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Next year's holiday season will be different in at least one small way than it was in 2005: The U.S. government recently mandated that financial institutions enhance their online security systems by supplementing the traditional technique of passwords and user IDs with another form of user authentication. "The government initiative gives a clear and loud wake-up call to a procrastinating U.S. banking industry that has not moved beyond relying on single-factor reusable password authentication," said Avivah Litan, an industry analyst with Gartner Group...

Mobile phones have been gaining more and more functionality, which makes it easier for users to access information, surf the Web, and receive key messages. Along with these new features has come the ability of hackers and unauthorized users to tinker with sensitive information. "Right now, security is a major concern for companies that are using handheld devices to improve employee productivity," said Neil Strother, an industry analyst with market research firm The NPD Group...

Before the advent of the Internet, telecommuting was considered an abnormality, something done in rare circumstances by select individuals. However, when broadband connectivity became widely available, telecommuting opportunities became more common. Surprisingly, after a few years of healthy growth, that trend may be losing its steam ...

Convergence has been an ongoing goal for telecommunications suppliers in recent years. Today, cable companies sell not only video but also Internet access and telecommunications services. Recently, they have begun to get ready to deliver wireless services, which would enable them to deliver a quadruple bundle ...

Leading up to this holiday gift-buying season, the home has become a high-tech focal point. Individuals can now collect content on digital cameras, televisions, and stereos and then send it to various computers via wireless LANs. "Wireless enabled devices are on many shoppers' wish list this holiday season, and such items will be big sellers in the consumer market," noted Kurt Scherf, an industry analyst with Park Associates...

Those who enjoy intrigue may be quite satisfied with developments in the WiFi market. Two years ago, vendors started working on a standard, dubbed 802.11n, to boost the top transmission speed from 54M bps to 100M bps. That work developed into a deadlock between two competing groups: World-Wide Spectrum Efficiency (WWiSE) and TGn Sync ...

At one time, the gap between wireless and wired network capabilities was so vast that wireless networks were used only on rare occasions. That has been changing recently, according to industry watchers ...

A new combatant, Broadband over Power Lines (BPL), has entered the broadband Internet access services competition. This network option relies on electrical power lines to move information to users. While the universality of electrical power offers vendors hope in penetrating the broadband market, the suppliers could have difficulty gain much market traction. "There are already two well entrenched networking options in the broadband marketplace, so it can become difficult for a third one to gain acceptance," stated Bruce Leichtman, president of Leichtman Research Group...

Talk about Short Message Service (SMS) has been lost in the buzz about the latest and greatest data network applications, such as ringtones, gaming, and music downloads. Yet, SMS remains a popular application and a bona fide money maker for carriers. "Because it is such a simple service, it can be easy to ignore SMS but it has been a cash cow for carriers," said Bob Egan, research director at The Tower Group Inc...

Advertising is a highly competitive market with corporations constantly searching for an edge. As a result, select firms are now trying to reach customers via a new medium: cell phones. "Companies are using text messages to notify customers of special deals and banner ads to sponsor items, such as ring tone downloads," noted Julie Ask, research director at Jupiter Research...

WiFi hot spots have become quite popular because they enable nomadic travelers to tap into the Internet. The ability to stay connected has reached another area: metropolitan buses. King County Metro Transit, which services the Seattle area, has begun offering WiFi services on a few of its bus lines. "Seattle is a high tech community and we think customers will find the service beneficial," noted Wayne Watanabe, supervisor for infrastructure and integration at the public transportation provider...

Cellular data services have spawned an array of acronyms, including W-CDMA, WiFi, WiMax, and CDMA2000 1x EvDO. For those enamored by abbreviations, one more is about to emerge -- WiBro -- which stands for wireless broadband ...

At one time, the gap between wireless and wired network capabilities was so vast that wireless networks were used only on rare occasions. That has been changing recently, according to industry watchers ...

The image of teens, businessmen and virtually all kinds of consumers talking on cell phones has become common, if not ubiquitous in recent years. As the number of cell phone users in the United States has reached and passed the hundred-million mark, carriers have been hard pressed to find ways to continue expanding their businesses. Now, in search of new revenue streams, they are trying to transform a silent crowd -- machines -- into a bunch of chatterboxes...

In the Wireless LAN (WLAN) market, thin is in. Faced with declining unit growth and falling product prices in the consumer market, vendors have focused on boosting their sales to enterprises. While this strategy has merit, it has meant that they have had to redesign their wares ...

High-definition television has become a staple in a growing number of households. More than 10 million homes worldwide now have HDTVs and that number will reach 52 million in 2009, according to market research firm In-Stat ...

We live in a world where people can now carry their laptop computers around town and plop them down to surf the Web or check e-mail simply by finding a hot spot, a location where a company provides the public with wireless Internet access, often for free. Airports, coffee shops and hotels are some of the places where nomadic computer users can find access to these connections, delivering unprecedented convenience and flexibility...

Because of the Internet's widespread acceptance, search has become one of computer users' most commonly used functions. Individuals of all ages have become quite comfortable with sitting down, entering a few keywords and finding needed information. However, performing those functions at work for business-related purposes has been more difficult than completing searches for personal info...

Telecommunications services providers have been searching for ways to stay afloat in a tough, highly competitive market. Recently, a group of them, dubbed Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs), have crafted business plans based on the supposition that wireless Wide Area Networks (WANs) are more efficient than wired networks ...

The good and the bad associated with Voice over IP (VoIP) is becoming clearer. Increasingly, consumers and enterprises are turning to VoIP because it can save them money and enable them to take advantage of features, such as unified messaging. As this networking option gains popularity, however, it has also become a prime target for hackers ...