Wireless

We dig the idea in theory, we really do, but we can definitely see this causing more harm than good. Starting this fall, San Francisco will begin a trial involving wireless parking sensors in 6,000 of its 24,000 metered spaces, enabling antsy drivers to be alerted via street signs or cellphones when a spot becomes available. Only one problem — give 50 anxious motorists the same message that a single spot is unoccupied, and you’ve just created a bona fide mess. Though it’d probably be fun to watch from the sidewalk, wouldn’t you agree?

[Via Core77]

See what it’s come to Bluetooth SIG? Headset-to-cellphone pairing is so utterly baffling to average consumers that they are now handing over a Hamilton at Best Buys in California (in support of the new hands-free calling law) just to avoid the procedure. Eight years after the launch of the world’s first Bluetooth headset from Ericsson, this is where we’re at. Still, at $10, consider it a bargain — that’s half of what Best Buy will charge you for the already free-to-download (and free to ship on CD) Ubuntu OS.

[Thanks, Tarek]

Belkin isn’t just touting its new FlyWire gear today, it’s also taking the opportunity to introduce the new F5D8235-4 N Wireless Router, which brings with it a new design language for all of the company’s networking gear. The vertically-oriented unit features four Gigabit Ethernet port, a USB port to attach storage devices, push-button WPS security, and front-panel icons that turn from blue to amber if there’s a problem on the network. Not bad for $120, but we’ll save our love for the 5GHz gear. (There’s also an N unit without Gigabit ports and a pair of G routers, but really, who cares?) In addition, there’s a matching $99 USB WiFi adapter that shares the glossy black finish, and while we’re at it, let’s throw in three Powerline kits: a $179 three-port 200Mbps adapter,, a $149 200Mbps adapter two-oack, and a $99 85Mbps two-pack. Photos of the stick and Powerline gear after the break.

Read - Belkin N Wireless Router and USB stick
Read - The other three routers
Read - Powerline adapters

When this Swinxs RFID game console arrived at the doorstep of our European annex to test, we realized our dilemma: kids, we need kids, preferably the type who won’t mind being tricked into a little physical activity. Fortunately, we always have a few 3-footers lurking around the Engadget “waste acre” scrounging for circuit boards to strip of their gold. Presumably then, in violation of several international child labor laws, we put Swinxs to the grueling challenge of entertaining three kids, city-hardened, and angry at the establishment after their respective 5-, 6- and 7-years of big city livin’. How did Swinxs fare? Click on through to witness the laughter and tears spilled during a typical Swinxs afternoon.

As you can see from the video, Swinxs was a success. Initial setup was very quick. Within 10 minutes, the kids were playing on their own leaving us time to consume the daily quota of whiskey and cigarettes required per editorial cycle.

There are a few frustrating points of course. For example, the RFID reader doesn’t work well in games like Countdown where it must read several XS bands within milliseconds of being slapped down together on top of the console. The RFID reader would also be better served if it could detect the XS bands from a slightly longer distance away from the console.

Other interesting observations:

• As veteran users of robots, the kids were often talking to Swinxs expecting it to respond to their voice commands
• SwinxsLink software (Windows-only) is required to communicate with the www.swinxs.com website to download new games — no games for you Mac owners (at least for now)
• At one point, CircleSwinxs, a frenetic ring-around-the-rosie game, busted out with a plague-inspired, death-metal musical surprise which had us ROFLing

Bottom Line: The €150 / $235 Swinxs does what the Disney or Nintendo babysitter can’t: it gets kids moving, really moving… and that’s a good thing too, chubby.

Linksys, er, sorry, that’s Linksys by Cisco, is announcing the WRT610N this morning, a new simultaneous dual-N band router that enables it to use 802.11n WiFi on both 5 and 2.4GHz at the same time. This means, of course, that your higher throughput, shorter-distance devices can get the highest-speed 802.11n access at the same time as the rest of your devices can get the usual, more compatible 2.4GHz access they look for. It’s on sale now for $200.

Municipal WiFi systems in the US have been pretty much failures across the board, but the good people of Akron, Ohio are apparently in for another go-round — the city’s just committed some $800,000 to build out a free wireless network over the next five years. The service will be installed and operated by a nonprofit called OneCommunity, which just received a $4.5M grant as part of a $25M commitment from the John S. and John L. Knight Foundation to implement digital access projects in 26 cities. The University of Akron has kicked in another $350,000, since the signal will cover its campus as well as the downtown area — all in, some 90,000 residents and 31,000 workers will get access through the project. The network will start lighting up in the next year — let’s hope it fares better than other city WiFi projects.

[Thanks, Glenn]

Bet you didn’t see this one coming. With everyone’s eyes fixed firmly on Sprint’s supposedly forthcoming US WiMAX deployment in Baltimore, Chicago and Washington, DC, DigitalBridge Communications has snuck in to steal a little of the spotlight. As we speak, America’s “first” (um, really?) mobile WiMAX deployment has gone live in Jackson Hole, Wyoming courtesy of Alvarion’s BreezeMAX gear. The firms are hoping that high-brow tourists that come to tackle the black diamonds of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort will also bring their WiMAX-enabled device and / or WiMAX card to send enviable photos back home, but only time will tell if folks find value in the offering. DBC is expected to expand the network’s reach in the area (which currently hits 3,000 homes and businesses), and then “add mobile capabilities throughout its 200,000-household footprint.”

[Image courtesy of TerryDreams]