MacBook Air & Wireless Issues

Over on GearDiary, Judie Lipsett has posted an article concerning wireless issues she had when restoring a MacBook Pro backup from Apple’s Time Capsule to a new MacBook Air.

The issue she was running into was that she was seeing an empty wireless cone in the menu bar, even when she had wireless connectivity (a problem if you need to know the signal strength).

Turns out this happens (in what numbers, hard to say, some people may not bother fixing it since the wireless is still working).

Rather than reinstalling or reloading a backup, Judie ditched her .plists and reconfigured a new network setting.

In the future, if you happen to be doing such a migration, you might unselect the network settings in the migration/reloading.

Read: GearDiary

ThinkPads and Wireless Switches

David Hill from the Lenovo ThinkPad design team, is running a user poll about ThinkPads and the wireless radio switches, and whether people use them, whether they prefer them accessible with the LCD/Display open, or whether they prefer them accessible with the LCD/display open or closed.

The design team is taking feedback for the next generation of ThinkPads.

As David points out, ThinkPads currently have two methods of managing wireless. The “GUI” software version (Function+F5) or the phsyical hardware switch. Being that they put a lot of thought into certain aspects of the ThinkPad, it sounds like they are working on new designs (hopefully the ThinkPad X200 among others), and are wanting to address the location of the wireless radio switches:

Usually it (wireless radio switch) ends up being placed in a spot that it fits rather than where we would ideally like to place it. This is due to prioritization of the limited prime real estate for connectors, PCMCIA slots, drive, bays batteries, etc. The hardware wireless switch acts primarily as a rapid kill switch for all wireless radios. It’s probably used most often when the flight attendant reminds you of it in their typical “electronic devices” speech, or when you accidentally bump it to the off position with your stomach.

Read: Design Matters
(Previous entry concerning the switch)

Fujitsu LifeBook U810 / T2010 Add AT&T Wireless Broadband

Both the 5.6-inch Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 and the 12.1-inch Fujitsu LifeBook U810 (U8240 / U1010) have received a new wireless communication option.

Fujitsu has announced that for an additional $200, you can have a 3G/HSUPA radio installed as an option when you buy a U810 or a T2010. It will drop down to EDGE/GPRS when a full-speed connection is not available.

The 3G/EDGE/GPRS wireless broadband connection should work in more than 145 countries.

With a good connection, you should have download speeds between 600 Kbps and 1.4Mbps and upload speeds between 500 Kbps and 800 Kbps.

Press Release: MarketWire / Fujitsu
via: jkOnTheRun

Announced: Novatel MC990D/MC992D (Small HSPA Modems / GPS Receivers / Flash Drives)

This week at the CTIA Wireless 2008 show, some interesting products rolled out.

Among them, a couple of tiny USB modems that allow for broadband internet access at decent speeds in most of the world, using HSPA, WCDMA,
EDGE and GPRS networks. They can download in the neighborhood of around 7Mbps and upload at around 5.75Mbps (assuming you have good connections). They have
built-in GPS receivers for directions/navigation, as well as doubling as flash memory/USB drive - they feature a microSD (Secure Digital)
slot that allows you to insert your microSD card.

According to Brad Weinert, president of Novatel Wireless, they were designed for travelers:
These latest additions to the Ovation product line were developed with these global travelers in mind, providing a variety of unique features such as an integrated antenna with receiver diversity and equalizer support to improve performance when on the fringe of a network.

The USB modems work with both Mac OS X and Windows. There is also a bundled USB cable that acts as an extension for those notebooks and ultraportable
devices that are not conducive to the modems being plugged directly in (some form factors may not have the USB slots in optimal
positions for these modems, such as the MacBook Air or some of the smaller 7″ or 5.6″ UMPCs).

Models:
- MC990D: World-wide Access, 900MHz, 2100MHz (Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa)
- MC992D: North America Access, 850MHz, 1900MHz (AT&T, Fido, Rogers (Canada))

Size: 70 x 25 x 13.5 mm (2.76 x 0.98 x 0.53 inches)

They should be available starting Q3 through various providers.

Links:
- Press Release (Yahoo Finance)
- Gallery at BusinessWire.com
- Ovation Line from Novatel Wireless

Announced: Fujitsu Siemens ESPRIMO Mobile U9200

Fujitsu has announced the Fujitsu Siemens ESPRIMO Mobile U9200, a new ultraportable with a 12.-1-inch widescreen display (1280×800), weighing around four pounds (with weight saver). It offers up to 6 hours of normal battery life, 10 hours with the second battery. It’s based on Intel’s Santa Rosa GM965 platform and offers a choice of several CPUs: Intel Celeron M540 (2MB L2 Cache), Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 (2.0 GHz, 2MB L2), T7500 (2.2GHz, 4MB L2), and T7700 (2.4 GHz, 4MB L2). The T7250 is a new processor that was not expected until September of this year, and it does offer an 800MHz bus with a 2MB L2 Cache.

The graphics are driven by Intel’s X3100 GMA integrated chipset and Hi-Definition audio is provided by the Realtek ALC262 chipset. It has a built-in 1.3MP camera for conferencing.

In addition, it’s going to have 3G connectivity with a built-in SIM card slot that utilizes UMTS/HSUPA., as well as GPRS and EDGE depending on your wireless provider. It has 802.11n wireless as well (through the optional Intel Pro Wireless 4965 a/g/n chipset).

The Mobile U9200 is expected to ship later this year, in August/September, with a final price being set then.

OQO Model 02 - EV-DO Wireless (Verizon)

MobileWhack has a story up about OQO announcing that the OQO Model 02 has optional EV-DO Wireless WAN capability (for Verizon customers):

OQO Inc today announced that their critically acclaimedOQO 02 modelcomputer is now also available with EV-DO Wireless WAN capability and is compatible with the Verizon Wireless Broadband Access service. Thus users in the United States will be able to access their email, the Internet, and business and personal applications at speeds of 400-700 kilobits per second.

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