Wireless power has techies beaming
US researchers have produced a system which delivers power to devices without the need for wires. A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology lit a 60 watt light bulb from a power source two metres away and with no physical connections between the source and the appliance. The "WiTricity" device - the term coined by the MIT team to describe the wireless power phenomenon - uses magnetic fields to deliver power to the gadgets remotely. The charger sends power to the gadget using magnetic induction, which is the ability to change a magnetic field to produce an electrical current. Various methods of transmitting power wirelessly have been known for some time - such as radio waves or wi-fi. But while such examples are excellent for the wireless transmission of information, it is not feasible for substantial power transmissions because radio waves and wi-fi radiation spread in all directions and vast amounts of power end up being wasted into free space. In contrast, WiTricity synchronises the charger and gadget to exchange energy efficiently without leaking much power to other objects. WiTricity does this by getting the charger and power-hungry device to connect using magnetic fields at 'coupled resonant frequencies'.

US bans Qualcomm chips
A federal agency's decision to ban U.S. imports of new mobile phones made with Qualcomm semiconductors could slow the introduction of new handsets and lead to higher prices for mobile phone users. The U.S. International Trade Commission said that it was banning the phones because the Qualcomm chips violate a patent held by Broadcom. The import ban would not apply to mobile phone models that are already being imported, just to future models. But because mobile phone models are updated rapidly, the exception for current models could last only a limited time. This is unwelcome news to Qualcomm and its wireless carrier customers, Qualcomm will have to scramble for technology that does not infringe on Broadcom's patents. The decision could potentially slow the introduction of new models, including Motorola Inc.'s Razr 2 phone, to be introduced in Asia in July and elsewhere later this year. Mobile phone users could pay more as companies pass along the costs of switching to the new technology. The ruling also is a blow to service providers such as Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel and AT&T, which sell phones that rely on Qualcomm chips to access their high-speed data networks. Eighty percent of the phones sold by Verizon use San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc.'s technology.

Cable tries to shed bad-service reputation
Even though U.S. cable companies have had success in winning customers with all-in-one packages of video, Internet and phone services, they still struggle with a reputation for poor customer service. Top cable operators such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable are expanding their customer service operations to make common complaints -- like waiting all day for the cable guy -- a thing of the past. But analysts say it won't be easy. Cable's service shortcomings are one of the reasons satellite television providers are adding more new customers than cable, even with cable's success in offering competitively priced combined TV, Internet and phone packages. Comcast, the No. 1 U.S. cable operator, said it plans to hire nearly 6,000 new customer service staff and field technicians this year, after hiring around 6,500 in 2006. The expansion is a drive to keep up with rapid growth. Comcast sold more than 5 million new services to customers last year and expects to sell 6.5 million in 2007. Time Warner Cable, the second-largest U.S. cable operator, said it is also expanding its customer service, in line with a similar rate of growth in products being sold to customers. Annual surveys by J.D. Power and Associates show satellite TV service providers DirecTV Group and EchoStar Communications Corp. have a significant lead over cable providers in overall customer satisfaction. Improving customer service has become increasingly important for cable operators as phone rivals Verizon Communications and AT&T have become more aggressive in trying to win over TV customers.

Netflix May Have a New Direction
There may be life left in online video rentals after all. Rumors that Amazon.com wants to buy the online DVD rental store has pushed the stock. Though Netflix wouldn't comment on the speculation, the buzz alone suggests anew that reports of Netflix's impending demise have been greatly exaggerated. It's not surprising that Amazon may see Netflix as a good buy. So far, Netflix has successfully weathered the emergence of video-download services now vying to wrest control of the "movie night in" market. Download services such as CinemaNow, Guba, and Hollywood-supported Movielink have yet to put a dent in the company's profits. And despite last September's launch of video downloads by Apple's iTunes store and Amazon's own "Unbox" service, Netflix didn't hasten its own download offering in a panic, waiting instead to unveil it in January. Though growing fast, consumer demand for downloaded video rentals and purchases still barely rivals the market's appetite for physical DVD rentals.

Wimax to 'overtake Wi-Fi' in public networks by 2010
By 2010, Wimax will replace Wi-Fi as the technology of choice for public wireless networks, as barriers currently preventing widespread adoption are removed, analyst firm Gartner has predicted. There are two particular attractions of Wimax for municipal networks: wider area coverage than Wi-Fi and operation in licensed as well as unlicensed spectrum. Last month, the Wimax Forum tested key mobility features such as such as handover, or "roaming mobile" - where a terminal is handed off between two base stations, simulating a mobile environment. Although some low-cost products have been tested for compatibility with the 802.16-2005 Wimax standard, are not expected to become available until late 2007, and integration into large numbers of PCs and PDAs was not expected before 2010.

Wireless Coalition Calls For 'Open Access' Network
A new coalition of wireless industry entrepreneurs is joining the voices calling for the government to back the creation of a nationwide wireless network that would make it easier for mobile device makers and service providers to get their products in front of customers without the blessing of cellphone giants like AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless. The Wireless Founders Coalition for Innovation plans to send a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin Thursday afternoon spelling out its recommendation that a slice of radio spectrum in an upcoming wireless auction be designated for such an "open access" network. Among the 15 people who signed the letter are the founders of Virgin Mobile USA, a prepaid U.S. carrier that leases network capacity from Sprint Nextel Corp; the founder of Zingy, a top provider of mobile content downloads; the chairman of mobile email provider Seven Networks Inc; and the CEO of handset software maker mPortal Inc. The push for an open access network is one of the many battles that have broken out as the FCC prepares rules for an auction of spectrum in a valuable band of frequencies that are being vacated by television broadcasters. Established cellphone carriers like Verizon are sparring with various corners of the technology and wireless industries.

Italian satellite blasts off from California coastal base
An Italian satellite reached space late Thursday on a mission to image the Earth. The COSMO satellite, developed for the Italian Space Agency and Italian Ministry of Defense, was boosted into orbit at 7:34 p.m. PDT after being launched aboard a Boeing rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base. The satellite, which carries a radar imager, will be part of a constellation of four orbiting probes that will collect data on floods, droughts, earthquakes and landslides. It's the first to be launched, and a second was expected to lift off from Vandenberg later this year. Italian space officials expect the fully functional system to beam back up to 1,800 images of the Earth a day.

Scavengers cripple Vietnam's internet line
Fishermen scavenging for scrap copper off the coast of Vietnam have stolen part of an undersea cable and crippled the country's internet access. The TVH fiber-optic cable is one of a pair that provide around 80% of the country's internet access via a connection to Hong Kong and Thailand. Some 98km of cable was cut out which will cost at least $5.84m to replace and take around 30 days to install, according to a government committee. Vietnam is now left with a single 10Gbps SMW3 undersea cable connecting the country with the outside world. If this line is stolen or damaged the country will be mostly cut off from the digital world. Nguyen Tan Dung, prime minister of Vietnam, said that the serious violation of the law "directly affects Vietnam's socio-economic development, national security and the country's prestige in the region as well as in the world". Dung has told Vietnam's Ministry of National Defence to boost patrols of vessels in waters where telecoms cables are located. The Ba Ria Vung Tau government last year permitted soldiers and fishermen to salvage unused undersea cables laid before 1975 by the US or the former Republic of South Vietnam to sell as scrap. But the province withdrew the permission last month and banned all forms of cable salvaging after fishermen damaged many active cables in the search for unused cables. According to local press, deputy telematics minister Le Nam Thang has warned that cable thefts came under the category of destroying national communications and could result in the death sentence.

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