Gizmodo: base station

Handlink Wi-Fi Base Station: Quick Net Access at Drop of a Coin

Kit Eaton — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 06:16:00 EDT

This gizmo from Handlink is clearly aimed at hotels, coffee shops and other public places where you may need net access, and you can't argue with the thinking in its design. Simply pop in some coins, grab the printout with your time-limited access codes, and then connect up your notebook, or phone to its 802.11b/g service. Kind of the retro-future public payphone of the internet era, it saves time from all that messing about you sometimes have to do in internet cafes. Useful if you're without credit cards, I guess. [RegHardware]

Software Radios Boost Crappy Cellphone Reception Cheap and Easy

Sean Fallon — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 20:10:06 EST

Mid-Tex Cellular systems out of De Leon, Texas is currently running both GSM and CDMA network using a software-based radio system on nine of of their cellular towers. Because the Vanu, Inc. designed software can be upgraded easily, there is no need for costly new hardware when supporting new or incompatible networks. If this technology is widely adopted, cellphone carriers will be able to upgrade and adjust to new standards more cheaply and users will see bigger, better, and possibly cheaper coverage.

Currently, Vanu is looking to expand their business outside of Texas with 200 towers set to go up in Alaska. They have also announced a prototype of a "femtocell" device —a base station of sorts for a single house or office. The plan is to use the device with the 700-MHz spectrum band that is coming up for auction from the FCC in January 2008. [Wired]

Tok Tak MP3 Player Looks Like Audio Jack, Comes with Base Station

AddyDugdale — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 05:38:26 EST

Ah, holidays. Spend a couple of weeks on a faraway island, where the words "internet" and "connection" are met with baffled stares, and it's easy to forget what one's purpose in life actually is. And then you come across a concept gizmo like the Tok Tak and it all comes flooding back: The Giz! Her readers! Hot Verdommer and Eek-a-poos, I'd better get back to work before the editor realises that I didn't just nip out to get a packet of fags from the store. Designed by Tae-won Kim, the Tok Tak looks like an audio jack but is actually a basic MP3 player concept that comes with a base station — which, judging by the photo below, looks a bit like Tae-won got his inspiration from gazing at a smoke detector.

See what I mean? It's quite a neat concept, though (if you don't mind looking like an idjut who wanders around wearing earphones plugged into nothing) — plug the jack into the smoke alarm and, as well as recharging and uploading new tunes onto the player, it converts into a speaker unit with joystick controller. [Yanko]

Sony Planning to Drop $30 LocationFree License Fee

Sean Fallon — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 21:00:38 EST

According to Maximum PC, sometime between now and the end of the month Sony will formally announce the end of their obnoxious $30 LocationFree PC serial key license fee (rhyming!). Currently, if you want to install the software on multiple PCs you would have to cough up the extra dough. The move is believed to be in response to the stiff competition Sony faces from companies like Sling Media, who have always offered software for their Slingbox free of charge. [Maximum PC]