Networking - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Ring! It's Gmail's new voice feature calling

  Google announced Wednesday it is offering the ability to make phone calls over the Internet via its popular Gmail service.

• Vyatta routing software certified for IPv6

  The Vyatta open-source network operating system has been certified for IPv6, which is likely to become a key capability as the number of Internet addresses available under the current version of IP diminishes.

• Location-Based Services: 5 Myths Debunked

  First there was location-based social network Foursquare. Then Gowalla and other sites followed suit and launched. And now with news that Facebook is slowly rolling out its own location-based technology, you can expect to hear a lot-both true and false-about what these services really are.

• Google tests instant search feature

  The Internet is abuzz with talk about a new search feature that Google has been trying out.

• IDC: Virtualization helps boost switch sales

  Ethernet switch revenue grew by 32.7 percent year-over-year during the second quarter, helped by the growing popularity of applications such as virtualization and voice over IP (Internet Protocol), according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Networks Tracker.

• Time waits for no one: 'leap seconds' may be cut

  Sparking a fresh round of debate over an ongoing issue in time-keeping circles, the International Telecommunications Union is considering eliminating leap seconds from the time scale used by most computer systems, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

• Huawei will give India gov't source code

  Huawei Technologies is willing to accept new Indian rules that will require telecommunication equipment suppliers to, among other conditions, give the government access to source code and engineering designs for its equipment, the company said on Thursday.

• Brocade readying 100G Ethernet for data centers

  Brocade Communications is preparing a 100-Gigabit Ethernet module for its NetIron MLX switch family, breaking the next LAN speed barrier in the flagship hardware line it acquired from Foundry Networks.

• Android book to be produced in wiki format

  Android has taken the mobile world by storm, so it's no surprise that Google's foray into the smartphone market would become the subject of numerous books written to explain the technology.

• Yahoo grabs search share from Google

  While Google easily hung onto its first-place spot in the U.S. search engine market last month, Yahoo made a surprising, if slight, advance.

• Chrome OS tablet from HTC reported to ship in November

  An HTC tablet running Google's Chrome operating system will be sold by Verizon Wireless in late November, according to an unnamed source cited by the blog Downloadsquad.

• Dell Streak teardown: Go ahead and drop the tablet

  The Dell Streak tablet, which goes on sale Friday in the United States, is a sturdy device just daring you to drop it. But if you do need to take it apart and fix it, that's not a problem, according to iFixit, which this week tore the device open for peek inside.

• Hacked smartphones pose military threat

  Hacked smartphones could endanger troops by sending location data to the enemy using mechanisms similar to those employed by recently discovered Android malware, experts say.

• LG-Ericsson venture aims at SMBs' network needs

  A networking joint venture formed out of a series of deals over the past several years is launching Monday in the U.S. under the name LG-Ericsson USA.

• Delta customers can book flights on Facebook

  Looking to book a ticket on Delta Airlines? Now you can just go to the airline's Facebook page.