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News

• Samsung Epic 4G smartphone to debut Aug. 31

  The Samsung Epic 4G will debut Aug. 31 for $250 after rebate and with a Sprint Nextel two-year agreement, the carrier announced today.

• Telstra continues financial stagnation

  The nation’s biggest telco Telstra today unveiled another lacklustre financial result, with its overall sales revenue declining by 2.2 percent over the past year and net profit after tax also slumping 4.7 percent.

• 4G czar at Sprint backs WiMax 'singularly'

  Don't ask Matt Carter, president of 4G at Sprint Nextel, about LTE, a competing wireless technology. He wants to focus on Sprint's use of WiMax for 4G wireless networks.

• 'WiMAX 2' set to be finalized in November

  While LTE starts rolling out from major U.S. carriers in 2011, the WiMAX Forum is hoping to have the so-called WiMAX 2 standard up and ready to go by the start of 2012.

• Skype worries about iPhone, attracting business customers

  Skype is worried about whether the iPhone and other Apple products will undermine its VoIP services and is also insecure about whether it can achieve service levels good enough to lure business customers, according to the company's filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in preparation to offering public stock for the first time.

• Google denies talks with Verizon to end net neutrality

  Google today denied reports that it is in talks with Verizon for a deal that could undermine net neutrality.

• LTE tests signal Clearwire is serious

  WiMax carrier Clearwire is likely to adopt LTE (Long-Term Evolution), and its decision will probably be known within a year, analysts said following the company's announcement on Wednesday that it will test the network technology.

• Local network industry 'missing out' with NBN

  Construction of the $43 billion National Broadband Network may be a boon for the services economy, but local networking providers feel left out with two companies saying the government-owned business isn’t doing enough for industry development.

• New code uncouples iPhone 4 from home wireless carrier

  Hackers on Wednesday released code that lets iPhone 4 owners – if they have modified their Apple smartphones to load unauthorised apps -- to now use the devices on new wireless carriers.

• BlackBerry Torch could sink or swim on OS 6

  From a tech specs perspective, Research in Motion's new BlackBerry Torch smartphone isn't groundbreaking. Rather, its success or failure will hinge upon the strength of its revamped operating system.

• Apple's iOS devices meet many enterprise security needs

  Apple's iOS, in the newer iPhones and the iPad, is now secure enough for many enterprise to deploy, according to a report from Forrester Research. But even the most recent version of iOS, in the iPhone 4, falls well short of the high security offered by Research in Motion's BlackBerry platform.

• Optus quadruples HFC cable speeds with DOCSIS 3

  Optus has completed a substantial upgrade of its HFC cable network in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney that will allow residents in supported areas access to speeds ranging up to around 80Mbps or more, using the improved DOCSIS 3 standard.
  

• Terry Childs is denied motion for retrial

  The former San Francisco network administrator who refused to hand over passwords for one of the city's networks was denied a new trial on Friday and is expected to be sentenced Aug. 6, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said.

• Roberto Cavalli follows the cloud trend with Google

  Designer fashion house Roberto Cavalli has decided to standardises its email systems by moving to the Google cloud.

• Amazon launches two new Kindles, one with Wi-Fi only

  Amazon launched two new Kindle e-readers priced at $139 and $189 late Wednesday, with the cheaper version a Wi-Fi-only e-reader and $10 less than the Wi-Fi-only Nook.