wireless

With four new cell phones in the last three months, Samsung and Verizon Wireless clearly have become quite chummy lately. We've seen the QWERTY keyboard SCH-U740, the V Cast Mobile TV-capable SCH-U620, the 3G SCH-U540, and the low-end SCH-U340. And now it appears the two companies will round out their portfolios even more, with the new Samsung SCH-U410.

Sporting a rather generic flip phone design, the SCH-U410 doesn't offer an eye-popping feature set but it's not exactly a lightweight either. According to Mobiledia you'll find a VGA camera, Bluetooth, a speakerphone, voice dialing, and support for … Read more

Alltel Wireless has partnered with Frog Design and eMusic to offer Jump Music, a free application for transferring music from your PC to your cell phone.

Similar to the iTunes Music Store model, consumers can navigate to eMusic directly from the Jump Music interface and purchase songs from eMusic's vast catalog of DRM-free MP3s. New Jump Music users can take advantage of a special introductory offer of 35 free eMusic songs. All this, and you can transfer your existing music collection to your cell phone as well. It's initially compatible with only five Alltel phones: the LG AX8600, … Read more

No, it's not a bike helmet. Quite the opposite in a way, because that implies way more activity than we're accustomed to. That's why this item is dedicated to the "LawnBott," a gadget close to our artery-hardened heart because it allows us to further our pursuit of laziness.

A kind of Roomba for grass, this gadget mows the lawn for up to four hours and conveniently returns itself to its recharging dock, never interrupting a single mint julep in the process. Have a big lawn, you say? Not a problem: The LawnBott covers 33,000 square feet … Read more

The Samsung SCH-U540 adds another EV-DO phone to Verizon's lineup. Inside the slim design is support for the carrier's V Cast streaming video service, a music player, Bluetooth, and a speakerphone. On the other hand, performance was a bit up and down as we've detailed in our full review. Also, see the slide show for a full gallery of SCH-U540 photos.

Back in March, I reviewed Arriva's sports headphones, which feature a unique cord design that does a remarkable job of keeping the headphones' earbuds securely in your ears. The fledgling company hinted that it would be creating "wireless" headphones for Apple's second-generation iPod Shuffle, and we now have our first concept photo of what the headphones will look like. The irony is that the headphones aren't wireless in the traditional sense (Bluetooth, IR, or RF), but they simply have the tiny Shuffle II integrated into the headphones at the back of your neck.

Arriva's … Read more

With so many wireless headphones available, one might wonder why anyone would want something like the "TV Hear" remote speaker. Basically, it's a wireless "personal" speaker with a 30-foot range that lets you listen to the telly without disturbing a sleeping spouse or anyone else within earshot of average volumes.

But some people still like to hear things in the open air, and Brookstone says there are other uses for this speaker, such as listening to the TV while you "bounce from room to room--trying to cook dinner, for example, while catching the evening … Read more

If you're curious about adding security to your wireless home network, check out our new security slide show, where I've posted some simple procedures such as changing the default password to your router, changing your SSID, adding WEP or WPA encryption, and, finally, whether you want to filter by MAC address devices (laptops, mobiles, and so forth) that have access your network. In this example I use a Linksys Wireless-G WRT54GS router plugged into a Dell XPS 600 desktop running Windows XP, but the basic steps can be modified for other routers and other Windows operating systems.

You'd think summer had already arrived, given the recent spate of frolick-worthy products ranging from pool-dwelling jellyfish to splash-proof LCDs, not to mention at least two types of iPod-enabled grills.

But if all you want to do is enjoy your music wirelessly in the open air--and feel good about it, ecologically--then something like the "Outdoor Wireless Solar Speaker" might be in order. This cord-free acoustic device can work up to 150 feet from your stereo or computer, lasting as long as eight hours after each solar charge.

Just be sure that your microwave and land lines don'… Read more

Today, Verizon Wireless and Research In Motion officially announced the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition, a dualmode CDMA/GSM smart phone designed for those who frequently travel overseas for business or pleasure. Like the Samsung SCH-i730, the 8830 comes with a SIM card and automatically switches between CDMA and GSM networks to offer seamless international roaming. This allows you to get voice coverage in 157 countries (22 of those on CDMA) and e-mail coverage in 62 countries. The device is also EV-DO-capable, so you'll be able to enjoy faster data transfer speeds.

Aside from the dualmode functionality, the 8830 … Read more