forward and getting broadband to places that are currently using a strange mixture of used canisters and rope to check their inbox.

Google and Verizon publish joint policy proposal for ‘an open internet’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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