Wireless technologies today are being applied to voice and messaging devices, Internet-enabled devices and data networking.

Voice and messaging devices include cellular phones, two-way business radios, and pagers. These gadgets operate within networks that offer nationwide coverage. Some of the more popular providers are AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon. They operate in varying frequency bands as directed by the FCC.

The Internet -enabled mobile phones and personal digital assistant (or PDA) are devices that can be connected to the Internet. Both the wireless application protocol (WAP) and wireless markup language (WML) were designed to enable these devices to connect to the Internet.

Wireless data networking devices include a router, USB adapter, and access points. Wireless router is a device found in WLAN. Its job is to specify the network point to which a packet will be forwarded. A packet is a unit of data transported between an origin and port in the Internet.

This device can also operate as a hardware firewall. It provides security against hacking because the IP Address of the computer is not directly exposed to the Internet. The new model uses 802.11g that can transmit up to 54 megabits per second.

Universal Serial Bus (USB) was designed to allow peripherals to be connected in the computer with the use of a standard interface socket. A USB adapter is used to attach a USB-port device to a non USB-port device. USB3.0 is the newest specification introduced in the market today. It has a transmission rate of up to 5.0 gigabits per second.

Access point is a base station, a LAN with the use of Ethernet cable. It receives and transmits data between WLAN and the wired network infrastructure. Access points support the standard of Wi-Fi communication.
Bluetooth is a technology specification designed for short range communication between mobile phones, personal computers, and other portable devices. This technology is being used by a lot of companies such as Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, IBM, Intel, and Lucent. Bluetooth covers a distance of up to 10 meters in a 2.4GHz band.

One of the newest products in the world of wireless technology is GPS or Global Positioning System. This device can provide an accurate time and location data for unlimited number of people in any place of the world.

This system has three segments (components): the space, the control, and the user segment. The space segment consists of 24 operating satellites; it transmits one-way signal that gives GPS satellite position and time.

The control segment is composed of worldwide monitor and control stations. It keeps the satellites in their proper orbits through command maneuvers. It also adjusts the satellite clocks. The control segment tracks GPS satellites and uploads navigational data.

The user segment is made up of GPS receiver equipment. It receives signals from GPS satellites. The transmitted information is used in calculating the user’s position and time.

GPS System Top Sellers
Garmin Forerunner 305 Handheld GPS Receiver
This is the GPS personal trainer version. It tracks and stores information that charts pace, time, distance, and heart rate.

Garmin nuvi 660 Car GPS Receiver
Features include language guide, world clocks, calculator, speaker phone, and blue tooth. It also has a larger screen which measures 0.9 x 4.9 x 2.9 inches.

Garmin Zumo 550 Car GPS Receiver
It is specifically designed for motorcycles. This gadget is built with waterproof and fuel-resistant plastic. It is preloaded with City Navigator NT street maps. It also has voice directions, and real-time traffic and weather updates.

Humminbird NS25 Car GPS Receiver
Features include chart plotter and fish finder. It has a single beam transducer and split screen view option to show sonar information. Sonar information contains fish ID, structure ID, and fish depth.

By: David Urmann

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Kansieo.com

UMPC’s, the new wave.

Laptops are everywhere. They’ve replaced many desktops in the home due to their ease of use, mobility and performance. No longer are you confined to a desk in the corner from which you browse the web. Add in a decent wireless connection and you can even spend time in the garden enjoying the good weather whilst you write articles for your favourite directory. The only problem with a laptop is the size. Yes, they’re portable but you still need to sit down with a decent amount of space in which to work. Imagine leaving all this behind. Being able to carry your laptop in your pocket sounds ideal. True, many mobile handsets offer browsing and text capabilities but these aren’t enough for mobile workers or even users who need that little extra.

PDA’s did a relatively good job of bridging the divide between mobile phones and laptops but didn’t quite hit the mark required by many consumers. Battery life and processing power were another factor that prevented the adoption of the PDA as a productivity device.

The advent of low heat, low power consumption CPU’s has opened the way for a new generation of mobile devices. Admittedly, the Intel Atom is new and hasn’t been widely adopted yet but products such as the Intel A110 have been adequately powering XP based devices for some time now. Various terms are used to describe this new generation of mobile tech: Ultra Low Cost PC (ULCPC), Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) and Mobile Internet Device (MID). For this article I’ll stick to UMPC.

There is debate amongst analysts of exactly successful the UMPC market will be. Personally, I think it’s going to be big. Home users may not buy wholesale into this market but businesses will. Reducing the hardware size whilst maintaining a full productivity suite is a compelling sales pitch for any business. Many hardware vendors recognise the potential value of this market with the likes of Samsung, HTC, Asus and Acer releasing hardware to the market. Oh, don’t forget Apple. Did you really think the iPhone was simply a ‘must have’ mobile phone? No, Apples knows how the market works. The release of the iPhone api and integration into corporate networks shows that Apple is determined to capture a large slice of the mobile worker market.

The only aspect that slows the adoption of the UMPC as a true business device is processing power. As shown earlier, the Intel A110 was widely adopted for devices such as the Q1 Ultra running Windows XP. The advent of Windows Vista has shown that a new generation of CPU’s will be needed to give the devices the punch they need. Yes, Linux is alive and well in the UMPC market. Adoption of this Operating System will grow as more businesses integrate open source products into their infrastructure. For now we’ll just say that Linux is happy to run on older hardware.

The Intel Atom solves the CPU issue. Dual core processing power crammed into a device the size of a penny, whilst reducing power requirements and heat output – problem solved. But, as yet, not many hardware vendors have announced the inclusion of the Atom in future products – this will change. The UMPC future is looking good.

By: James Redden

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