LAS VEGAS — D-Link’s Cloud Camera 5000, just announced at CES 2012, shoots video in a mere 720p, but its standout features are hardly related to image quality. As its name suggests, the Cloud Camera lets users view a live stream of the cam’s footage online—via the mydlink portal. Users can also adjust the camera’s angle remotely to see up to 340 degrees of the area under video surveillance. There’s a microSD slot on board, and automatic day/night recording will capture potential intruders (or maybe just your beloved pet, lonely at home) 24/7.

Further bolstering its spycam pedigree, the Cloud Camera 5000 features email alerts when it senses “intrusions or disturbances” and it can pair with your doorbell, alarm system and motion sensors to start recording when something fishy is up. (We like the Dalek-esque design, to boot.) The Cloud Camera 500 will launch in April. No word on pricing yet. Read the rest of this entry »

4G speeds still often fall short of the official standard, but that isn’t stopping Broadcom from pushing forward to the next level of Wi-Fi speeds. In a press release issued this morning, the company announced several new wireless Broadcom 802.11ac chips that deliver “5G Wi-Fi.”

The new 5G chipsets—the BCM4360, BCM4352, BCM43526, BCM43516—all operate on the 80-MHz channel and deliver up to three times the speed and six times the power-efficiency of current Wi-Fi 802.11n radios. Broadcom says its 5G Wi-Fi “dramatically improves the wireless range in the home,” which will allow users to stream media from more devices and from larger distances from their mobile devices. Read the rest of this entry »

You know CES is just around the corner when the product announcements start rolling in. Today Warpia is unveiling its new ConnectHD wireless video-conferencing solution, which it will be on hand next month in Vegas.

The ConnectHD has a wireless 720p webcam and a multi-directional mic for making video calls, and it also supports wireless streaming from your laptop (Windows only) to an HDTV at up to 1920 x 1080p.

Warpia is already selling the ConnectHD for $199 on its site. The full package includes a wireless USB PC adapter, a wireless USB TV adapter with HDMI, camera, external microphone, a HDMI cable, and a CD with the required software.

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Imagine that you walk into your living room, connect your smartphone to your home Wi-Fi network, and—before you can say “stream wirelessly!”—snapshots and music tracks from your handset’s library appear on your TV. This is not a dream. You can do this right now using gadgets that support DLNA, or Digital Living Network Alliance.

Through the DLNA initiative, product manufacturers and software companies allow Wi-Fi-capable devices to share music, photo, and video files across a wireless connection. Apple’s AirPlay technology is similar, but DLNA is found in many more gadgets—from Android phones and laptops to TVs and game consoles such as the PlayStation 3. So how well does DLNA work in the real world?

Read the rest of this entry »

Do you feel the need for speed? Then you’ll want to take a good look at the latest 4G hotspots, compact devices that let you share a high-speed Internet connection on the go with multiple gadgets at once. We tested 4G mobile hotspots from the four major carriers to see which one offered the best performance for your money.

How We Tested

Website load times were measured by averaging the time it took for CNN.com, ESPN.com, Laptopmag.com, and NYTimes.com took to load in Chrome browser on the Dell Inspiron 15 (M5030).

We used Speedtest.net for our synthetic upload and download tests. We averaged 10 test results for each hotspot in our three testing locations around Chicago. To get real-world benchmarks, we downloaded a 151MB file (OpenOffice.org) from our FTP server. We also uploaded a 6.5MB Handbrake file to the same FTP.

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AT&T Elevate 4G Mobile Hotspot

The AT&T Elevate delivers solid 4G LTE performance (where it's available) and includes a handy usage meter on the display.

Read our review of the AT&T Elevate 4G Mobile Hotspot

Bandwidth.com, the VoIP provider for services such as Google Voice, just launched its very own mobile carrier. Dubbed Republic Wireless, the service’s biggest selling point thus far is an ultra-low monthly fee for unlimited data, text, and voice; the plan costs just $19 per month.

You’re probably thinking there’s a catch, and of course there is. Republic Wireless relies on Hybrid Calling technology, which uses Wi-Fi whenever it’s available and only switches back to Sprint’s cellular network when wireless networks are unavailable. Moreover, the service requires that users have Wi-Fi access at home and anywhere else they plan to use their phone. Read the rest of this entry »

If your loved ones still depend on cable, help them to cut the cord (or, at least, add to their cable experience) with one of these Wi-Fi-connected television accessories. Each of these devices adds tons of internet content to your television screen, and some do more.  

iPad and iPhone owners will love that the Apple TV can sync their photos and music, and the Roku 2 XS box includes up to 300 channels of streaming content, including access to familiar services like Hulu and Netflix.  With those options, there’ll always be something on their television sets worth watching. 

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Apple TV

Tightly tied into the iTunes store, Apple’s slick set-top box also offers Netflix and TV show rentals from partners such as ABC and Fox, but it has fewer independent streaming options (no Pandora) than the competition. On the other hand, only the Apple TV lets you stream music, photos, and video from your iPhone or iPad. A recent software update adds iCloud support, so your music and photos stay in sync with your iPhone and iPad.

$99; www.apple.com

Credit: Dreamstime

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Tuesday launched cell phone and data service at certain subway stations in Manhattan, giving a few lucky riders the ability to talk on the phone, send texts and access the Web while underground.

The first phase of the roll out – which is 10 months ahead of schedule – gives AT&T and T-Mobile customers access to their cell phones at certain subway lines at all five 14 Street subway stations and one station on West 23rd Street.

Although some said the addition of the service in the subways will cause “a lot of annoyance” and “more distraction,” others saw the service as a benefit to riders.

“If we have an emergency, we can use our cell phones,” said one subway traveler. “I’m glad that they are doing it.”

Another subway passenger at the 14th Street station at 8th Avenue said they didn’t think people will abuse the service.

“People are going to talk anyway,” a subway rider told TechNewsDaily. “No one is entitled to quiet on the subway. It’s not a library and it’s not time for a nap. People are allowed to do what they want to do, and I trust they will be courteous to others.”

MTA said it expects to provide service to the remaining 271 underground stations within four years and has already begun design work on the next 30 stations on the west side of Manhattan, including Times Square, Herald Square and Columbus Circle. Those 30 stations are expected to be wired for phone and data service in the next 12 months.

As part of the service, uninterrupted access to 911 will be available at connected subway stations. In addition, 911 dispatchers will know when a call is being placed at street level or underground in the subway.

Reach TechNewsDaily senior writer Samantha Murphy at smurphy@techmedianetwork.com. Follow her on Twitter @SamMurphy_TMN

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There’s a tornado sweeping into town, but your notebook sits asleep on your desk with its screen off and motherboard in a low-power statement. You don’t have a smartphone or other connected device. How will you get an online alert before disaster strikes? If you’re using “Always Reachable,” a new experimental technology from Intel, your computer will wake up just in time to warn you.

Today at the Intel Developers Forum Day Zero press event, Intel’s Sameh Gobriel showed how a notebook with an Always Reachable Wi-Fi chip could go into a very deep S3 sleep where all the lights and screen turn off, but the system maintains its network connection. With the users’ prior permission, a government alert system can then wake the machine and display an alert over the Internet.  Read the rest of this entry »

Android devices may be topping overall smartphone sales, but when it comes to staying connected at 30,000 feet in the air, the iPhone rules the sky.

Apple iPhone users account for 65 percent of those accessing Gogo’s mobile Wi-Fi service during airline flights, while Android users account for just 12 percent, according to in-flight Wi-Fi service company Gogo.

When including travelers that are connected to the service using an iPod Touch, Apple’s iOS system accounts for a whopping 80 percent of mobile travelers connecting to Gogo’s Wi-Fi service.

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