The story seems an improbable fiction: a famous Hollywood actress invents a secret technology so far ahead of its time that it takes decades for the full potential of her idea to be recognized. Yet in 1941, actress Hedy Lamarr, collaborating with pianist George Anthiel, invented frequency-hopping, spread-spectrum technology. The […]
Cell phone
33 posts
Well buttressed conclusions on a possible cell phone – brain cancer link remain in short supply despite substantial research on the question. Nevertheless, inconclusive results keep leading to alarming headlines. Encouragingly though, the weakness of the case against cell phones is becoming more evident. Writing for New York Times Magazine […]
There’s yet another book out attempting to inspire what ÆtherCzar has dubbed “antennaphobia:” Disconnect: The Truth About Cell Phone Radiation, What the Industry Has Done to Hide It, and How to Protect Your Family by Devra Davis, Ph.D. I haven’t had time to read it, but I’ll pass on this […]
Previously, ÆtherCzar shared the story of the Lightsquared’s Skyterra-1 satellite with the 22m reflector antenna – largest ever deployed in space on a commercial satellite (Orbiting 22m Dish Antenna to Provide 4G Service). Then, the satellite suffered a glitch in which the reflector antenna only deployed 98%. Some sources indicated […]
Who needs cell phone towers? The largest communications antenna ever placed into orbit, a 22m (72ft) reflector, was launched from Kazahkstan a couple of weeks ago. It will relay signals for a new 4G-LTE mobile phone and data system for North America run by Lightsquared. (BBC News; RedOrbit)
Time once again to clear out the update queue: Steven J. Crowley explains the many facets of what’s called “4G” technology. MatthewLasar writing at ArsTechnica explains how smartphone makers are ready to wage war over the FM chip mandate pushed by broadcasters. From TechCrunch: Experimental Real-Time Location Tracking Comes To […]
Back in April, ÆtherCzar told the story of how the Dallas Office of the FCC discovered a 5W cell phone jammer in operation at the Cosmetology Career Center in Carrollton, TX. The FCC could have imposed fines of as much as $11,000 per day. Judging by the enforcement letter, there […]
A round-up of recent links on banning cell phones in prisons: Debate Rages Over Cell Phone Jamming International Business Times Prisons and mobile phones: Bricking the intruders The Economist Cell Phone Crackdown in Tennessee Prisons Points to Larger Problem Press Release Countermeasures to Contraband Cell Phone Use in Prisons FCC […]
Is history repeating itself? Just as Apple took the early lead in PC’s only to be overtaken by IBM and a horde of loosely aligned competitors, so also is Apple’s flagship iPhone increasingly challenged by a variety of manufacturers offering not only Android phones but also phones powered by Microsoft’s […]
Previously on ÆtherCzar, I’ve discussed the aspect of antennaphobia that compels cell phone antenna towers to be hidden so antennaphobes don’t realize they are there. Botanist Wayne Armstrong provides an extensive field guide to these cell phone “trees.” Now there are additional extensive collections of cell phone “tree” photos from […]
Are you calling 911 on your cell phone because you need emergency assistance? Your cell phone provider has to be able to locate your phone to aid emergency responders in finding you. The current standard, Wireless Enhanced 911 or ‘E911″ Phase 1, requires cell phone providers to be able to […]
Periodically, I like to pass on interesting items that don’t warrant stand-alone posts. Here’s today’s list: ThingMagic continues their series on 100 innovative uses of RFID technology in 100 days at http://rfid.thingmagic.com/ Where, Inc., a location-based ad network, buys Local Ginger. More from the NYT. The Location-Based Services (LBS) market […]
A few quick updates, while I recover from Wireless Wednesday on Twitter: New Scientist explains the history of complex numbers in a fascinating piece, “Putting the ‘i’ in iPods.” But since the iPod is more an accomplishment of engineering instead of physics, shouldn’t it be called the” jPod?” To learn […]
The CTIA – a wireless industry trade group – has compiled an interesting collection of Fifty Wireless Facts, including: 8. At the end of 2009, the average revenue per minute in the U.S. was $0.04. Across Europe’s developed countries, the average revenue per minute was $0.16. As a result, the […]
Music labels and broadcast stations have long argued about the royalties radio stations pay to the music labels for playing their songs on the air. Now they’ve reached an agreement, and one of the key terms is a proposed mandate to force cell phone manufacturers to embed an FM radio […]
In 1905, an obscure patent clerk in Switzerland wrote four scientific papers, any one of which would have guaranteed his future fame. The clerk’s name was Albert Einstein. His four papers: proposed that energy exists in discrete levels called quanta (the photoelectric effect), demonstrated that the microscopic quiverings of small […]
Mark Papermaster, formerly Senior VP of Devices Hardware Engineering and in charge of iPhone4 hardware has left Apple. No word on whether his departure is more antenna fall-out. Here’s the Ars Technica coverage. As TechCrunch points out, “The iPhone4 Antenna Issue Won’t Die – Because Apple Won’t Let It.”
Our friends at CTIA confirm what I always suspected: that cell phone signals really aren’t likely to ignite gasoline. In fact, there is no documented case of a cell phone ignited gasoline fire. That myth has been thoroughly busted by the “Mythbusters” (Part1 Part2). This urban legend is also covered […]
From the “continuing-to-beat-a-dead horse” department, the antenna blogging world’s top story refuses to die: According to Simon Tonks, the consultant who led the testing, “Our tests indicate that the ‘death grip’ issue is real, and is worse for the Apple iPhone 4 than for other smartphones.” I summed up my […]
I’ve been busy in the wake of Q-Track’s FLARE testing, so it’s about time to flush my queue of collected links. Without further ado, here are some links that may not merit a full post by themselves, but are still worth attention: A must read piece on America’s Ruling Class […]
Mathew Lasar writing over at Ars Technica has an update on San Fransisco’s new cell phone law requiring cell phone vendors to post Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) data for all models. The SAR is rate at which a phone can dissipate power as heat in the head of a user. […]
Apple’s competitors were not happy with Steve Job’s attempt to paint the iPhone’s antenna problems as similar to those faced by other smart phones. This Wireless Week piece presents feedback from Samsung, RIM, HTC, Motorola, and Nokia. An industry source I contacted declined to comment, saying his company’s testing was […]
Gizmodo’s latest scoop – photos of a prototype iPhone 5 with improved antenna.This is a spoof, but it does raise interesting questions about the sacrifices accepted in antenna performance for the sake of aesthetics. I actually *would* do this to my cell phone because the factor of four improvement in […]