WASHINGTON-The American Civil Liberties Union said it obtained State Department documents that show the Bush administration ignored security and privacy warnings by experts and foreign governments when it was promoting new passports using passive radio frequency identification technology, an action the group warned will...
The future of wireless could be the future of most everything. Wireless technology has evolved in leaps and bounds since the first transmission of radio communication signals across the English Channel and then across the Atlantic Ocean a century ago. Wireless technology is being...
Who is your wireless carrier?A question that used to be answered easily is becoming more complicated as mobile virtual network operators gain traction in today's market. It's good to be an MVNO as Virgin Mobile USA is showing, signing up more than 1 million...
WASHINGTON-While retailers and manufacturers insist they can safeguard consumers' rights by self policing radio frequency identification systems, some groups see an opening to argue for broad-based privacy legislation applicable to a host of emerging wireless technologies.That RFID proponents and advocates have such starkly different...
A perfect storm of challenges in China, combined with chipset shortages in the United States and one less carrier customer all contributed to lower second-quarter revenues for CellStar Corp. Foremost, CellStar is bracing to take on "significant changes in the handset market in China,"...
"It is poor civic hygiene to install technologies that could someday facilitate a police state." -Bruce SchneierImagine a world where your every possession-clothes, books, cash-could be precisely and invisibly tracked. In this world, your purchases, movements and activities could be monitored in real time...
I was just out of college in 1993 when "Demolition Man" was released. Remember that movie? Set 40 years in the future, all personal freedoms had been removed in the interest of perfect order, and the world had become so passive that swearing was...
RFID chips that can be used to scan inventory are either the latest, greatest way to track large pallets entering the retail warehouse or another step toward a world where Big Brother watches your every movement-and tracks every purchase you make.Privacy advocates fear the...
While Wal-Mart Stores Inc. joins the high-tech industry in celebrating its recently launched supply-chain management Radio Frequency Identification pilot program, consumer privacy groups are shaking their collective heads, concerned about the implications RFID tagging has on consumer privacy rights.Wal-Mart launched its trial with eight...
WASHINGTON-California, already pursuing new laws for wireless carriers, cell-phone drivers and camera phones, has become the latest state to advance privacy legislation governing radio frequency identification applications embraced by retailers, manufacturers and libraries. The California bill and others like it-either already introduced or...
DENVER-Radio frequency identification technology is reaching maturity. Such an assertion seems almost absurd for a technology that has recently received hype rivaling that of other newfangled short-range wireless technologies like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.But RFID is nothing new. It was introduced during World War II...
Like others that seemed out of the wireless range at the outset, the radio-frequency identification technology may not just be about supply chains. Its future efficiency may be derived from using wireless technologies like wireless local area networks and wide area networks. Although the...
OYSTER BAY, N.Y.-This will be a busy year for RFID technology, according to ABI Research. As manufacturers ready for the 2005 deployments of RFID by Wal-Mart and the U.S. Department of Defense, ABI expects news around developing standards, large company entrants, startup software developers...
IRVINE, Calif.-Boost Mobile L.L.C. said it will begin offering its prepaid service, which uses Nextel Communications Inc.'s iDEN network, in 30 Sam Goody retail stores in California and Nevada. The additional retail outlets, which join previous retailers, including Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy, bring...
CHICAGO-Wal-Mart Stores announced plans to implement a radio-frequency identification (RFID) compliance program that brings wireless inventory tracking to the retail industry. Wal-Mart said it will require its top 100 suppliers to use electronic tags on all cases and pallets of goods by January 2005....
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Alltel Corp. launched its Simple Freedom prepaid wireless service in more than 1,500 Wal-Mart stores nationwide.The plan, which includes voice mail, caller identification, call waiting and text messaging, is priced at $69 for a handset, charger, $10 of airtime and an activation...
During the past 15 months there has been growing interest in the United States around mobile virtual network operators, best known as MVNOs. The idea behind MVNOs is that companies with strong brands, powerful distribution or compelling content/applications (ideally all three) negotiate wholesale access...
In tune with its philosophy that small is beautiful, Leap Wireless International Inc. has moved to extend its grip on small and rural communities across the United States by signing multiple agreements to acquire wireless operating licenses from CenturyTel that encompass 11 million customers.Launching...
Wal-Mart's 1,000 stores nationwide will begin carrying disposable zinc-air cell phone batteries from Electric Fuel Corp. in time for the holiday shopping season.Each battery offers at least six hours of talk time and 60 hours of standby time for analog handsets, based on laboratory...
While the "in-a-box" concept seems a natural fit for a fast-food chain, the more complex task of setting up wireless service may seem to be asking a bit much from such a simple idea.Equitel Inc., based in Research Triangle, N.C., thinks simple ideas are...
WASHINGTON-Competition in the local loop does not need to come from wireline competitive local exchange carriers, it can come from wireless carriers, a high-level executive told the Senate communications subcommittee last week."We truly do fulfill the intent of the in the markets where...
INTERDIGITALGerard Pepenella was hired by InterDigital Communications Corp. as vice president and general manager of broadband Code Division Multiple Access technology. He will collaborate with Gary Lomp, chief technology officer, on growth and enhancement of the company's technology and products. Pepenella joined InterDigital with...
MADISON, Wis.-Cellular One of Wisconsin and Northern Illinois recently introduced Cellular ONE-4-U, a prepaid wireless service that allows consumers to purchase airtime without a credit check, contract, deposit or monthly bill.All prepaid calls are considered local and billed at one flat rate. Customers are...
WASHINGTON-With an upfront payment of more than $12.7 million, enhanced specialized mobile radio provider Nextel Communications Inc. stands to walk away with the lion's share of licenses when the auction of 800 MHz SMR economic area licenses, scheduled to begin tomorrow, concludes in what...
