It was only recently that I got exposed to having almost all devices in the house connected together. One laptop functions as a media server. We play music and videos via the laptop and use the HDTV as the monitor. It’s pretty handy, especially with other portable devices being used to access/control the laptop. It’s a pretty good setup, although not quite perfect: we still have kilometers and kilometers of wires.

While it probably won’t solve the entire problem of wires, the recently launched D-Link MainStage^TM for Intel® Wireless Display (DHD-131) just might make things better in any household that has a heavy ‘media consumption”. This WiDi device is a tiny non-descript gadget that will fit in the palm of your hand. If you look at the photo above, it is easy to see just how simple it looks. Honestly, my first thought when I saw it was that it reminded me of a smooth-edged monolith. ¹

This monolith-like gadget does not hold much in terms of mystery, though. What it does has pretty much been announced by D-Link and hyped up even. The MainStage^TM connects to an HDTV via an HDMI cable or an A/V cable. The device then connects to a wireless router, which can then be used to stream media from any laptop. Think 1080p. Think 5.1 surround sound.

With this setup, you have more freedom as to where you place your laptop. This is more practical for those who don’t have much living space and who may not have a dedicated laptop for media purposes; and even if you do have a dedicated laptop, the removal of one set of wires might very well be worth it. One thing’s for sure – the device is worth considering.

This gadget will set you back around USD130. It is currently available in the US and will be released in Canada next month. For those in other parts of the world, you can visit D-Link’s online store.

Via The Digital LIfestyle

1. The kind that was described in Arthur C. Clarke’s Space Odyssey

Whenever I travel, I make plenty sure that the location I travel to will have reliable and pervasive wireless internet access. I don’t care if I have to pay or piggyback, I just can’t get there and discover that there’s no internet service. Doesn’t work. The internet has become attached to my body like another organ. I simply can’t live without it.

So when my wife and I started planning for our next vacation we made WiFi access a priority. Where is the best, most relaxing location to go on vacation, where, at any moments notice, I can still hop on the net for about 2 hours each day? We considered Ireland and Italy at first, but quickly realized that in both of those countries you are traveling so much between cities that you can’t guarantee a consistent signal. Plus, the airfare is prohibitive. We prefer cheap holidays if you know what I mean. A vacation is supposed to ease your mind, not make you tense worrying about the bank account. All things considered, we calculated that a vacation in the Americas would be best. Just not the United States. We really need to get out of the country on this trip.

So, after much research and discussion we decided that our two vacation desiderata (steady WiFi and cost effective) would be best met by any number of 10 day Caribbean holidays. For one thing, the options are numerous. We could do an all-inclusive. We could do a cruise. What we discovered is that no matter what we choose to do, a Carribbean vacation saves us thousands of dollars on airfare and guaranteed WiFi connections. Unlike a European vacation (which we had initially preferred) a Caribean holiday is a more controlled holiday. And that’s really what we want out of our vacation: worry free beaches, blue seas, warm sun and (my favorite) sipping margaritas.

If this rumor is true, then this is going to be the ultimate portable notebook.

From Tech Ticker:

Dell Latitude Z was leaked in June and till date we maintain that it looks hot. Now the word comes from Forbes is that Latitude Z will get its official unveiling in the coming weeks along with an interesting feature.

The Latitude Z will support wireless charging. How it works is still a mystery but we can expect something on the lines of previous concepts like Wildcharge or Palm’s Touchstone.

I’m pretty sure that the charging will be kind of a hassle more than an advantage, but whatever will push us more towards full wireless charging for ultimate portability, I’m for it.

I discovered this limitation when I decided to accompany my wife in one of her errands as a magazine editor. She needed to visit a number of commercial shops and look for items that can be featured in her magazine. Hoping that this would be a great way to spend some time with her while at the same time catch up with work, I decided to join her. The plan was for her to walk around these establishments while I go look for a coffee shop where I can work. Good idea, right?

It wasn’t. The commercial area we went too didn’t have a hotspot and the one area that did have Wi-Fi was restricted to subscribers of a Wi-Fi service. I was well and truly screwed. This incident really drove home the convenience of having a ready internet connection wherever you go. Subscriptions to a Wi-Fi service is really not a good idea because it is still dependent on an available hotspot. This made me really see the value of HSDPA based internet connections. With just a small gadget plugged to your lappie, you can access the internet literally wherever you are — in the car, in the middle of a mall, even on the beach! As long as the area is within range of a mobile network you’ve got internet.

With the level of mobility that my work requires from me especially in the near future HSDPA will give me the productivity edge that I need.

D-Link recently released a new gaming router that offers a number of really cool features. The D-Link Xtreme N Gaming Router can operate at the draft 802.11n standard (which makes it somewhat futureproof) and also possesses GameFuel technology as well as a nifty little OLED screen.

The new router boasts of having a quality-of-service technology. This means that the router will automatically give priority to gaming related traffic. It is also optimized for the gaming requirements not only for PC games but also for the Xbox and PlayStation gaming consoles. The OLED screen is quite useful because it gives users a quick view of network statistics, the devices that are connected to the router as well as other important information.

The  D-Link Xtreme N Gaming Router (model number DGL-4500) will sell for a $239.99.

Alltel Wireless, just last week, launched its own WiFi service that caters to customers in North and South America. The new WiFi service will be powered by Boingo Wireless.

The Arkansas based company now ooffers WiFi and EVDO Wireless Internet package that offers both unlimited WiFi access from any of its hotspot. The price starts at just $9.99 a month, which is on top of the customer’s wireless internet plan. There is also a prepaid service in the form of prepaid WiFi cards that are available in Alltel Wireless stores. The values available is $19.99 a week or $9.99 a day.

Alltel officials said the new product offering is in line with its goal to provide customers various ways of connecting to the internet. The decision of Alltel to come out with a WiFi product came just a few weeks from Nokia’s own announcement that it will be offering a new phone that has built in WiFi capabilities. The Nokia 6301 will use UMA technology that will give users the ability to use either a GSM network or a wireless LAN.

But Samsung has been steadfast in their commitment and they have now released the Q1 Ultra — which is a vast improvement over the previous model. It sports an 800 mhz Intel processor, Windows Vista, and connectivity to cellular networks. It also has a webcam. All these features have been squeezed into a form factor that only weighs 1.5 pounds. Of course, Samsung addressed the biggest gripe about the Q1 by adding a keyboard to the Ultra. Oh, and there is also the standard bluetooth and WiFi connectivity as well as a nifty 1.3 megapixel camera at the back.

Overall, the Q1 Ultra is a great device to own if you are the type who loves to surf and type out small emails to friends or even make mobile phone calls. It basically serves as specific set of functions — and it does them well. It will not, however, replace your notebook computer in terms of features and usability.

The airline company has recently announced that it will begin tests for the deployment of inflight broadband internet access by 2008. The tests will initially be conducted on American Airlines’ transcontinental routes. The service is going to be fee based and will also block video conferencing and VOIP services so that these internet tasks will not disrupt ground to air communications. Also, this particular service will only be available in US flights because of the nature of the technology being used.

1. Tone the brightness of your screen down.
   When running in battery mode, tone the brightness of your screen down. Sure we all love our newest widescreen notebook and its TrueBright^TM,X-Black^TM, TrueLife^TM screen with the awesome contrast. But trust me, the huge, high contrast bright monitor you have is one of the most battery resourceful components on your notebook.
   ‘It doesn’t look that nice!’ I hear you, but it’s more a matter of getting used too than look nice. Within only some hours, you can get used to the lower contrast settings, why not apply them when plugged in as well. Soon you won’t remember the bright days anymore. :)
2. Avoid using the optical drive.
   CD and DVD drive are really power hungry and will quickly drain your battery, no matter if your recording or just reading. If you need to save on an external device, use a USB stick. Before offering someone to burn a CD, ask if they have a USB drive or an iPod even. This goes faster and saves lots of energy.
3. Turn of Bluetooth.
   If you have Bluetooth installed in your notebook, turn it off when possible. The Bluetooth receiver/transmitter scans non stop the neighborhood for present/new devices.
4. Turn of your WiFi.
   Turn of your WiFi chip when ever possible. Like the Bluetooth module, your wireless device also permanently communicates with the neighborhood and other network devices. Many times you don’t need to be permanently online. Use one of the tools mentioned in previous entries.
   Google Gears automatically recognizes when you’re offline, Windows Writer (or MS Word/Open Office) perfectly do the job when you need to type text. Thunderbird will download and upload all your mail at once. Limit your online time as much as possible and synchronize all your documents in the smallest period of time. Google Reader, Thunderbird can run in the background when you upload your texts, letters to Google Docs&Spreadsheets or any collaboration suite.
5. Charge your battery when you don’t use your notebook.
   Still today most devices are made to use the battery whenever there’s a battery inserted. Even when you’re plugged in, you’ll still use the battery. Batteries still suffer the memory effect. You don’t believe me? They don’t suffer the lazy battery effect anymore? How come that battery manufacturers only provide 6 months warranty, even in countries such as Germany where a 2 year warranty period legally required is?
   Grow a new routine in your life : learn to remove your battery as soon as you are plugged even. Put it back when you go to sleep or leave the office. Even if it’s cumbersome. Best even would be to get an external battery charger if there is one for your model.

If anyone else has good tips to improve the battery life of notebooks, please leave them in the comments.
I can think of one more tip, a double tip actually : deactivate unnecessary background services, create hardware profiles for mobile usage. Many background services are not needed. Maybe I might digg deeper in to this subject in a near future. :)

]]> http://www.havelaptopwilltravel.com/5-tips-to-improve-the-battery-life-of-your-laptop/feed/ 1 http://www.havelaptopwilltravel.com/social-wifi-a-new-kind-of-network/ http://www.havelaptopwilltravel.com/social-wifi-a-new-kind-of-network/#comments Mon, 11 Jun 2007 09:07:53 +0000 franky http://www.havelaptopwilltravel.com/social-wifi-a-new-kind-of-network/ Ever since the first days of wireless networking, mobile computing, sharing someone’s wireless internet connection has been popular. Wardriving has been a popular sport and I know many IT freaks who have their wireless connection activated where ever they go, trying to capture a signal.

In our days, most networks still are unsecured and open to anyone who wants to connect.
But with the rise in social networks we also see a new kind of networking : social wireless networking. People who knowingly share their wireless internet access with other users, members of communities.
What networks are there. What communities to join as laptop user and do they really help?

Fon was one of the first social wireless networks. Wifi for everyone, everyone ready to buy a new modem configured by Fon. La Fonera, Fon’s wireless router provides free and safe access to anyone, but also offers the network provider safety.
Fon maintains worldwide maps of every available Fonera, hot spot for its members. Although the idea and level of control under Fon interesting is, I suppose having to buy a new router, just to offer everyone access could turn off most people in a long run.

Whisher is another free social wireless network. Participation to Whisher is free and no acquisition of any hardware is needed. To participate to Whisher, a software application needs to be installed. The Whisher suite offers network owners an advanced level of sharing configuration and allows the owners to restrict their access to only friends within the network. Just as Fon, Whisher also maps the location of the hot spots worldwide.

Last, and probably most interesting, social wireless network is Wefi. Wefi is free and software based. Contrary to both other networks, the main focus of Wefi is mainly the application itself.
Strength of Wefi is that they created a network scanner allowing very easy connection to the user, a much needed tool even in Windows Vista days. Even if users don’t want to participate to the social features of Wefi, such as mapping the whole world wide wireless world for future users, they can always just the software application as a network discovery tool. Wefi will find all available open networks and allow you to connect to them (hopefully there’s no MAC filter protection enabled, as is on my routers), basically offering you the basic discovery mode of NetStumbler, every wardriver’s best friend.

If you travel regularly or are always on the road with your laptop, those tools, especially Wefi, can be a required addition to your software collection. Unless you’re a real nerd, like me , and prefer to stick to good ole Netstumbler.

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