Wi-Fi Records Highest Volume Ever.( By David Utter)

First quarter figures for worldwide wireless LAN equipment see 12.2 million units shipped.Revenue for Wi-Fi rose 20 percent to $767.6 million USD for the first quarter, according to Infonetics Research. This figure should rise another 2 percent by the first quarter of next year.Wireless LAN switch ports rose 44% to 112,000; revenue grew 13% to $52.2 million and is expected to jump to $699.2 million by 2008."The demand for wireless broadband routers continues unabated, driven by the possibilities of wireless home networking," said Richard Webb, lead analyst of the report.The report cited the adoption of media downloads and file-sharing applications by consumers as driving demand among broadband users."And with 802.11n and even faster throughput speeds on the horizon, the wireless router segment will ride the crest of the global broadband wave," Mr. Webb said.

Internet Cell Phone Deals – How to Take Advantage of Them. ( by Jaye E. Seay)

The internet can be a great place to buy your next cell phone. How many times have you been in the mall and were harassed by some pushy wireless telephone dealer? The internet store is a sharp contrast to this type of environment. On the internet, you can take your time, research a particular phone, and search for the best deals. In addition to this, internet dealers generally have better cell phone deals than their brick and mortar competitors. But how do you take advantage of these better deals?In 2004, the government approved number portability. Number portability allows you to keep your cell phone number, even if you switch carriers. The implications of this are crucial for taking advantage of internet cell phone deals.Internet dealers often offer some very innovative and high end cell phones for free after rebate. However, to receive these offers, you must also sign up for a new cell phone plan. If you want to stay with your current carrier, you must sign up for a new phone number along with the new phone plan. This is because number portability is carrier to carrier (not inter-carrier). Although you could upgrade your phone and keep your number and carrier, this would not qualify you for most internet offers. The alternative is to keep your cell phone number (through number portability) and switch carriers. However, if you choose this option, make sure that you are not under contract with your current provider or you could stand to face a hefty termination charge.Nevertheless, there are many quality carriers in the marketplace. Switching carriers should not be that troublesome. Therefore, these internet cell phone deals have great value for the consumer. Often, these phones that you can get free after rebate would cost you more than $200 as an upgrade. As a savvy cell phone consumer, you could select two carriers that you are comfortable with and switch between the two every one or two years (and receive a high quality cell phone free after rebate) in the process. The internet marketplace holds great value for the cell phone consumer. Take advantage of these great internet cell phone deals.
About the Author
Jaye Seay is an MBA candidate at Howard University in Washington, DC. He is also the owner of http://www.8ballwireless.com/, a website that offers consumers information, reviews, and links to the best internet cell phone deals

Bluetooth Now Poised To Fulfill Its Promise By Raymond Klesc

No question about it, Bluetooth is very handy thanks to its improved integration with computers, cell phones and automobiles.When Bluetooth first appeared about five years ago, the hype far outstripped its usefulness. The ability to eliminate the tangles of cords and cables was very alluring. Unfortunately, cost and complexity almost brought the technology to its knees.Now its back, alive and well, fulfilling its promise as a useful tool in a variety of settings.Europe was its early adopter and it is standard on nearly all European cell phones. They have adopted Bluetooth enabled phones, laptops, wireless keyboards, mice and more.Sexy Headsets:Cingular and T-Mobile wireless carriers use the same technology as their European counterparts and thus offer Bluetooth enabled devices for their customers. Bluetooth is rarer from Sprint and Verizon Communications which are based on North American technologies.
One major boost for adoption of Bluetooth enabled mobile phones will come from State and local governments. Many new laws and ordinances have been adopted or are in various stages of implementation that will levy fines for driving and using a hand held cell phone. The push for hands-free calling will move Bluetooth forward in the marketplace.Acura TL now offers Bluetooth integrated into the automobile allowing the driver to use the cars stereo system as a speakerphone and displays information on the dashboard. Bluetooth car kits are now available from Motorola, Nokia, Parrot and others for about $100.Early teething problems included high cost and poor battery life and made it unattractive for handsets. But now Logitech's Mobile Bluetooth handset can be had for about $50. The $140 Jabra BT800, which lets you control many cell-phone functions on the headset, offers six hours of talk time and five days of standby. After that, you can recharge by running a USB cable from the headset into a laptop so you don't need to take a charger with you. A headset on the way from Plantronics will come with adapters that allow charging from most phone adapters or from an AA battery.
Bluetooth Linking:Beyond mobile phones, Bluetooth is beginning to make inroads into other aspects of wireless communication. Although Windows support is somewhat primitive by current standards, the technology is standard on Apple Macintoshes and optional on other products. Apple uses the latest, faster version of Bluetooth. If Mac detects a Bluetooth enabled keyboard and mouse during startup, it will link to them automatically.PalmOne is also a big supporter of Bluetooth. PalmOne's software overcomes most of the Windows difficulties and allows their handheld devices to sync and swap files with a Windows laptop over Bluetooth. Making sync work with a new Mac PowerBook is even easier. As for Microsoft's primitive Bluetooth world, it is possible to get a Pocket PC to sync with Windows over Bluetooth, but is only for the technically savvy.Bluetooth Worth Waiting For:Bluetooth still falls short. Early promoters envisioned that you would be able to walk up to a printer with your laptop of PDA, click a button, and print. We're still waiting for that one. Bluetooth printers are rare but we can assume that the advent of Bluetooth enabled digital camera phones will spur this technology further and make for easy printing of those treasured moments.The technology savvy users are an impatient lot. If it doesn't catch on right away they move on to something newer and different. If anything, Bluetooth has proven that acceptance can take a while. But isn't it worth the wait?We technology watchers are an impatient lot who tend to give up on anything that doesn't catch on right away. Bluetooth has proved once again that acceptance can take a long time -- and that sometimes it's worth the wait.

Finding a Quality T1 Service Provider

Looking for a t1 service provider is about as fun as looking for a used car. There are so many carriers and so many sales pitches you have to sit through just to get a piece of information. Tired of the used car salesman approach? An independent agent can help reduce the number ofconversations you have with carriers by asking you about your specific needs and searching through multiple providers to get the service that is right for you. The agent helps steer clear of the bias you will receive when speaking with one vendor as the agent will be paid no matter which service you choose. If you happen to be searching for a dedicated voice T1, the agent will give you quotes for dedicated voice T1's for multiple service providers.
While an agent can get you the information you're looking for without the pushy approach of a single carrier there is typically a delay between the time you have your conversation and the time you get your information. Agents and brokers can sometimes take several days to search the providers, send e-mails and get responses to your specific needs. The advantage, however, is that you don't have to do the searching you can go about you business and have someone else do this free of charge.
Want a step up from the average agent? An agent who carries no bias for one particular carrier AND gives immediate feedback! While this was not possible a few months ago, we have found a service that can offer real time information on many T1 service providers. A real time quote gives you information NOW. There is no waiting to find pricing. Simply enter your information and compare pricing immediately. Real time pricing will do for telecommunications shopping what Expedia and Travelocity did for travel. So why wait? If you're searching for a T1 line make sure you use a broker that can help you with your search in real time.

Top 10 Reasons to Shop With Us

May 4, 2005 - Shopping for DSL lines is not easy. You perform a search in your favorite search engine and you see millions of pages, all of which claim to save you money. In reality what your are seeing are a bunch of internet marketing entrepreneurs who know little about dedicated service at all. They create simple HTML forms that look like they have been programmed by a seventh grade student which captures your information, and either sends it to every vendor in the universe or some in-house former used-car salesman who will sell you whatever will pay him the biggest bonus. The internet is littered with this garbage, confusing customers and leaving a sour taste in their collective mouth. What started out as a search for competitively priced dedicated services has turned into a circus!
In 2002 my partner, Adam Edwards, and I decided to take the road less traveled. We realized early on that in order to create an online experience that was worthy of your time, we needed to provide information you can use - not your typical "enter your information here and we'll get back to you" elementary page. In order to do this, we invested a full year researching all of the different DSL providers in order to understand their pricing models, many of which were created long before we were born. Based on information we extracted from this research, we invested heavily in complex programming that would allow us to calculate loop prices, or the cost that the local phone companies pass on to the dedicated service providers for access to their network. This cost varies by mile, by market, and by geographic region of the country. Once we rolled up our sleeves and performed extensive testing, we called our product 'GeoQuote' and released it to the public on this very web site in 2003. We are currently in the process of patenting this unique technology.
In this year alone, 201,101 unbiased real-time quotes have been created by online shoppers just like you. Instead of waiting for days to even see pricing, we give it to you in just seconds.
Don't be fooled by the imitators! Since we launched our site two years ago, many have attempted to copy our concept, our business model, and even our domain name! It's amazing how in-style real-time shopping has become, especially considering that the reaction we received by our vendors when we divulged our plans to create GeoQuote. Some of the reactions we received include "that can't be done - it's never been done before" and "that is an interesting business model". Now these same vendors have become believers, and our very best partners.
Change has been embraced. Thousands of lines have been sold. The way people shop for broadband services will never be the same.
As we go forward, our goal is to continually improve our product, our site, our knowledge of the industry and products, and most of all, to build a bond with you - our customer - that will last for years to come. Earning your trust is what we do here. Saving you money is how we keep it.

Verizon DSL Offerings

Most of us have been taught that by cutting out the middle man we can save money, but is that all you save? When it comes to internet access and phone service working with the Incumbents or Baby Bells is a mixed bag. Certainly there are competitive companies that can give you the same or better phone service than the Baby Bells which suffer from years of a monopolistic market but is it the same for internet service?
DSL service is actually quite different than phone service. Besides the obvious difference of one being data and one being voice, competitive carriers generally use their own equipment which is kept at the phone company's facilities. In this case, asking your phone company to make changes to your service is dependant on your phone company and depending on how smoothly they run their operations you could have a very pleasant experience. Internet service, however is different. Many baby bells resell their service which is then sold under a different name. You may be buying internet access and not realize that you're really buying Verizon DSL under another name.
In cases where companies purchase Verizon DSL and resell it under their own name, many of the advantages of changing carriers disappear. If the carrier does not own their equipment they will need to contact the provider to make any changes and as they are not the provider you have added another layer of complexity to any request you may have. Is it really worth the $5 or $10 you're saving by going with a competitor? Often times it's not. Think about cutting out the middle man when looking for internet service. If you know the company is simply reselling Verizon DSL, why not just go with the source?

Cheap DSL Service

DSL Service offers residential customers high speed internet access for a very reasonable rate. Many people don't realize that DSL speeds of 1.5Mbps are the same as T1 speeds which top out at 1.5Mbps. What's the difference? To start with…the price. DSL costs $35 per month on average where a full T1 usually costs $400 or $500 if you're in a metro location and up to $1,000 per month if you're in a rural location. Why the high cost for T1 service without the extra speed? A T1 gives reliable service and is not shared with other subscribers or oversubscribed the way DSL is. Because it is not a shared service it carries a high cost.
DSL service offers a slightly less reliable service for a fraction of the cost. If you already have DSL Service you may have noticed that it's fast at some times and slower at other times. This is because it's oversubscribed. Oversubscription means that many people are pulling from the same resource. During the afternoon when people are at work there may be plenty of bandwidth to have, but in the evening when everyone is looking up the news, going through e-mail, or shopping online, access tends to be strained. Many people pulling from the same limited resource will find that there's only so much to go around. What does this mean to you? Slow speeds occasionally in peak traffic hours.
Most residential users' biggest concern is price and that's why DSL Service is so popular among them. A few slow periods are a small price to pay for a 90% discount if you're using the service at home.