Communication Breakdown
Communications from the world of, er, communications. And other stuff.
Monday 24 September 2007, 3:21 PM
Wi-Fi patent claims - here we go again
Australia's government-backed research body, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has, for a long long time, been battling with the major Wi-Fi vendors over patents it holds in OFDM technology.
OFDM is integral to 802.11a/g and, now 802.11n, the high-speed, high-bandwidth etc etc latest version of the Wi-Fi standard that is notoriously yet to be set in stone by the IEEE. Now it looks like that process might be held up, because CSIRO are back, and apparently refusing to promise not to sue those who use its patented technology in their products.
The Wi-Fi industry has done a sterling job of blithely ignoring CSIRO and its claims up until now, but with last year's upholding of the patents in a US federal court, perhaps the tide will turn.
Either way, the standardisation process for 802.11n could very well be delayed. Again. Stay tuned - the IEEE will have a statement about this mess later this week...
(Credit to the Reg for picking up on the internal IEEE memo about this)
OFDM is integral to 802.11a/g and, now 802.11n, the high-speed, high-bandwidth etc etc latest version of the Wi-Fi standard that is notoriously yet to be set in stone by the IEEE. Now it looks like that process might be held up, because CSIRO are back, and apparently refusing to promise not to sue those who use its patented technology in their products.
The Wi-Fi industry has done a sterling job of blithely ignoring CSIRO and its claims up until now, but with last year's upholding of the patents in a US federal court, perhaps the tide will turn.
Either way, the standardisation process for 802.11n could very well be delayed. Again. Stay tuned - the IEEE will have a statement about this mess later this week...
(Credit to the Reg for picking up on the internal IEEE memo about this)
Thursday 20 September 2007, 11:45 AM
SCO to appeal Nasdaq delisting
When some companies fall, they fall hard.
For some odd reason, the Nasdaq stock exchange has decided it may not be a good idea to let the public (who?) continue investing in The SCO Group, which has just admitted it may soon go down the plughole. So it's sent a letter to SCO telling it that its shares will be delisted in a week's time.
SCO will of course appeal but, as it acknowledges, "there can be no assurance that the panel will grant the Company's request for continued listing".
Typical. First you find out that you owe your intended victim legal sparring partner money, rather than the other way round, then this happens. No justice in this world, eh?
For some odd reason, the Nasdaq stock exchange has decided it may not be a good idea to let the public (who?) continue investing in The SCO Group, which has just admitted it may soon go down the plughole. So it's sent a letter to SCO telling it that its shares will be delisted in a week's time.
SCO will of course appeal but, as it acknowledges, "there can be no assurance that the panel will grant the Company's request for continued listing".
Typical. First you find out that you owe your intended victim legal sparring partner money, rather than the other way round, then this happens. No justice in this world, eh?
Monday 17 September 2007, 4:46 PM
Muni Wi-Fi - can we build it?
News comes from LastMile Communications that it has smashed the £3m target in its latest private equity funding round, pulling in £4.1m from investors.
The content delivery firm, which was central to recent trials of municipal Wi-Fi in Exeter, now has £10.5m in equity funding plus a £6.4m loan from an unspecified "major technology partner". One of its main backers is the "defence" firm QinetiQ, which was also involved in the Exeter trials.
Interesting to see the concept of muni Wi-Fi plowing ahead in the UK, despite hitting the brakes somewhat over in the States. That's some serious money going to LastMile - now what about that business case?
The content delivery firm, which was central to recent trials of municipal Wi-Fi in Exeter, now has £10.5m in equity funding plus a £6.4m loan from an unspecified "major technology partner". One of its main backers is the "defence" firm QinetiQ, which was also involved in the Exeter trials.
Interesting to see the concept of muni Wi-Fi plowing ahead in the UK, despite hitting the brakes somewhat over in the States. That's some serious money going to LastMile - now what about that business case?
Friday 14 September 2007, 10:37 AM
Google is not quite 10 yet
Reports are circulating on the internets that Google is 10 years old tomorrow. Take, for example, this piece from Yahoo News, bearing the headline "Google, at age 10, is the official heart of the Internet" (man, it must sting Yahoo to stick that up!).
Great story, except it's not true. Tomorrow is indeed the 10th anniversary... of the day the domain "google.com" was registered. Prior to that, it was of course "google.stanford.edu", but it wasn't until September 7th 1998 that the company was incorporated. That's your official 10th anniversary right there - a Google spokesperson tells us to expect "big retrospectives" come that date next year.
Still, the idea of Google achieving its decade did set our hearts aflutter for a brief moment, and at least prompted us to look back to the first stories we ever published on the company. The very first Google mention on ZDNet.co.uk came courtesy of Rupert, who blogged in July 1999 that it was the best search engine to use when researching Salvia Divinorum.
Then, in September of that year, we wrote how "one of the Web's more unusual search engines" had just gone live after extensive beta testing. Ah, the days before perpetual beta...
Great story, except it's not true. Tomorrow is indeed the 10th anniversary... of the day the domain "google.com" was registered. Prior to that, it was of course "google.stanford.edu", but it wasn't until September 7th 1998 that the company was incorporated. That's your official 10th anniversary right there - a Google spokesperson tells us to expect "big retrospectives" come that date next year.
Still, the idea of Google achieving its decade did set our hearts aflutter for a brief moment, and at least prompted us to look back to the first stories we ever published on the company. The very first Google mention on ZDNet.co.uk came courtesy of Rupert, who blogged in July 1999 that it was the best search engine to use when researching Salvia Divinorum.
Then, in September of that year, we wrote how "one of the Web's more unusual search engines" had just gone live after extensive beta testing. Ah, the days before perpetual beta...
Thursday 13 September 2007, 11:26 AM
Virtual friends are only virtual
A piece of research by a chap called Will Reader (should've been an estate lawyer) over at Sheffield Hallam Uni has "revealed" the virtual nature of friends made over social networking sites.
According to Information Week, "an online survey... found that in-person encounters remain the most important factor in forming close friendships" and "close friendships can rarely be formed without judging people's honesty on non-verbal cues".
Y'think? This is one of those stories that makes me sit back and wonder how otherwise right-minded people could ever imagine this was not the case. It also reminds me of one of The Onion's most cutting recent articles...
According to Information Week, "an online survey... found that in-person encounters remain the most important factor in forming close friendships" and "close friendships can rarely be formed without judging people's honesty on non-verbal cues".
Y'think? This is one of those stories that makes me sit back and wonder how otherwise right-minded people could ever imagine this was not the case. It also reminds me of one of The Onion's most cutting recent articles...
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