The Green Sheet, Inc. ? in Print

What's the Difference Between a Bluetooth and a WiFi?
By Tim Cormier

onsumers are increasingly going wireless and with that WiFi has become the technology of choice in a majority of devices in homes and businesses across North America. The availability of low cost WiFi equipment, access points and airtime has driven the industry to continue to evolve the standard.

While Bluetooth, another wireless option, has many supporters, a few limitations in this technology hinder its implementation as the standard of choice at the POS.

Bluetooth may eventually become a credible wireless alternative for payment applications, but that day is not now. Problems with WiFi implementation early on were identified, but Bluetooth's security flaws are just starting to surface. When Bluetooth was first introduced, the wireless industry over-hyped the technology. Then Bluetooth began showing its insecurities and users' expectations were not met.

Bluetooth is and always will be a short-range cable replacement technology-something intended to connect a device to a peripheral, such as a telephone to a wireless headphone, or to synchronize your cellphone address book with that of your PDA. It falls into a category the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) calls a Personal Area Network (PAN).

New York City Elite Flip Over the New Motorola A630
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MOTOROLA LOGO
Motorola logo. (PRNewsFoto)[TC]
SCHAUMBURG, IL USA 03/07/2002
MOTOROLA LOGO
Motorola logo. (PRNewsFoto)[JL]
SCHAUMBURG, IL USA 04/15/2002



Uniquely designed mobile brings users the best of voice and data in sleek form
factor that brings hidden surprises

NEW YORK, July 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- At an exclusive gathering of
New York City's top trend-setters and influencers, Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT),
a leader in wireless communications, unveiled its latest wireless creation -
the model A630. Staged on the rooftop of the exclusive Hotel Gansevoort,
celebrities and style leaders, including Drea de Matteo, Russell Simmons, Pat
Field, Molly Shannon, Samantha Ronson and Jacob the Jeweler were among the
first to witness the unveiling of the next "must have" mobile device from
Motorola.
Following in the footsteps of the game-changing Motorola StarTAC and the
company's revolutionary two-way pagers, the model A630 is yet another
innovative new product from Motorola. Packaged in a unique, multi- functional
design featuring a QWERTY keyboard hidden inside a sleek candy bar form, the
Motorola A630 lets you call, text or email with style and ease.
From the outside, you see a fashionable, compact mobile handset. Once
opened, the device reveals a full QWERTY keyboard that makes texting, email
exchanges and Instant Messaging easy. The A630 does not stop there. For multi-
media fun, the handset comes with an integrated camera with 4 x zoom, multi-
media messaging for sending and sharing images, dedicated gaming keys and a
vivid color display that offers portrait as well as landscape views. When its
time to be productive, the A630 offers integrated Bluetooth(R) wireless
technology, an office quality speakerphone and email support including POP3,
SMTP and Imap4. The Motorola A630's fusion of the mobile and messaging worlds
without sacrificing weight, size or style makes it the ideal device for
today's text-savvy trendsetting consumer.
"With the debut of the model A630, Motorola delivers a uniquely designed
handset that stands apart from the pack, promising simplified voice and
messaging communications supported by the latest technology," said James
Burke, Sr. Director of Product Operations for Motorola, Inc. "With its clever
combination of fun and function, the model A630 is sure to please style-
conscious movers and shakers."

The Motorola A630 features include:

-- Full QWERTY keyboard with 5-way navigation for easy messaging, fun
gaming and more
-- Integrated VGA camera with dedicated photo button for quick shoot and
send power
-- 220 x 176 pixel color landscape display capable of supporting up to
65,000 colors
-- Built-in Bluetooth wireless technology
-- Advanced messaging including Multi-Media Messaging Service (MMS), SMS,
e-mail support (POP3, SMTP, Imap4) and multibranded IM (Instant
Messaging)
-- GSM tri-band capabilities
-- J2ME(TM) downloading functionality
-- Integrated hands-free speakerphone
-- Polyphonic speaker for the ultimate sound and cool MP3 ringtones

Pricing and Availability
The Motorola A630 is expected at Cingular Wireless retail stores
nationwide later this summer.

About Motorola
Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) is a global leader in wireless, broadband and
automotive communications technologies that help make life smarter, safer,
simpler, synchronized and fun. Sales in 2003 were U.S. $27.1 billion. Motorola
creates innovative technological solutions that benefit people at home, at
work and on the move. The company also is a progressive corporate citizen
dedicated to operating ethically, protecting the environment and supporting
the communities in which it does business. For more information:
http://www.motorola.com.

MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the US Patent &
Trademark Office. All other product or service names are the property of their
respective owners. Add Bluetooth & Java attribution statements.

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APPROVAL OF LANDMARK IEEE SECURITY STANDARD ENABLES WIRELESS LAN VENDORS TO ADD STRONGER ENCRYPTION TO PRODUCT PORTFOLIOS

Trapeze Networks pledges compatibility with new IEEE 802.11i specification and acknowledges that it already implements much of the standard in products that it currently ships

PLEASANTON, Calif. — June 30, 2004 — Trapeze Networks™, the award-winning provider of the wireless LAN (WLAN) Mobility System™, today announced that the proposed IEEE 802.11i specification was approved as an amendment to the 802.11 standard on June 24, 2004 during an IEEE-SA standards board meeting.

"The ratification of 802.11i is a big step forward in enabling standards-based multivendor security in wireless LANs," said Dan Harkins, chief security architect at Trapeze and contributor to the 802.11i specification. "Stronger encryption and authentication can now be deployed in wireless LANs that enable fast roaming between access points."

802.11i offers a vast improvement over the 802.11-1999 standard that defines Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption. After WEP's vulnerabilities became known shortly after its adoption a few years ago, the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) was introduced as an intermediate fix and codified by the Wi-Fi Alliance as Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) 1.0.

"802.11i defines a mode of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) cipher, which has received extensive analysis by cryptographers around the world and has not been susceptible to any known attacks," said Harkins, who was an advisor to the U.S. government in establishing key management specifications for the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) and authored the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) standard for IPsec.

"We're happy that the fast roaming techniques proposed by Trapeze are part of the ratified 802.11i standard," said Dan Simone, vice president of product management and co-founder of Trapeze. "We already support much of 802.11i in products we currently ship, so customers can be sure that Trapeze will be compatible with the new standard."

Technical Background
The entire 802.11i specification defines a key management and authentication protocol that ensures only trusted users get wireless access to the local area network (LAN) resources and establishes an authenticated shared-key between a mobile user's client device, such as a laptop, and an authenticator, like the Trapeze Networks Mobility Exchange™ switch.

An authenticated shared-key, known as a pairwise master key (PMK), is used with a protocol called "the four-way handshake" to establish per-user session keys that protect a mobile user's bulk data.

A hand-off occurs when a user roams from one access point (AP) to another. This starts a "discovery phase" and the user's client begins to scan different channels for an AP with which to associate. When an AP is detected that has the right level of services — such as encryption and quality of service (QoS) — the client performs 802.11 open authentication and association.

The re-authentication process occurs next. Today, full 802.1X/EAP authentication is performed between a mobile user's client and a back-end network server that provides authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) services.

With 802.11i, re-authentication can be skipped altogether because the client has already been authenticated. The client and Mobility Exchange switch forgo the key management and authentication protocol using the PMK that was retained in cache, and go straight to the four-way handshake to establish a new set of session keys on a new AP. When session keys are established, the client finishes the hand-off process.

"It can take upwards of 800 milliseconds to complete a full re-authentication step," notes Harkins. "Independent analysis has shown that the four-way handshake can be done in 25 milliseconds. PMK caching, combined with the 802.11k task group's efforts to develop ways to enable clients to decide where to go and when, make fast roaming possible."

Eliminating the re-authentication step and trimming up to 800 milliseconds off the hand-off time when mobile users roam from AP to AP makes the deployment of delay-sensitive applications like voice over wireless much more practical and reliable.

About Trapeze Networks
Trapeze Networks delivers the power of business applications and services to the mobile enterprise workforce. The company's wireless LAN Mobility System enhances productivity, introduces new efficiencies and accelerates business response time by delivering secure mobility for roaming users, sophisticated services for both users and IT, all while offering the lowest total cost of ownership of any WLAN infrastructure provider. Trapeze has been the recipient of seven industry awards in recognition of its product and technology strength. Founded in March 2002, Trapeze raised $50 million in venture funding to date and is headquartered in Pleasanton, Calif., U.S.A. For more information, please visit www.trapezenetworks.com.

All Hail Bluetooth | A Whole Lotta Features

All Hail Bluetooth
April 14, 2004

While I've known about bluetooth phones for the past few years and heard you could do cool stuff like use it as a modem, control your pc, and sync your computers with your phone, I didn't really give it a try until I got back from Etech this year. In the few months I've been playing with it, I can say one thing's for sure: it's like living in the goddamned future.


What it is

Understanding bluetooth is pretty easy, it's just a name for a low-range networking standard. It's essentially "personal area networking" meaning you can connect a phone to a wireless headset or a mouse with a computer, all without wires. There are a bunch of bluetooth enabled phones and PDAs out now, and thanks to USB adapters, powerbooks and PCs can play too.

Unstrung - The world wide source for analysis of the global wireless economy

Wireless Prices Under Pressure
By Gabriel Brown | 06.29.04

Enterprise-grade 802.11 wireless equipment has always deserved a price premium over consumer and SOHO equipment, thanks to better performance, management, security, and upgradeability.

But even though there's no way any enterprise that cares about productivity would take a risk with low-grade equipment, there's also no good reason to assume that enterprise vendors will escape the pressures that have demolished prices in the consumer market.

In this month's Unstrung Insider – "Enterprise Wireless LAN Price Survey"

eBCVG - 802.11 Wireless LAN Fundamentals

802.11 Wireless LAN Fundamentals
By Danny T. Tuesday, 29 June 2004, 11:53 GMT

Wireless networks and technologies are no longer a new concept. The freedom of flexibility, increase of productivity and the much sought-after mobility are only few of the benefits that 802.11-based networks provide. This appeals to the enterprise and home users to take the next step and deploy a wireless network onto their network and business infrastructure. To ensure a seamless integration and deployment, Cisco has encompassed all the necessary and relevant information into one small and useful book.

More Wireless LAN Books

CommsDesign - Atmel joins WirelessUSB standard push




Atmel joins WirelessUSB standard push
By Patrick Mannion

EE Times
Jun 28, 2004


MANHASSET , N.Y. — Atmel Corp. will serve as an alternate source for Cypress Semiconductor Corp.'s proprietary WirelessUSB interface chips, supporting Cypress' goal of making the technology an open, de facto wireless standard for consumer and computer products.

Wielding the devices' low power, low cost and low networking-protocol overhead, the two will try to fill what they call a wireless void between low-end RFID and higher-end Zigbee and Bluetooth solutions

PCAI Artificial Intelligence - Free eMagazine, White Papers, Demos, Products, Glossary, Links

WLAN Forum

ST Microelectronics - Wireless LAN baseband processor

Wireless LAN baseband processor

ST Microelectronics has released the STLC8201 multi-mode, wireless LAN baseband processor chip for IEEE802.11a/b/g systems including wireless ADSL gateways, broadband routers, access points, media servers, bridges, print servers as well as clients and other wireless modules.

The processor combines the functions of media access controller and physical layer processor. Using band interleaving, the processor delivers dual-band operation for access point and infrastructure equipment.

It shares available bandwidth between 2.4GHz and 5GHz clients, without the need for duplicate baseband or RF circuits. Band interleaving enables adoption of 5GHz technology, which is key to avoiding channel overload at 2.4GHz and removing the barriers to media-based applications.

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Meru Education Program Jumpstarts University Wireless LAN Deployments

Meru Education Program Jumpstarts University Wireless LAN Deployments

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 21, 2004--
Meru's FirstFlight Program for Educational Institutions Allows Campuses to Take Advantage of Wi-Fi Technology to Improve Student and Administrative Services





Meru Networks announced the availability of the Meru FirstFlight Program for educational institutions, a product and support package designed for colleges, universities and schools to cost-effectively deploy Meru Wi-Fi technology and have their students and faculty up and running in a secure wireless network within hours instead of days. Meru's patent pending Air Traffic Control technology, with its unparalleled support for high density of clients, combined with support for virtual Wireless LANs, full Layer 3 mobility with zero handoffs and comprehensive WLAN security, enables institutions to enjoy the freedom of a wireless network with the security and service reliability of a wired network.

More than 10 universities and colleges have deployed the Meru Wireless LAN system, including State University of NY at Stony Brook, University of the Pacific, and College of New Jersey.

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Foundry Networks Wireless LAN Solution Selected for Major Infrastructure Upgrade at Virginia Military Institute
Tuesday June 15, 7:01 am ET
VMI Will Install Hundreds of Foundry WiFi Access Points to Enable Mobility Across Campus


SAN JOSE, Calif., June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Foundry Networks®, Inc. (Nasdaq: FDRY - News) a performance and total solutions leader for end-to-end switching and routing, today announced that the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) selected its IronPoint(TM) enterprise-class wireless networking solution for a major upgrade to campus network infrastructure. VMI will install hundreds of Foundry's high speed, dual-band 802.11 a/b/g compliant Access Points and dozens of FastIron® Edge Power over Ethernet switches as part of a long-term project to deliver wireless mobility to every building on campus by 2005. VMI's wireless network will carry multimedia traffic to support Internet research, student collaboration, email, teaching and administrative applications.
"We examined the wireless offerings from all the major vendors and found that Foundry's was the clear winner in both total cost of ownership and performance," said Col. Tom Hopkins, Director of Information Technology.

Foundry's IronPoint wireless LAN family offers a secure, reliable, manageable and scalable total solution to the enterprise, including full- featured dual-band IEEE 802.11a/b/g standards-based Multimode Access Points, a rich set of WiFi management applications, and wireless LAN upgrade options for Foundry's industry-leading edge switches including the FastIron® Edge and BigIron® modular switches. The wireless upgrade options provide customers such as VMI the ability to upgrade their installed Foundry switches to protect their investments, enhance the manageability, scalability and performance of the integrated wired and wireless network infrastructure, and achieve lower overall cost of ownership.

"We had a definite set of criteria for VMI's wireless solution and Foundry fit the bill in all areas. Foundry offered us a highly scalable, standards-based solution that, when coupled with their FastIron Edge POE switching solution, provides us with a very solid platform on which to grow our wireless capabilities," said John Craft, Network Administrator.

"We are pleased to work with VMI to help them deliver on their commitment to having an advanced and versatile technology infrastructure to support excellence in teaching and learning," said Ken Cheng, vice president of marketing for Foundry. "Our IronPoint solution will furnish VMI with a scalable, future-proof and integrated wireless-enabled network that meets their needs today and tomorrow, and allows them to extend the learning environment outside the walls of the classroom."

About Foundry Networks

Foundry Networks, Inc. is a leading provider of high-performance enterprise and service provider switching, routing and Web traffic management solutions including Layer 2/3 LAN switches, Layer 3 Backbone switches, Layer 4 - 7 Web switches, Wireless LAN and access points, Access Routers and Metro Routers. Foundry's 6,800 customers include the world's premier ISPs, Metro service providers, and enterprises including e-commerce sites, universities, entertainment, health and wellness, government, financial, and manufacturing companies. For more information about the company and its products, call 888-TURBOLAN or visit http://www.foundrynetworks.com .

NOTE: Foundry Networks, IronPoint, FastIron, BigIron and the 'Iron' family of marks are trademarks of Foundry Networks, Inc. All other trademarks are the sole property of their respective holders.

Press Contacts:
North America
Jill Shanks
Foundry Networks
408-941-7190
jshanks@foundrynet.com

Europe
Tom Herbst
Kaizo
+0207-580-8852
tom.herbst@kaizo.net

Asia/Pacific
Jenny Liu
Foundry Networks Hong Kong
+852-2845-3818
jenny@foundrynet.com

Investor Contact:
Jason Golz
Financial Dynamics
415-439-4532
jgolz@fd-us.com




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Foundry Networks, Inc.

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Do homework on camera phone choice

Do homework on camera phone choice
Kim Komando

June 27, 2004

Despite some drawbacks, camera cell phones are a fun way to quickly share life’s moments. That might be why they’re all the rage, outselling digital cameras last year.

Buying a camera cell phone is no different than buying a regular cell phone. Everything begins with the wireless network. You can buy the most powerful phone available, but you won’t get as much out of it if it’s running on a network with poor or inconsistent coverage. Here are some tips for choosing a camera phone:


Check the wireless network’s service ratings with consumer organizations.

CNEWS - Tech News: Wireless scanner big efficiency booster: "Wireless scanner big efficiency booster

By HARRY R. WEBER

ATLANTA (AP) -- Worn like a ring and the size of a pager, a new wireless scanner is proving a big efficiency booster for shipping giant UPS.
The device scans barcodes on packages ready for delivery and sends the data using Bluetooth wireless technology to small Wi-Fi terminals that sorters wear on their waists.
The terminals automatically relay the information to UPS' computer network, which customers can access online to determine packages' delivery status. "