Suit blocks potentially harmful waves from cell phones

Smuggler, a fashion brand from France, has developed a men’s suit which blocks electromagnetic waves from cell phones and wifi points.

 The increase in number of people owning cell phones and wireless broadband connections is good news for global communication but there are concerns that the electromagnetic waves involved could be harmful – theInternational Agency for Research on Cancer describes them as ‘possibly carcinogenic’. With this in mind, we’ve seen a number of efforts to provide protection from the waves, such as wifi-blocking wallpaper from the Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble in France. Now Smuggler, a fashion brand from the country, has developed a men’s suit which does the same.

Created over three years in collaboration with the XLIM Research Institute, the company used materials previously only worn by professionals whose work involves high exposure to electromagnetic waves. Refining the technique, Smuggler was able to develop a fabric suitable for smart menswear, made by interweaving the thread with non-allergenic nickel, stainless steel and aluminium. According to Benjamin Anin from the company’s research and development department, the suit can block up to 90 percent of electromagnetic waves, but still retains the high fashion stylings the label is known for.

If concerns about the long-term effects of the signals given off by the devices we carry around with us every day have any truth, perhaps we could see anti-electromagnetic fashion become a big industry.

Website: www.smuggler.fr

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Wifox – Software that increases WiFi performance by 700 percent!

WiFi provided in public places tend to be very slow, especially when large audiences are hooked into it (which is generally the case most of the time). In the name of free internet access, we tend to fret over the slow speed. The problem isn’t that the WiFi is slow, but the requests are either many or heavy which in turns degrades the internet speeds.
To solve this problem, researchers from North Carolina State University, Arpit Gupta ( Ph.D. student computer science), Jeongki Min (Ph.D student) and Injong Rhee (professor, computer science) have developed WiFox. WiFox when tested in a lab with a real WiFi system improved performance with increase in number of users.
The result was: for 25 users, 400% improvement and for 45 (which was the capacity of the WiFi), 700% improvement.

How does WiFox work –
Basically if too many users are accessing a ‘access point’ via the same channel

1. There are too many requests and the access point is unable to send the requested data
2. If access point overrides the requests (by giving it a high priority) then the requests wont be submitted

The WiFox regulates the flow between the two issues by monitoring the amount of traffic. If the response (requested data being sent) is backlogged at the access point, it provides an access point priority. The longer is the backlog, the higher is the priority
“One of the nice things about this mechanism is that it can be packaged as a software update that can be incorporated into existing WiFi networks,” says Arpit Gupta “WiFox can be incorporated without overhauling a system.”
So basically it can be installed as a patch into existing systems, taking care of any legacy issues. Not only does WiFox smoothen the downlink throughput, but also reduces the average response time.
This will be great news for WiFi providers in public places and a no-brainer for them to implement it on their existing hot-spot network.
According to the press release, the paper, “WiFox: Scaling WiFi Performance for Large Audience Environments,” detailing out WiFox software will be presented at the ACM CoNEXT 2012 conference being held in Nice, France between Dec. 10-13th. 
[Via: TNW]
The post Wifox – Software that increases WiFi performance by 700 percent! appeared first on India Business & Technology Hub.

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High charges discourage smartphone use abroad trips

High roaming charges, data protection concerns, or simply a lack of an Internet-compatible device – according to a recent survey, these are the reasons why many travelers reject smartphone use abroad. Together with ITB Berlin, Hochschule Heilbronn polled a total of 4,000 people from Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the UK to find out their willingness to make use of local services abroad with their smartphones. These services identify a subscriber’s geographical position, which make it possible to access navigation systems, maps, special information, and booking services in the area. The representative survey was carried out by IPSOS, an international market research institute.
According to their findings, unpredictable roaming charges discourage travelers from using phone services abroad. Overall, 66 percent of the respondents in all the countries put together said that charges abroad were the main reason for not using local services when on holiday. Fifty-five percent of those polled lacked a suitable device to even access these services. The high cost of these phones prevented them from buying one. Forty-one percent voiced data protection concerns and for that reason would rather not use local services.
Dr. Manfred Lieb, Dean of Studies at the Faculty of Economics 2 and in charge of the survey, said, “What is interesting is that people in every country display a positive attitude towards modern technology, the Internet, and mobile devices and that they accept desktop capabilities which have been transported to mobile devices.”
David Ruetz, Head of ITB Berlin, said: “The survey does, however, show that people’s use of smartphones on holiday is determined by costs and not by a non-availability of service apps. In order to achieve broader smartphone use, charges must become more transparent. At the same time, users’ data protection concerns must be taken seriously, and online services must be made as secure as possible. These are some of the topics we will be examining at the newly-enlarged eTravel World section at ITB Berlin 2012.”
A look at the various European countries reveals individual differences: for the majority of respondents from Germany (68 percent) roaming charges were the main reason for not using local services abroad. Around 70 percent of the men and 67 percent of the women polled would rather not use smartphones due to costs. In second place were data protection concerns, voiced by 50 percent of both men and women. This was followed by the high cost of purchasing a suitable device.
In the Netherlands, the high purchase cost was the main reason discouraging smartphone use abroad. Both men and women, as well as older respondents, gave this as their reason. For younger people aged between16 and 29 who took part in the survey, it was high roaming charges that counted most. The second and third-place responses were high roaming charges and data protection concerns.
Respondents in the UK and France said high roaming charges discouraged them from using smartphones abroad. This was followed by a lack of a suitable device, due to the purchase cost, and data protection concerns when surfing the Internet abroad.

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In Paris, smartphones double as travel passes

A pilot service being trialled in Paris aims to make life easier for users of the metro and city buses, by putting travel passes on smartphones.

 

We’ve seen smartphone apps aiding journeys on public transport around the world, from basic route planning, predicting the next train and even connecting commuters with similar journeys. Now, Navigo is trialling a service in Paris that aims to make life easier for users of the metro and city buses, by putting travel passes on smartphones.
Currently commuters swipe their Navigo card — equipped with Near Field Communication technology — to pay for journeys. But now France’s public transport authority, STIF, have announced plans to integrate the Navigo card with NFC-compatible smartphones, meaning commuters will soon be able to swipe their smartphone over special readers. This not only means one less thing to remember in the morning, but passes can be renewed at a distance, saving time and frustration with long Monday morning queues. The trial is due to launch early 2012 and will run for 24 months on two Veolia Transport networks in Paris.
Anything that removes the stress from a daily commute is likely to be well-received, and an all-in-one travelcard and phone ticks the convenient, practical and time saving boxes. Time for for transport and mobile businesses worldwide to unite?
Website: www.navigo.fr

Source:Internet

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