Stephen Lawson
Author Archives: Stephen Lawson
- Home → Author's archive:
Stephen Lawson
0
Cisco’s all-in-one Spark Board puts the cloud on a wall
Cloud-based collaboration software has helped enterprises take meetings beyond the conference room. Now Cisco Systems is bringing its Spark cloud platform back inside.On Tuesday, Cisco introduced the Spark Board, an all-in-one collaboration device that can be a screen-sharing presentation tool, a digital whiteboard and a videoconferencing display. It’s designed to make it easier to set up and use connected conference rooms, taking the place of a hodgepodge of components that are managed and operated separately.After selling various voice and video tools for years, Cisco has made Spark the centerpiece of the company’s collaboration portfolio. It’s a text messaging, voice, videoconferencing and presentation platform that runs completely in the cloud, with encryption, so meeting participants on the road can use all those functions. Through the cloud, a Spark session can also incorporate older Cisco tools like WebEx and Telepresence.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Trump names net neutrality foe Ajit Pai to lead the FCC
President Donald Trump has named Commissioner Ajit Pai, an outspoken opponent of the FCC’s net neutrality rules, as the next head of the agency.The choice was widely expected after Trump’s election last November. Pai is the senior Republican on the commission, having served since 2012. He doesn’t need to be confirmed by the Senate because he is already on the Commission.Pai attacked the reclassification of broadband as a utility in 2015, saying it would place excessive burdens on service providers, other internet players and consumers. The expansion of broadband service through a competitive marketplace has been one of Pai’s themes as a commissioner.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Trump names net neutrality foe Ajit Pai to lead the FCC
President Donald Trump has named Commissioner Ajit Pai, an outspoken opponent of the FCC’s net neutrality rules, as the next head of the agency.The choice was widely expected after Trump’s election last November. Pai is the senior Republican on the commission, having served since 2012. He doesn’t need to be confirmed by the Senate because he is already on the Commission.Pai attacked the reclassification of broadband as a utility in 2015, saying it would place excessive burdens on service providers, other internet players and consumers. The expansion of broadband service through a competitive marketplace has been one of Pai’s themes as a commissioner.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Avaya says bankruptcy is a step toward software and services
Networking and collaboration vendor Avaya declared bankruptcy on Thursday, calling the move part of its transition from a hardware to a software and services company. Avaya emerged from Lucent Technologies in 2000 with a focus on phone switches, enterprise networking gear, and call-center systems. But with the shift toward mobile phones and cloud-based tools for communication, and a tight market for enterprise network equipment, the company has been changing its focus. It plans to keep operating during the bankruptcy thanks to its cash from operations and US$725 million in financing that still needs approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Avaya said its foreign affiliates aren’t included in the filing and won’t be affected.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Avaya says bankruptcy is a step toward software and services
Networking and collaboration vendor Avaya declared bankruptcy on Thursday, calling the move part of its transition from a hardware to a software and services company. Avaya emerged from Lucent Technologies in 2000 with a focus on phone switches, enterprise networking gear, and call-center systems. But with the shift toward mobile phones and cloud-based tools for communication, and a tight market for enterprise network equipment, the company has been changing its focus. It plans to keep operating during the bankruptcy thanks to its cash from operations and US$725 million in financing that still needs approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Avaya said its foreign affiliates aren’t included in the filing and won’t be affected.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Switches coming out this year will drive open networking forward
Two moves by open networking vendors this week are likely to chip a little bit more off the monolith of proprietary, appliance-like equipment that still moves most packets around enterprise data centers.On Thursday, network OS supplier Cumulus Networks introduced turnkey switches based on standard hardware from Edgecore Networks running Cumulus software. They’re designed to allow customers who are new to open networking to get started quickly and easily.Earlier in the week, on the cutting edge of the movement, Barefoot Networks announced that Edgecore and another Taiwan-based manufacturer called WNC would start shipping switches that use the company’s fully programmable chips.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Switches coming out this year will drive open networking forward
Two moves by open networking vendors this week are likely to chip a little bit more off the monolith of proprietary, appliance-like equipment that still moves most packets around enterprise data centers.On Thursday, network OS supplier Cumulus Networks introduced turnkey switches based on standard hardware from Edgecore Networks running Cumulus software. They’re designed to allow customers who are new to open networking to get started quickly and easily.Earlier in the week, on the cutting edge of the movement, Barefoot Networks announced that Edgecore and another Taiwan-based manufacturer called WNC would start shipping switches that use the company’s fully programmable chips.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
FTC charges Qualcomm with anticompetitive chip tactics
Qualcomm strong-armed some phone makers into accepting unfavorable technology licensing terms while giving Apple a break in exchange for exclusivity, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has charged.The company used its dominance in baseband processors, which manage cellular communication in mobile devices, to force vendors to pay elevated royalties for Qualcomm technologies, the FTC charged in a complaint filed Tuesday in federal court.At the same time, Qualcomm gave Apple favorable terms so it could supply the baseband chips for all iPhones from 2011 to 2016, according to the FTC. Among other things, in 2007 it got Apple to agree not to use WiMax, the original 4G system used on Sprint’s network, in any iPhones, the complaint said. WiMax was promoted by Intel, Qualcomm’s archrival.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
This Wi-Fi alternative rides on LTE rails
A group that sees enterprises and even consumers setting up their own LTE-like networks now has a formula to work from.On Tuesday, the MulteFire Alliance announced MulteFire Release 1.0, which defines an LTE-like network that can run entirely on unlicensed spectrum like the frequencies Wi-Fi uses. In some cases, it may be an alternative to Wi-Fi with more capacity, better security and easier handoffs from carrier networks, Alliance President Mazen Chmaytelli says.Users could include businesses that need highly predictable networks for time-sensitive industrial applications, stadium owners looking for a simpler way to speed up wireless for fans, and eventually consumers networking their homes. But none of these will happen overnight.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
This Wi-Fi alternative rides on LTE rails
A group that sees enterprises and even consumers setting up their own LTE-like networks now has a formula to work from.On Tuesday, the MulteFire Alliance announced MulteFire Release 1.0, which defines an LTE-like network that can run entirely on unlicensed spectrum like the frequencies Wi-Fi uses. In some cases, it may be an alternative to Wi-Fi with more capacity, better security and easier handoffs from carrier networks, Alliance President Mazen Chmaytelli says.Users could include businesses that need highly predictable networks for time-sensitive industrial applications, stadium owners looking for a simpler way to speed up wireless for fans, and eventually consumers networking their homes. But none of these will happen overnight.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Is this the year IoT standards will finally make sense?
A few brave souls predict IoT standards will start to gel this year, but making all those connected things work together still looks like a long shot.Two years ago, some industry analysts cautiously suggested that a vast array of IoT standards would merge into just a few beginning in 2017. If the internet of things in late 2014 was a cacophony of discordant musicians tuning up, it’s now reached the point where a few virtuosos are playing the same tune. But there’s still a lot of sheet music getting passed around.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Is this the year IoT standards will finally make sense?
A few brave souls predict IoT standards will start to gel this year, but making all those connected things work together still looks like a long shot.Two years ago, some industry analysts cautiously suggested that a vast array of IoT standards would merge into just a few beginning in 2017. If the internet of things in late 2014 was a cacophony of discordant musicians tuning up, it’s now reached the point where a few virtuosos are playing the same tune. But there’s still a lot of sheet music getting passed around.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
National Instruments industrial IoT lab unites rivals
There are many companies vying to build the industrial internet of things, but the systems involved are so complex that those vendors also need to cooperate. A new lab at National Instruments, in Austin, Texas, is bringing some competitors together.The NI Industrial IoT Lab opened on Wednesday and will house testbeds for applications like predictive maintenance, time-synchronized industrial networking and “microgrids” for renewable energy. It will also be a place where companies can show off joint solutions to customers.One of the aims of the lab is to show enterprises that IoT works, said Jamie Smith, director of embedded systems at National Instruments.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Old networks can hobble IoT, even in tech paradise
IoT isn’t all brand-new, cutting-edge technology. In fact, some of it’s already suffering through painful upgrade cycles.A case in point is the system that tells transit passengers in the tech hub of San Francisco when the next train or bus will arrive. The NextMuni system, based on the third-party platform NextBus, recently began sending out wildly inaccurate forecasts on many lines.Why? Because most trains and buses had been communicating with NextMuni over AT&T’s 2G network, which was decommissioned on Jan. 1. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) said Friday that about 70 percent of its vehicles haven’t yet been upgraded with newer 3G technology. It was awkward timing, as that same day, the agency was playing up its innovation credentials as it announced a federal grant to fund six transit pilot projects.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
A new Wi-Fi spec will help smart homes run like clockwork
Wi-Fi is an obvious candidate for connecting almost any device that can be plugged into a wall, because it’s already running in nearly every home that has broadband. But can all those products work in lockstep when timing matters, like while video and audio are streaming on several devices?The Wi-Fi Alliance says it has a way to make sure they do. On Thursday at CES, the industry group announced Wi-Fi Certified TimeSync, a specification for precise time synchronization among Wi-Fi devices. It’s expected to be available in the middle of this year.When Wi-Fi began as a wireless way to send packets of data between computers, synchronized clocks didn’t matter. When the packets arrived, the screen appeared or the page was printed. But now that Wi-Fi has a growing role in home entertainment, timing matters.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
AT&T’s next 5G wireless trial will shoot DirecTV Now to users’ homes
5G conjures up visions of super-fast smartphone service, but it could give consumers and enterprises a lot more. In the next few months, some residents of Austin, Texas, will get to watch DirecTV Now at home using a form of the still-emerging wireless technology.AT&T plans to start a trial of that service in the first half of this year. Instead of the cutting-edge mobile networks that are expected to beam multi-gigabit service to moving phones, it will use a fixed wireless network built on pre-standard 5G technology to reach users' homes.MORE: Check out our interactive timeline of 5G trialsTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Preconfigured Z-Wave gear will save installation time
The next time an installer comes to set up a Z-Wave IoT device in your home, it might take a lot less time.Sigma Designs, the company that makes most chips for Z-Wave wireless networks, is introducing a system at the CES trade show that lets service providers configure IoT devices before they’re delivered. That leaves less for a technician to do, and potentially to mess up, according to Sigma.The system, called Z-Wave Smart Start, could make life easier for a lot of people getting started with smart-home technology. It’s still hard to set up most IoT products, so most don’t try to do it themselves. About 80 percent of home IoT gear is purchased through service providers rather than from shops or online stores, said Raoul Wijgergangs, vice president of Z-Wave for Sigma Designs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
ZigBee’s Dotdot language is the latest bid for IoT harmony
As consumers watch another wave of home IoT devices emerge from CES this week, they’ll still be waiting for one technology that can make all those products work together.The ZigBee Alliance, a group of more than 400 companies that make things with the ZigBee wireless protocol, made a bid to provide that unifying technology right before the annual consumer electronics gathering kicks off.On Tuesday, ZigBee announced Dotdot, which it calls a universal language for IoT. Even though ZigBee is best known as an open wireless communications protocol used in many home IoT products, Dotdot is intended for use with any wireless technology. It defines things like how devices tell each other what they are and what they can do, which is important for making different objects around a home do things together.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
ZigBee’s Dotdot language is the latest bid for IoT harmony
As consumers watch another wave of home IoT devices emerge from CES this week, they’ll still be waiting for one technology that can make all those products work together.The ZigBee Alliance, a group of more than 400 companies that make things with the ZigBee wireless protocol, made a bid to provide that unifying technology right before the annual consumer electronics gathering kicks off.On Tuesday, ZigBee announced Dotdot, which it calls a universal language for IoT. Even though ZigBee is best known as an open wireless communications protocol used in many home IoT products, Dotdot is intended for use with any wireless technology. It defines things like how devices tell each other what they are and what they can do, which is important for making different objects around a home do things together.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Globalstar gets FCC approval after backing away from Wi-Fi
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has approved satellite operator Globalstar’s plan for a land-based wireless service using its own spectrum.The approval on Friday came just a few weeks after Globalstar made the modified proposal, but the agency had spent years weighing the company’s original plan, which would have used part of the unlicensed 2.4GHz band that is mostly devoted to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other popular technologies.Globalstar owns a license for 11.5MHz of spectrum next to the 2.4GHz band, which led the U.S. to set aside part of the unlicensed band as a buffer to prevent any Globalstar service from interfering with unlicensed services.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here