News

Network hardware

April 02, 2004 02 Apr'04
Wal-Mart suppliers miss first RFID

US retailer Wal-Mart has admitted that its suppliers missed its first key target for RFID tagging of incoming products.
March 29, 2004 29 Mar'04
Fire severs phone and internet connection for 130,000 business and homes in Manchester

BT engineers are standing by to inspect the damage after a fire in a deep-level cable tunnel severed phone and internet...
March 26, 2004 26 Mar'04
Retailers must address suppliers' RFID issues

Retailers risk leaving their supply chain partners behind in their rush to implement radio frequency identification technology,...
March 15, 2004 15 Mar'04
Convergence technology for voice video and data set to make debut

Convergence will be a major theme of the CeBIT conference. The new products on show this week will show that convergence is...

March 12, 2004 12 Mar'04
Converged wireless networks offer savings and flexibility

Alcatel and Nortel both plan to demonstrate wireless Lan products that support voice calls over internal wireless networks at the...
March 12, 2004 12 Mar'04
Gartner predicts industry-wide challenge in exploiting RFID uses

IT directors need to be prepared to capitalise on emerging wireless technologies, particularly radio frequency identification...
March 08, 2004 08 Mar'04
House of Fraser plans to support EDI and XML

House of Fraser, one of the first companies to use Microsoft's Biztalk 2004 Server, is revamping its supply network to support...
February 27, 2004 27 Feb'04
Operators battle user scepticism about future 3G mobile services

The launch of the UK’s first third generation mobile services for business users was a major theme for operators at last week’s...
February 13, 2004 13 Feb'04
Beware of RFID hype, warns Meta Group

Many IT departments are scrambling for budget to roll out RFID projects without understanding the electronic tracking...
February 09, 2004 09 Feb'04
Telecoms slump eases

The slump in telecoms spending is easing, according to the Communications Management Association, which holds its conference in...

February 06, 2004 06 Feb'04
M&S to extend RFID use after trial success

High street retailer Marks & Spencer last week revealed it is planning to extend its use of RFID technology this spring after a...
January 22, 2004 22 Jan'04
Nestlé moves to VoIP to cut costs

Nestlé has a signed a contract “worth tens of millions of euros” to deliver voice-over-IP (VoIP) communications across 1,500...
January 16, 2004 16 Jan'04
Metro Group plans to be first with RFID

Retail Metro Group used the National Retail Federation's annual trade show to announce that it intends to beat Wal-Mart's 2005...
January 15, 2004 15 Jan'04
Resource guide to disk-based backup
January 12, 2004 12 Jan'04
Suppliers' RFID fears must be addressed early

Retailers considering launching radio frequency identification tag initiatives must work on the assumption that their suppliers...
January 06, 2004 06 Jan'04
Texas to release Wlan software for 802.11a/g

Texas Instruments has claimed that its latest software deployed on a single Wlan chipset will be able to support 802.11g and...
December 12, 2003 12 Dec'03
Youngsters' IT choices will dictate the future

The best place to look for the next big thing in IT is the dance floor, BT futures seer Robin Mannings told a meeting of the BCS...
December 12, 2003 12 Dec'03
BT VoIP service provides cheap calls for SMEs

BT has launched BT Broadband Voice, a voice-over-IP service that provides remote workers with calls from overseas at UK rates.
December 12, 2003 12 Dec'03
Retailers not prepared for RFID processes

Half of retailers that roll out supply chain radio frequency identification tags will not achieve the full benefits because of an...
December 09, 2003 09 Dec'03
BT chief sets out plan for next-generation broadband and wireless mobile services

Wi-Fi is significantly cheaper than 3G, claims BT chief executive
December 08, 2003 08 Dec'03
Scotland will be home to Euro RFID test centre

Sun plans to open a European radio frequency identification test centre in Scotland to help companies ensure that they are...
November 28, 2003 28 Nov'03
SME nation: an IT strategy for the future

There are more small and medium-sized businesses in the UK than ever before, and their role in the economy has never been more...
November 24, 2003 24 Nov'03
HMV picks up next door's Wi-Fi signals

IT security staff implementing wireless networks at music retailer HMV have discovered unsecured wireless networks transmitting...
November 24, 2003 24 Nov'03
Users warned to check laptops are not connecting to other networks

IT staff should take extra care when configuring wireless devices, following a warning that a default setting in Microsoft XP...
November 24, 2003 24 Nov'03
Use authentication servers to beat WPA flaw

Analysts have advised users to use authentication servers if they want to secure their wireless networks, following revelations...
November 24, 2003 24 Nov'03
Businesses told not to wait for 3G services

Analysts have advised businesses to focus on GPRS mobile communications, rather than wait for faster 3G technology, following...
November 18, 2003 18 Nov'03
Gateway unveils San and Nas storage products

Gateway has launched three enterprise storage devices, including its first entry into the San and Nas market, at the Comdex show...
November 14, 2003 14 Nov'03
WLan upgrades easier

UK wireless Lan users have been given a clearer upgrade path with the launch of new 3Com access points and PC cards that support...
November 10, 2003 10 Nov'03
Instant message incompatibilities

In the SSL/CW list of skills, instant messaging is number 105
November 10, 2003 10 Nov'03
Jaguar-Land Rover 2gbps network cuts per-megabit costs by 94%

Jaguar and Land Rover have completed the installation of an £8m network that has boosted bandwidth between three sites in the...
November 03, 2003 03 Nov'03
Nationwide delays to ensure San success

A storage area network deployment by Nationwide has fallen behind schedule, but the building society's IT chief said the delay...
October 31, 2003 31 Oct'03
M&S praised for addressing RFID concerns

Retailers should use Marks & Spencer's approach to addressing radio frequency identification privacy concerns when considering...
October 20, 2003 20 Oct'03
IBM cuts cost of large-scale storage

A product launched by IBM last week will enable users to handle vast amounts of data by linking storage servers with a common...
October 13, 2003 13 Oct'03
Voice market price war opens way to good deals

Companies need to shop around when buying services in the fast-moving telecoms market to take advantage of a price war between...
October 13, 2003 13 Oct'03
Wireless is on the rise in UK firms

UK companies are investing heavily in wireless technology, a Computer Weekly survey has found.
October 07, 2003 07 Oct'03
IP VPN can offer guaranteed quality of service

Abbey's network infrastructure is based on an IP virtual private network supplied by BT Transform under a £125m, five-year...
October 06, 2003 06 Oct'03
Rise of wireless Lan and VPNs could improve PC security

The development of wireless technology and virtual private networks offers the possibility of major changes to network...
October 06, 2003 06 Oct'03
Abbey banks on network to boost customer service

Bank implements an IP VPN to underpin its revamped business strategy.
October 03, 2003 03 Oct'03
BT deal brings wireless roaming a step closer

Wireless roaming has come a step closer with an agreement between BT's Openzone wireless hotspot service and mobile operators...
October 01, 2003 01 Oct'03
Mobile wi-fi agreements welcomed by analysts

Analysts have cautiously welcomed Vodafone UK and Orange’s moves to give their customers access to BT Openzone wireless hotspots.
September 17, 2003 17 Sep'03
Tesco moves RFID into the warehouse

Tesco has extended its trial of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, implementing the electronic tracking technology in...
September 12, 2003 12 Sep'03
Cisco aims high in converged communications

Cisco Systems wants to use Internet Protocol technology to become the biggest supplier in business communications, a $14bn market...
September 05, 2003 05 Sep'03
Retailers must address shoppers' RFID fears

UK retailers have been urged to act over privacy concerns surrounding radio frequency identification technology or risk its...
July 23, 2003 23 Jul'03
BT ordered to cut un-metered internet access

Oftel has ordered BT to cut its wholesale charges to rivals for un-metered internet access by 17% in a move it hopes will help...
June 27, 2003 27 Jun'03
Wal-Mart's RFID plan too aggressive for suppliers

Wal-Mart's intention to use RFID tags on products from its top 100 suppliers by 2005 is too aggressive and will lead to major...
June 26, 2003 26 Jun'03
Windows Mobile 2003 fails to impress analysts

Industry analysts have been largely unimpressed by Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC, the latest version of its...
June 23, 2003 23 Jun'03
UPS offers XML access

Courier firm UPS Europe is rolling out XML-based access to its core systems in a bid to offer its customers an improved view of...
June 20, 2003 20 Jun'03
Asda RFID trial shows efficiency gains are key benefit for business

An extensive trial of radio frequency identification technology in a music supply chain has revealed that improving efficiency...
June 19, 2003 19 Jun'03
Delta Air plans RFID bag-tag test

Delta Air Lines has announced plans to test the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) bag tags on selected flights from...
June 19, 2003 19 Jun'03
IBM puts Wi-Fi in Boys and Girls Clubs

IBM is installing wireless Lans in more than 600 Boys and Girls Clubs of America facilities, one of its largest deployments of...
June 18, 2003 18 Jun'03
Wal-Mart pushes RFID adoption

Radio frequency identification technology received a massive boost last week, when retail giant Wal-Mart announced it is going to...
June 16, 2003 16 Jun'03
3G - 4G to the rescue?

Although carriers will never admit that 3G and 2.5G data services are anything less than spectacular, they are still preparing...
June 02, 2003 02 Jun'03
Users welcome RFID standards

UK users have welcomed the creation of global standards for radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, which will be...
May 27, 2003 27 May'03
Tesco to extend trial of RFID tags to DVDs

Supermarket giant Tesco will next month extend its trial of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, using the electronic...
May 23, 2003 23 May'03
Final 802.11g draft standard squeezes data rates

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has approved a final draft standard for 802.11g wireless Lans that...
May 23, 2003 23 May'03
Microsoft prepares to ship RTC Server software

Microsoft will begin shipping its real-time communications RTC Server 2003 software in the third quarter to capture a share of...
May 19, 2003 19 May'03
Dell launches ultraportable Centrino model

Dell Computer has added an ultraportable model to its range of D-Family notebooks.
May 16, 2003 16 May'03
Network Appliance to sell iSCSI array

Network Appliance is to release an iSCSI-enabled storage appliance in the next few weeks, which will be the first of a product...
May 16, 2003 16 May'03
Prepare for high-speed Ethernet, says Cisco

Cisco Systems senior vice president and general manager of switching, voice and storage Luca Cafiero has revealed that the top...
May 14, 2003 14 May'03
Faster gear boosts Wlan sales

Wireless Lan products based on draft versions of a new, faster standard helped drive up worldwide unit shipments and revenue in...
May 13, 2003 13 May'03
Cisco pushes products for cable voice and video deployment

Cisco Systems has begun a major product push to equip cable operators for evolving services such as voice and video.
May 08, 2003 08 May'03
Companies fight rogue WLans

Enterprises continue to battle the installation of unauthorised, or rogue, wireless Lan access points (AP) on corporate networks...
May 02, 2003 02 May'03
UK broadband leaping forward, minister tells MPs

The government's e-commerce minister has admitted that the UK has "made a slow start with broadband communications'' compared...
May 01, 2003 01 May'03
Networld+Interop: Nortel enhances VPNs

Nortel Networks will unveil the latest upgrades to its secure networking portfolio next week, complete with enhancements to its...
April 30, 2003 30 Apr'03
NetWorld+Interop: Security functions find way into network core

Seizing an opportunity to centralise wireless Lan security, startup networking suppliers are tackling established competitors...
April 30, 2003 30 Apr'03
NetWorld+Interop: Show focuses on wireless and web services

A host of new products promising to secure wireless networks and web services deployments are on prominent display in Las Vegas...
April 30, 2003 30 Apr'03
EC rules UK 3G network-sharing not anticompetitive

Sharing of 3G mobile network infrastructure between operators in the UK does not breach European Union competition rules, the...
April 29, 2003 29 Apr'03
Scottish Water's 40% savings from GSM kit

Scottish Water has rolled out new GSM mobile technology to its service engineers and integrated the kit with three legacy systems...
April 29, 2003 29 Apr'03
DSL aggregation slashes price of bandwidth for smaller businesses

A Manchester-based service provider claims to have achieved a first-year return on investment of 60% for one of its clients by...
April 29, 2003 29 Apr'03
EMC to launch Windows-based NAS line

EMC has struck licensing agreements with Microsoft that will lead to the introduction a new family of Windows-powered...
April 29, 2003 29 Apr'03
Cisco releases wireless IP phone

Cisco Systems is offering a mobile phone for use with its IP communications systems and voice-over-IP technology.
April 29, 2003 29 Apr'03
Firms will adopt RFID tags faster than barcodes, despite cost hurdle

Radio frequency identification tags will be adopted faster than barcodes were 20 years ago, but there are still major hurdles to...
April 28, 2003 28 Apr'03
Optimism prevails despite downturn

NetWorld+Interop opens next week in Las Vegas amid an optimism that belies the depressed state of the economy, ongoing travel...
April 24, 2003 24 Apr'03
Net and telecoms firms post profits; Lucent records a loss

AOL Time Warner returned to profit in the first quarter of this year, as revenue in its movie and TV business increased and...
April 16, 2003 16 Apr'03
UPS to deploy trimode wireless driver terminals

United Parcel Service is to spend $127m (£81m) on global deployment over the next five years of a driver terminal that features...
April 15, 2003 15 Apr'03
Switch-based Wlan market grows more competitive

Extreme Networks and Trapeze Networks unveiled switch-based enterprise wireless Lan products yesterday to get a jump in a market...
April 11, 2003 11 Apr'03
Intel demonstrates 'third-generation Bluetooth'

Intel has demonstrated a prototype Ultra Wideband (UWB) radio system transmitting data at more than 220Mbps (bits per second) and...
April 11, 2003 11 Apr'03
Dell adds Pentium M models to notebook lines

Dell rounded out its notebook lines yesterday with two machines based on Intel's Pentium M processor and a combination of...
April 10, 2003 10 Apr'03
Microsoft lifts lid on Greenwich's new name

Microsoft has revealed more of its real-time collaboration and enterprise instant messaging (IM) platform.
April 10, 2003 10 Apr'03
Chipset boost for Pentium 4 PCs

Pentium 4-based PCs will get a performance boost next week when Intel ships its 875 chipset, which pushes the top speed of the...
April 09, 2003 09 Apr'03
Wireless suppliers plan cheap, high-speed Mans

Major chip and wireless equipment manufacturers announced plans to back development of standards-based wireless metropolitan-area...
April 08, 2003 08 Apr'03
Avaya extends functions to remote workers

Avaya announced it is extending its IP and telephony capabilities to the branch office/remote worker to increase collaboration...
April 04, 2003 04 Apr'03
European mobile operators debate alliance to challenge Vodafone's dominance

Three of Europe's largest mobile operators are in talks about forming an alliance to offer cross-border services to business...
April 03, 2003 03 Apr'03
BT to slash broadband prices and boost UK availability

BT plans to make its ADSL broadband services available to 90 percent of U.K. homes by the third quarter and cut wholesale fees...
April 03, 2003 03 Apr'03
Microsoft's CE .net 4.2 moves into VoIP

Windows CE .net Version 4.2 will put voice-over-IP capability in handhelds, Windows-powered smartphones and other devices, along...
April 02, 2003 02 Apr'03
Sprint to construct private internet for US govt

Telecommunications giant Sprint is to launch a private IP network aimed at security-conscious US government agencies by June.
April 01, 2003 01 Apr'03
Microsoft and HP bolsters Wi-Fi

Microsoft will offer users of its Windows XP operating system free upgrades to boost wireless Lan security, a move analysts claim...
April 01, 2003 01 Apr'03
Motorola claims memory chip breakthrough

Nanotechnology may open the door to smaller, more reliable and less power-hungry memory chips in mobile phones, network gear and...
April 01, 2003 01 Apr'03
Linksys and Ricochet unveil wireless Wan router

Linksys Group has teamed up with Ricochet Networks to build a router for US homes, small offices and public wireless Lan hot...
March 31, 2003 31 Mar'03
SIP fuels communications interplay

Momentum is gathering across industry sectors behind the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) real-time communications protocol for...
March 31, 2003 31 Mar'03
Nortel pushes Wlan for enterprise campus

Nortel Networks' latest set of products will give workers the ability to roam around buildings and campuses while being...
March 28, 2003 28 Mar'03
'Honey trap' exposes City wireless hacking

Hackers are mapping the wireless access points of firms in the City of London as they travel to and from work.
March 28, 2003 28 Mar'03
US Republican protests over the use of European GSM technology in Iraq

Angered over the antiwar positions of France and Germany, Californian Republican, Darrell Issa has sent letters to US Defense...
March 27, 2003 27 Mar'03
Nokia brings Edge technology to Europe

Nokia's launch of its first Edge (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) mobile network at CeBIT, highlights the question of...
March 26, 2003 26 Mar'03
Nortel extends Fibre Channel traffic over Sonet

Nortel Networks has added Fibre Channel storage over synchronous optical networks (Sonet) to its product offerings.
March 26, 2003 26 Mar'03
IBM unveils Wi-Fi printer adaptor

IBM has introduced what it called a "plug-and-print" wireless Lan adapter to support enterprise network printing on high-volume...
March 24, 2003 24 Mar'03
Superdrug to offer Hutchison 3G phones

Hutchison 3G's mobile phone network, 3, has struck a deal to sell handsets through 20 Superdrug chemists chain stores. Parent...
March 21, 2003 21 Mar'03
Cisco to buy Linksys in $500m stock deal

Cisco Systems plans to acquire wireless vendor Linksys Group in a stock deal valued at $500m (£319m).
March 19, 2003 19 Mar'03
Benetton takes lead on RFID

Benetton is planning a major roll-out of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to track shipping, inventory and sales of the...
March 18, 2003 18 Mar'03
Texas Instruments puts three wireless technologies in one PDA

Texas Instruments has developed a concept design for a PDA that would feature three wireless technologies.