Finding your way around in an unfamiliar city is sometimes difficult, which is especially inconvenient when you’re trying to attend an important meeting. The Garmin Mobile 10 for Laptops offers navigation software to give your Bluetooth-enabled laptop GPS capabilities. Garmin Mobile XT, nRoute navigation software, and City Navigator NT street maps are all included. Points of interest such as restaurants, hotels, and gas stations are also incorporated.

The Bluetooth technology eliminates the need for cords, so all you have to carry is a clip-on receiver the size of a pack of gum and your notebook. You won’t have to worry about fumbling around with your laptop as you try to decipher directions because the Mobile 10 has turn-by-turn voice-prompted guidance. If you do happen to miss a turn or an exit, the Mobile 10 will recognize it automatically and give you directions to get you back on track.

Click for more: Garmin Mobile 10 GPS for Bluetooth Laptops 010-00579-00

Tags: Wireless

When you need to quickly sync your mobile devices to your notebook or PC, Bluetooth is a quick and easy way to go. The D-Link Wireless Bluetooth 2.0 Adapter (DBT-120) is small, lightweight, and perfect for a frequent traveler who regularly synchronizes documents, calendar appointments, and contact information with a notebook or PC. You can also connect Bluetooth-enabled peripherals such as mice,
keyboards, and headphones.

The Wireless Bluetooth 2.0 Adapter is a plug-and-play device that comes with software to help you manage and pair Bluetooth-enabled devices. Your data is protected with 128-bit encryption and FHSS technology. With support for Windows 2000/XP and Mac OS X, the Wireless Bluetooth 2.0 Adapter is
flexible enough to use anywhere.

Click for more: D-LINK Wireless USB Bluetooth Adapter - Model DBT-120 Wireless USB Adapters

Tags: Wi-Fi

Powerline technology that using the electrical grid within the home to extend Internet coverage has been around for a while. It is relatively cheap and does away with the need for additional wiring. But while WLAN might well extend reach, it often cannot penetrate thick walls, whereas the electrical grid covers an entire house.

Now powerline has also gone wireless. Aztech’s HL109RN HomePlug 4-port Wireless N router has a built-in 200Mbps powerline chip.

This means while it can connect to other HomePlug devices in the powerline network, it also serves as a wireless router. This is a first in the Singapore market. HL109RN can connect to wireless devices and with other HomePlug devices via a “simple connect” button. This makes pairing very easy.

Although nothing was official at press time, signs were pointing toward Creative working on a new Zen X-Fi packing built-in Wi-Fi. Fan site Epizenter.net posted photos of the rumored device in June, and speculation indicates the X-Fi will forego a touchscreen but offer a numeric keypad to complement the onboard support for IM (possibly Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, and MSN Messenger).

Throw in media streaming, built-in speakers, and premium bundled earphones with such standard Zen features as an SD card slot, FM tuner, and voice recorder, and the X-Fi has u genuinely curious.

Tags: Wireless

NetGear has released what’s being called the world‘s first native open source consumer router.

Officially,the router is known as the Open Source Wireless-G WGR614L, and NetGear writes that the router is aimed at Linux developers and open-source experts and includes a comprehensive open-source guide available for developers.

To that end, NetGear accompanied the release of the WGR614L with the launch of a My Open Router Web site that provides its community members with scads of configuration and installation information to put to use, as well as a Projects section, articles, and links to such third-party firmware as Tomato, DD-WRT, and Sveasoft.

If you can’t afford to upgrade your network to 802.11n Draft N 2.0, you might consider purchasing Trendnet’s Easy-N-Upgrader TEW-637AP. Instead of throwing your existing router in the trash, plug it into the Easy-N-Upgrader access point to gain many of the benefits of a Draft N router for about half the price.

True dual-band routers operate one radio on the 2.4GHz band and the other on the 5GHz band, the ones we’ve tested have built-in gigabit switches. Trendnet’s device, however, uses only the 2.4GHz band, the same one your older Wi-Fi router most likely uses and since it’s just an access point, it doesn’t have a switch at all.

And while you could operate both access points at the same time, in fact, at no point does Trendnet’s installation wizard advise you to turn off the radio inside your router—that leaves both devices competing for the same bandwidth.

You should ignore the installation wizard altogether in favor of the device’s web-based user interface. Trendnet’s default confi guration leaves the router operating in mixed 802.11b/g/n mode with channel bonding turned off. In that scenario, with the radio on our Asus WL700gE 802.11g also on, the Trendnet delivered TCP throughput of just 29.3Mb/s at close range. When we turned off the Asus’s access point and tweaked the Easy-N to run in 802.11n-only mode with channel bonding activated, throughput jumped to 81.7Mb/s.

The Trendnet’s throughput was significantly faster than our 802.11g access point’s inside the house. Its outdoor range, though, was less impressive: Our notebook couldn’t maintain a connection to it in either of exterior locations

Click for details Trendnet Easy-N-Upgrader TEW-637AP

Flashing a diamond ring is all good and well, but if it’s too puny to see, what is the point? This seems to be the mindset Archos was in when it forged its mammoth 705 Wi-Fi portable video player. If you like your mobile audio and video served up in super-sized portions, open your eyes wide because you are about to be dazzled. Unfortunately, open your wallet, too, as this gem doesn’t come cheap, especially after shelling out extra for accessories you’ll actually want.

When you see how the 705 sparkles, though, you will understand why. Above all else, the 705 is gigantic (4.96 x 7.05 x 0.775 inches [HxWxD]) by mobile device standards. A 7-inch touchscreen display (800 x 480) lets you view movies, home videos, and photos. You can also watch TV you record using a DVR (digital video recorder) function which complete with personal TV guide that saves programming straight to the player. You also get a full-fledged digital audio player, two integrated speakers, and a palm-sized remote. Further, an integrated kickstand means you can set the 705 down, and the 3.5mm headphone jack doubles as a composite video out port to display images on a TV.

Need more bling for your money? No problem. The 705 also displays PDFs, plays Flash-based games, and has an excellent user interface and file browser to navigate content. Better, the 705’s built-in Wi-Fi is actually useful, letting you stream audio and video from a networked computer; whip around the Web via a Flash-supporting Web browser; and download movies, TV, and audio from Archos Content Portal. More bling? How about two built-in USB ports? I connected a digicam and moved photos and video to the 705’s hard drive. And then there’s the 705’s arguably most alluring trait: the scores of audio and video formats it supports, including MPEG-4, AVI, WMV, DivX, H.264, MPEG-2, MP3, WMA, protected WMA, WAV, AAC, and AC3.

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Tags: Wi-Fi