Filed under: Portable Audio, Wireless

For the XM Radio subscribers who haven’t patiently waited to hastily cancel your subscription just yet, we’re sure you’re well aware that the outages from yesterday are still lingering on. Reportedly, “software problems resulted in the loss of one of the network’s four satellite signals,” and while it expected to have everything back to normal by last night, sometime today is looking more likely. The company stated that “the problem occurred during the loading of software to a critical component of the satellite broadcast system,” and while XM has urged listeners to tune in online if possible, we all know this doesn’t solve much. Notably, analysts are already pondering just how much loyalty (and cashflow) XM will lose from such an outage, and while we won’t bother to guess, each passing minute of dead air won’t do the customer satisfaction surveys any favors.

Filed under: Wireless, Networking

The hits just keep coming out of Popular Science’s Invention Awards — we already checked out the ring mouse and “slidingly engaging fastener,” but Paul Gierow’s GATR-com (which stands for “ground antenna transmit and receive) inflatable satellite ball has got to be the most sci-fi invention of the bunch. Designed to provide communications in otherwise inhospitable environments, the six or eight-foot sphere contains a plastic satellite dish that unfolds when the ball is inflated and can be targeted to within one-tenth of a degree. When collapsed, the GATR-com weighs just 70 pounds and fits into two backpacks. The $50,000 ball has already been tested in disaster areas, helping a Red Cross station secure medicine during Hurricane Katrina, and Gierow says he’s been inundated with potential clients. We can see why — not only does this thing dial up a T1 speed connection, it’s perfect for exercising your Wookiees. Peep a vid of the ball setting up after the jump.

Continue reading GATR-com inflatable satellite ball goes where other satellite dishes can’t

Filed under: Wireless, Storage, Networking

Fresh off its acquisition of Infrant Technologies, Netgear is unloading a bevy of new RAID NAS products, a host of small to mid-size business networking gear, and a newfound partnership with Avaya to provide VoIP to SMB customers. On the storage front, the four-bay ReadyNAS NV+ (desktop) and ReadyNAS 1100 (rackmount) devices support RAID 0/1/5 and X-RAID, automated backups and alerting, gigabit Ethernet, UPnP AV multimedia access, a number of USB ports, and room for up to four SATA drives. As for networking gear, the company is busting out its new WFS709TP ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch, WGL102 ProSafe 802.11g Light WAP, WAGL102 ProSafe Dual Band Light WAP, eight-port GS108T Gigabit Ethernet Smart Switch, 24-port GS724TP Smart PoE Switch, and a monstrous 48-port GS748TP Smart PoE Switch to finish things off. As if that wasn’t enough to digest, Netgear is also partnering up with Avaya to provide “an IP telephony solution for small businesses with 20 users or less.” The newfangled lineups will be available at varying times and prices, so be sure to visit the read link for specifics on each individual model.

Filed under: Transportation, Wireless

Avis announced today that it’s begun the roll-out of its Autonet Mobile-based in-car WiFi service, now officially dubbed Avis Connect, with those paying a visit to the San Francisco International Airport able to drive off the lot with the added distraction starting today. They’ll have to pay a somewhat hefty $10.95 a day (for unlimited usage) on top of the normal rental fee for the service, however, which makes use of either an EV-DO or HSDPA network (Avis isn’t specifying exactly which carrier its using). San Jose, Los Angeles, and Newark, N.J. are apparently next in line, set to get the service in the coming weeks, with Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York, San Diego and Seattle on tap for the third quarter of this year. No word if you’ll get a discount if you opt for both the in-car WiFi and the built-in DirecTV.

[Via Physorg/AP]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Wireless

We’re sure this has precisely nothing to do with the Opie and Anthony situation, but we’re hearing that XM has temporarily stopped broadcasting — Orbitcast claims they haven’t had a signal since noon EST, with reports to them and us about service outages nationwide. Anyone else having problems with their XM feed? Sound off in comments!

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Wireless

The UK has been a hotbed of discussion in the WiFi is dangerous / not dangerous debate as of late, and it doesn’t look like that’s about to change anytime soon, with the BBC now getting into the act with an investigation that aims to get to the bottom of the problem/non-problem. To that end, the BBC’s Panorama program recently paid a visit to a school in order to compare the levels of radiation from the WiFi signals in the classroom to that from a typical cellphone mast. According to the BBC, the radiation from the school’s WiFi proved to be three times higher than that from the cellphone mast, although that was still 600 times below the government’s safety limits. Bringing a bit of common sense to the program, Medical physics expert Professor Malcolm Sperrin advised against tossing WiFi altogether, saying that “it’s impossible to prove that something has no effect.” He also added that he’s “more concerned about the heat laptops generate and the impact that could on sensitive parts of the body.” Words to the wise, to be sure.