Wireless overtakes wired LAN in the enterprise

Corporate adoption of Wi-Fi is growing at such a rate that is now outstripping sales of wired Ethernet installations, according to research released today.

The study of 400 European IT directors, commissioned by Motorola, revealed that in 54 per cent of the enterprises surveyed, spending on wireless infrastructure now outstrips wired LAN investment.

"With budgets being squeezed, companies in every industry sector are looking for ways to become more efficient. It is therefore no surprise that the trend is towards all wireless networks," said Marco Landi, acting vice president and general manager of Motorola’s enterprise mobility business in Europe.

The growth in wireless LAN investment in the enterprise can be attributed to a number of reasons. Confidence in the technology is increasing thanks to faster standards such as draft n and better wireless security, companies also like the ease of deployment, as installing wireless access points does not require the installation of cable trunking or pulling up floors. Finally, wireless offers more flexibility – temporary networks and extensions can be created quickly and easily by existing IT staff.

IT directors in the UK consider wireless LAN deployment to be primarily strategic, with 72 per cent of them highlighting strategic issues as their main reason for deploying.

The research also revealed that 88 per cent of companies expect all their networked equipment to be wireless, or at least wireless-enabled, within three years.

IT directors were also surveyed on the concerns and issues associated with having a fully wireless network.

Security was cited by 63 per cent as the prime concern, followed by network performance by 43 per cent. Ensuring that all data passing over the network is handled efficiently and reliability is a major concern, especially as video and Voice over IP (VoIP) becomes more widespread in the enterprise.

Nokia N96

They say that all good things come to those who wait. And, nothing drums up a bit of excitement than the build up that comes with the so-called next big thing.

We’ve been itching to get our hands on the N96 since its Finnish parent Nokia first uttered its moniker way back in February at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. We adored the N95 8GB both as a work tool and in our out-of-hours guises as consumers, so the expectations as to what the N96 would behold were incredibly high.

We’re pleased to say Nokia hasn’t disappointed. Granted, the handset is not perfect; there are a few quirks and gripes we have with it, but in the main, it’s a well constructed piece of hardware that has the kind of software and feature set that will keep business people happy and – more importantly connected to the office and associated documents – and provide that all important entertainment factor at the same time.

Let’s take a top level drill down of what there is to like and dislike about the N96 before dissecting the latest N-Series in more detail.

The five megapixel camera, ample storage, BBC iPlayer, a nice to use user interface and other multimedia features all sit firmly on the hit list. The phone’s bulk, slightly chunky retro looks, lack of camera lens cover and the current situation with the mobile TV standard DVB-H all get the thumbs down in our opinion.

Since the big but beautiful – and wonderful – iPhone 3G came along, mobile users have been forgiving when it comes to a bit of excess baggage on devices. In the business space at least, functionality remains king but style is also a deal breaker – there’s nothing so bad as pulling out a brick-like museum piece in front of business prospects or co-workers when they’ve got something futuristic.

Ozone pollution more dangerous

It’s not just the elderly who are vulnerable to the ill effects of air pollution, new research suggests.

In a study of 2.7 million deaths across 48 US cities, researchers found that death rates tended to rise on days when ozone pollution increased — with the older adults being most at risk. However, while age was the strongest risk factor, there was also evidence that older women were more vulnerable to ozone pollution than older men were, and blacks were more vulnerable than other racial groups.


People with atrial fibrillation — a heart rhythm disturbance common in older adults — were also at increased risk of dying on days with poor air quality.The study, conducted by Mercedes Medina-Ramon and Joel Schwartz of the Harvard School of Public Health, adds to evidence linking daily ozone increases to spikes in death rates.

It also suggests that even moderately elevated levels of ozone may be hazardous for certain vulnerable people. The difference in pollution-related death rates between the elderly and young, for example, was much greater in cities that typically had relatively low ozone levels than in cities with generally high ozone concentrations.

This suggests that at high levels, ozone has a more uniform effect on death rates, the researchers explain in the journal ‘Epidemiology’. Ground-level ozone forms when sunlight reacts with pollutants from cars, factories and other sources, and is the main component of smog. Ozone levels are typically highest in the summer.

Ozone pollution can cause inflammation in the airways and exacerbate respiratory ills like asthma and emphysema or other chronic diseases like heart disease. Because the elderly are more likely to have pre-existing medical conditions, they are also more vulnerable to the dangers of poor air quality.

In this study, each ozone increase of 10 parts per billion was linked to a 0.65 percent increase in the overall death rate. Among adults older than 65, that figure was 1.1 percent. The reasons for the disparities between races and sexes are not clear, according to the researchers. They note, however, that one study of young adults found that black volunteers tended to have more breathing problems in response to ozone exposure. The current findings, according to the researchers, may help lay the groundwork for air quality standards that better protect vulnerable people.

Google Earth for iPhone

Google on Monday brought the popular Google Earth application to Apple's iPhone, allowing users to fly around the globe with just a touch of the screen.

Google Earth for the iPhone and iPod Touch is available for free in 18 languages and 22 countries through the iTunes App Store, Google said in a posting on the official blog of the Mountain View, California-based company.

"With just a swipe of your finger you can fly from Peoria to Paris to Papua New Guinea, or anywhere in between," the posting said.


"It may be small, but it brings all the power of Google Earth to the palm of your hand, including all of the same global imagery and 3D terrain," it added.

Just by touching the screen, a user can move from point to point around the world, zooming in or out by pinching the screen and tilting the device to get a 3D view of mountainous terrain.

The "My Location" feature instantly shows a user's real world location while Google Local Search helps locate nearby places, businesses and landmarks.

More than eight million photos pictures of landmarks and scenery are integrated into the phone allowing users to take a "virtual tour" of the world.

The Google Earth application also includes links to Wikipedia articles.

Yahoo tells Microsoft: 'Buy us'

Yahoo said the "For Sale" sign is still on its front lawn and that Microsoft should buy the company.

The internet portal's co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang made the comment despite the fact Yahoo rejected a $33 (£21) a share offer from Microsoft back in May.

Mr Yang's suggestion also came hours after Google pulled out of an internet advertising partnership with Yahoo. "To this day the best thing for Microsoft to do is buy Yahoo," said Mr Yang.


"I don't think that is a bad idea at all, at the right price whatever that price is. We're willing to sell the company," he told a packed ballroom at the Web 2.0 summit in San Francisco.

During the on stage conversation in front of a standing-room only crowd, Mr Yang was asked why the company did not take the $33 a share offered back in the summer. The company's share price closed Wednesday below $14 (£8.80) a share.

"They walked away from a public offering and we were ready to negotiate. We wanted to negotiate a deal. We felt we weren't that far apart.

"At the end of the day, they withdrew and they have since been clear about not wanting to buy the company," explained Mr Yang in a rare public appearance.

Microsoft did however come back and offer to buy the search part of Yahoo, but a deal was never struck.

Again Mr Yang said the offer then was not good enough but he still remained open to persuasion.

"As far as a search deal goes, we are open-minded about it. The last time we felt the deal was not a good one for the company but that doesn't mean we won't do one."

When asked if any negotiations were pending with the software giant, Mr Yang said "There is no new news."

Microsoft declined to comment.

And when quizzed about a possible deal with AOL, Mr Yang played coy with his host John Battelle.

"Buying AOL? I can't talk about that, John. If I told you I would have to kill you."

'Disappointed'

While Yahoo is still holding the door open to Microsoft, Google closed one earlier in the day on a deal the two companies had struck up over search advertising.

After four months of scrutiny from the Department of Justice, Google decided to back out of the agreement it had made to provide advertising around the internet portal's search results.
jerry yang

It had been estimated that the venture would have been worth around $800m (£500m) a year to Yahoo.

"Pressing ahead risked not only a protracted legal battle but also damage to relationships with valued partners," said Google's chief counsel David Drummond.

Mr Yang said he was "disappointed that they [Google] didn't want to defend this deal."

But he felt that in his mind, the government scuppered it.

"I really thought the government in this case does not understand our industry. They have a market definition that I think is too narrow and I think things like this tend to have unintended consequences for our entire industry.

"So I clearly don't agree with what the viewpoint is, but they are the government and they can decide on these things."

Mr Yang pointed out that the Google partnership was not crucial to its bottom line and that it was "incremental" to its overall growth plans.

Jerry Yang to quit as Yahoo boss

Jerry Yang, the co-founder of Yahoo, is to stand down as the internet portal's chief executive officer. His departure follows lengthy criticism of his stewardship of the company, which has seen its share price collapse to about $10. Earlier in the year he fought off a hostile takeover bid from Microsoft which offered $33 a share. Mr Yang also told the workforce that he would be participating in the search for his successor.

"I will always do what is right for this great company," Mr Yang wrote in an e-mail to employees. The BBC was told that Mr Yang made the decision to leave as chief executive officer last month. No names were given as to who will succeed him.

	The company, based in Sunnyvale, California, said it is interviewing candidates inside and outside Yahoo in a search led by chairman Roy Bostock. "Jerry and the board have had an ongoing dialogue about succession timing, and we all agree that now is the right time to make the transition to a new CEO who can take the company to the next level," said Mr Bostock.
Low shares

Earlier this month at the recent Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Mr Yang surprised the industry when he told conference attendees that Microsoft should still buy the company. "I don't think it's a bad idea at all, at the right price whatever that price is. We're willing to sell the company," he told a packed audience.
The declaration came hours after Google had pulled out of an internet advertising deal with Yahoo amid increasing scrutiny from the Department of Justice.

	Mr Yang said he was "disappointed" Google had pulled out of the partnership. Mr Yang's e-mail to employees ended with the words: "All of you know that I have always and will always bleed purple" - in reference to the predominant colour on the company's logo.
Yahoo's shares closed on Monday at $10.63, giving the company a valuation of only $14.7bn.

NASA mission to study of Jupiter

On Monday, NASA announced that it is planning to launch a mission, titled Juno, to conduct a large-scale survey of our solar system's biggest planet.

According to NASA, the new mission will involve an unmanned spacecraft that is planned for an August 2011 launch onboard an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

It is expected that the rocket will reach its destination, orbit around Jupiter, in 2016.


Once there, the plan is for the spacecraft to orbit Jupiter 32 times over the course of a year at a distance of around 3,000 miles above the planet's cloud tops.

NASA said this would be the first solar-powered spacecraft expected to be able to perform its duties so far from the sun. Jupiter is more than four times farther away from the sun as Earth, a total of around 400 million miles.

The spacecraft would feature an advanced camera as well as a series of scientific instruments designed to inspect Jupiter's surface. Among the things NASA hopes the mission will discover or explore are the existence of an ice-rock core, the planet's strong magnetic field, and its aurora borealis.

NASA did not say how much the Juno mission is expected to cost, nor whether the project is already fully funded, and a call for comment wasn't immediately returned.