February 14th, 2009 | Wireless Security, Wireless Technology
With technology evolving at a lightening pace, there is a need for each and every one of us to try and keep up to speed. Changes in technology are bound to affect us all in one-way or another. For example, you have a personal computer that can be connected to a number of peripheral devices, including digital cameras, USB sticks and iPods, amongst others. These devices are now hitting the market equipped with the latest connection technology, so you need to understand what is going on if you are to be able to interface them with your PC. This article will guide you on how to set up a wireless network.
A wireless network is the next level of the Local Area Network. A wireless network works on exactly the same principles as a LAN, except that there are no cables. Instead, a wireless network transmits radio wave signals to enable all your devices to communicate with each other.
How do you connect your computer to other computers via a wireless network? The fist step involves the installation of an access point to serve as a network hub for all the computers in the group that you want to connect together. The number of computers that can be supported by a single hub ranges from 8 to 16 and depends on the access point model you choose.
The second step is to simply connect the access point to the physical network of computers you want to include.
February 13th, 2009 | Mobile Phone Reviews, Samsung Mobile Phones
The new F210 mobile phone is certain to turn heads. This Samsung mobile phone features a unique design that also just happens to be ultra compact. The F210 functions as a swivel mobile phone, which means that the front cover actually swivels up and around 180° to reveal the standard keypad. Due to its thin size some people may not even recognise the device as a mobile phone.
The F210 is 87.8mm long x 31mm wide x 20.5mm thick and it weighs a mere 72g. Despite its small size and weight the F210 still provides users with 1 gigabyte of internal memory. If that is not enough for you, there is also a microSD expansion slot. Battery life for the F210 is estimated to be up to 2 hours 20 minutes of talk time and 265 hours on standby.
With the phone is closed, the music player controls can still be used, which is quite a nice feature. The device supports several different types of music formats, including MP3, AAC and WMA. There is also a very useful flight mode function, which enables users to continue enjoying the music player while the rest of the phone remains turned off during flights.
A 2 megapixel camera phone, which is capable of video capture, is included with the F210.
One downside of the phone is that it does not provide support for 3G networks. The F210 is also only a tri band mobile phone, providing support for the 900/1800/1900 MHz frequencies.
February 11th, 2009 | Mobile Phone Reviews, Sony Ericsson
The W850i from Sony Ericsson is a slim mobile phone designed to function as a smooth slider. The W850i is another entry into Sony Ericsson’s expanding line of walkman mobile phones which provides users with the functionality of a digital music player merged into one device.
Users can download music which they can then enjoy listening to on their Sony Ericsson W850i mobile phone. The device supports both the popular MP3 and ACC music formats. The Sony Ericsson W850i only comes with 16 megabytes of shared memory but users can expand their storage space by taking advantage of the memory stick duo pro expansion slot.
Aside from music features the device also offers users a built in 2 megapixel camera that has flash to improve image quality. To really make this phone unique, a second camera is built into the phone which provides a video call feature so you can actually see who you are talking to and vice versa.
The Sony Ericsson W850i is one of the thicker mobile phones available at 21mm. The device is also 98mm long and 47mm wide and weighs around 116 grams. The device comes packaged with a battery that will provide users up to 7 hours of talk time and 350 hours on standby.
Some users may struggle with the unusual layout of buttons on the Sony Ericsson W850i as they are rather small compared with other similar walkman phones offered by Sony Ericsson. The phone overall is intuitive which may help make up for the problem.
February 8th, 2009 | Mobile Technology
In today’s world, technology is evolving by the minute. Few players in the technology industry across the board are able to keep up with this pace. Indeed, people are becoming more and more enlightened about technological advances. And with so much information available at the consumer disposal, the gauntlet has been thrown to the technology companies. One company that has never shied away from such a challenge is Intel Corporation.
Ever since venturing into the processor market, the company has been a pace and trend setter in the mobile processor segment. Intel mobile processors have been used in computers and gaming devices for a long time now. Most top of the range laptops and gaming consoles make use of the Intel Mobile Processors.
However, not satisfied to rest on its past glory, Intel Corporal has invested huge sums of money in research and development. That investment has not gone to waste. The company recently unveiled an expanded processors portfolio of a new line of Intel mobile processors. Some of the processors that have been added to Intel mobile processor portfolio include the following:
1. Intel Core 2 Extreme mobile processor
2. Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad Core Processor
3. Intel Core 2 Extreme Dual-Core Processor
The range of processors listed above is a dream come true for every computer game enthusiast or any technologically savvy individuals. Any device powered by any of Intel mobile processors guarantees energy efficiency and brute power, as well as unmatched multimedia applications. Apart from these, the Intel mobile processors can be used to run complex mathematical programs. Crunching numbers has never been faster and easier.
February 6th, 2009 | Blackberry, Mobile Phone Reviews
The Blackberry Curve 8320 features a variety of great features that will help the user stay organized. The device include a few bonus features like a built in camera phone but this type of mobile phone really makes its mark with connectivity and organization features.
The Blackberry Curve 8320 features a 312 MHz processor. The new trackball navigation helps to make this device easier to use than previous models. Also helping to make the Curve 8320 easier to use is its full QWERTY keyboard. Typing emails and text messages has never been easier.
This mobile phone from Blackberry is attractive and maintains a reasonable size. The Curve 8320 is 107mm long by 60mm wide and is 15.5mm thick. The device weighs 111 grams. Users can expect to get up to 4 hours of talk time and 17 days on standby out of the battery that comes with the mobile phone.
The Blackberry Curve 8320 does offer a 2 megapixel built in camera which is rare in the Blackberry line of mobile phones. The drawback of the camera is that it is unable to capture video.
Users will also notice that this phone lacks support for 3G networks which might be a drawback to this particular device. One benefit that the phone does offer is built in Wi-Fi supporting 802.11b/g networks.
The standard Blackberry functionality is included with the Curve 8320 including a nice web browser, email support, and a variety of text messaging options that users will be able to take advantage of.
February 3rd, 2009 | Wireless Security, Wireless Technology
A wireless network connection is prone to attack from various sources. Because of this, it is good practice to implement measures to ensure the fidelity of your wireless network and minimise the chances of such attacks. This article will provide you with a number of things you can do in order to protect your home wireless network.
Disabling the network name – SSID broadcast
By default, a wireless network broadcasts the network name (SSID) at regular intervals. This feature was intended for application by business and mobile hotspot clients who browse both within and out of range. However, the application is not necessary in a home wireless network and only increases the risk of unauthorised login on your home network. Disabling this feature will go a long way in enhancing the security of your home network.
Avoid Auto-Connecting to Open Wi-Fi Networks
Open wireless networks include free wireless hotspots. By connecting to such hotspots, you expose your computer to a security threat and to attack. Most computers are set to allow connection to hotspots, without confirmation from the user. Disabling the feature can eliminate the risk of exposing your computer to attacks via this route.
Assigning Static IP Addresses to Devices
Dynamic IP addresses are the preferred choice for most home wireless networkers. This is mainly due to the fact that DHCP is easy to configure. However, this can turn out to be a great undoing, in that the simplicity of the DHCP set-up is a great advantage to network attackers; who can easily gain access to your IP addresses from the network’s DHCP pool. To enhance your home wireless network you should set up a fixed IP address and then turn-off the DHCP on the router/hub. You can then configure each piece of hardware, on your wireless network, to match your private IP address range. The use of private IP address range prevents Internet based attacks.
January 31st, 2009 | Mobile Phone Reviews, iPhone
The new 3G iPhone from Apple is one of the most talked about mobile phones to hit the market. The second generation iPhone from Apple now provides users with 3G support which has been widely praised. The slim and attractive design of this phone appeals to the tastes of many people.
The one feature that truly separates the iPhone from its competitors is that, instead of just being designed as a mobile phone, it was also designed to function like the popular iPod. While many mobile phones have digital music player capabilities, the lure of the simple to use iPod interface may be too great for some to resist.
The iPhone is fairly compact. It is 115.5mm long by 62.1mm wide and it is 12.3mm thick. The device also weighs 133 grams. The battery life is between 5 to 10 hours of talk time depending on whether the user is taking advantage of the 3G network or not. Standby time is estimated at 300 hours.
The Apple iPhone 3G comes in 2 different colours, black and white. There are also two different models that users can choose from. One model has 8 gigabytes of internal memory and the other has 16 gigabytes of memory but with a larger price tag.
For added convenience, the Apple iPhone 3G also has built in Wi-Fi which supports 802.11b/g networks. Other features that are included with the phone are a 2 megapixel built in camera and assisted GPS so you can avoid getting lost again.
January 28th, 2009 | Mobile Technology, Sony Ericsson
Each day there are millions of people who use mobile technology to carry out various tasks. Mobile technology has brought about a social change in the way we do certain things. Take mobile banking for instance. You can easily carry out various banking tasks, both enquiry and transaction, using your mobile device. Or, take the case of Google mobile. It makes available certain features and applications, including features like Google maps, which assists you to move around with ease.
It is a fact that more and more businesses would like to employ the mobile device as a means of reaching their target market. The application of mobile marketing would have a further reaching impact than ecommerce. This is largely due to the number of mobile handsets holders available. This has made it necessary for the introduction of domain suffixes (mobile domains) for mobile devices. As a step towards achieving the mobile domain goal, a company known as Mobile Top Level Domain has been put in charge by the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to allocate mobile domain names and open mobile domain name registration. The company receives funding from a consortium of companies in the mobile technology industry, both hardware and software. Some of the companies that have formed the consortium include Google, Microsoft, Samsung Electronics, T-Mobile and Ericsson.
The establishment of mobile domains, or dot-mobi, is meant to change the browsing experience and thus make it attractive to browse the net using your mobile device. A mobile domain name is meant to eliminate the use of a long Wireless Applications Protocol (WAP) address to access a website from a mobile device. A dot-mobi or mobile domain will enable you to know which sites are optimized for mobile devices.
January 24th, 2009 | Wireless Security, Wireless Technology
Many articles have been written on ways of protecting your wireless networks from hackers and other Internet based attacks. Most of these methods are too complicated and need a networking guru to implement. This article will provide you with three easy measures you can apply to protect your home wireless network from unauthorised login and attacks from hackers.
Run firewall software for each computer and router in your wireless network
Ensure that the firewall capability on your routers is always enabled and turned on. For extra protection and to provide backup to the manufacturer’s firewall, you should also run personal firewall software on each PC connected to the hub router.
Find a strategic point to place the hub to prevent signal overflow
You should try to prevent the signal from your home wireless network leaking outdoors. A strong signal can easily be picked and accessed by hackers located outside your home. When configuring a home network the hub should be placed away from windows and should gravitate towards the centre of the house. This will reduce the amount of signal leaking outside, as walls and other obstacles quickly diminish the signal’s strength.
Don’t leave the wireless signal on when the system is not being used
What better way to deter hackers and other attackers from accessing your network than by switching it off? This is the ultimate security measure. It is good practice to switch off your wireless network during prolonged periods of inactivity. Since it will not be sending out any signals, it will be immune to attacks.
January 21st, 2009 | Mobile Phone Reviews, Sony Ericsson
The new Sony Ericsson W980 is an addition to their Walkman line and is packed full of features to make this an invaluable music player. This Sony Ericsson mobile phone offers more advanced features than are typically found on similar devices and this will certainly help make it a popular option.
This addition to the range is one of the few Sony Ericsson mobile phones in the Walkman series that is a clamshell design rather than a bar. The device is 92mm long x 46mm wide x 16.9mm thick and weighs 100g. All functions of the Walkman can be operated from the front screen, without having to open up the phone.
The Sony Ericsson W980 comes with a standard battery that should allow approximately 9 hours of talk time and 370 hours on standby. The phone also has 8 gigabytes of internal memory where you can store digital music files and photographs.
The Sony Ericsson W980 was specifically designed to play music without distorting the quality of the sound and it comes with stereo headphones, to allow users to really take advantage of this feature. There are eight controls to optimise sound quality, including bass and an equaliser.
Another fun feature on this Sony Ericsson W980 is that it has a built in FM transmitter. That means that you can transmit songs to a friend’s phone, as long as it has a built in FM receiver, so you can share your favourite music.
