Broadband to reach 100Mbps in 2006

Broadband Internet access via TV cables could reach 100Mbps as early as next year, says a broadband equipment maker in Finland.

ZDNet reports that similar data transmission speeds around 50 times faster than speeds now offered to cable TV users are also possible over fibre networks, but these cost much more for the operators to build.

Teleste in Finland says it plans to bring its Ethernet-to-the-home product to market early next year by building Ethernet into cable television networks.

The company says research has shown that 30Mbps is the absolute minimum in future homes, with one TV programme requiring 10Mbps to 20Mbps.

Proposals for standardising wireless mesh networks are being presented this week to a working group of the IEEE meeting in San Francisco.

Techworld says there are 15 separate proposals that have to be consolidated into a single draft for the 802.11s standard, but this could happen as soon as May next year.

Mesh networks reduce the need for wired connections in wireless LANs by letting multiple access points carry each other`s traffic. A conventional wireless access point needs its own wired link to a backbone network, but with a wireless mesh there can be just one wire for many access points.

Traffic that is destined for the Internet can hop from one access point to another until it reaches the one wired connection. Though each access point still needs a power source, the mesh can reduce the need for leased lines, thus reducing costs.

Although some network vendors are already selling wireless mesh networks, the IEEE says access points are not necessarily interoperable and a standard will give users a wider choice.

Open source software maker Mozilla has released updated versions of the Firefox Web browser and the Thunderbird e-mail application in attempt to make both more stable, reports Sci-Tech Today.

The Firefox update is also aimed at ensuring all extensions and applications run within the browser, whereas the Thunderbird update includes security fixes and a Really Simple Syndication reader so that users can subscribe to various news feeds directly from their e-mail program.

Google has announced formal plans to enter the Chinese market with the appointment of a head of its Chinese operations and the establishment of a development centre in China, reports Xinhuanet.com.

Former Microsoft corporate VP Kai-fu Lee has been named as Google China president and head of the new centre.

Google says China is the world`s second largest Internet market and therefore one of the most important areas in its global expansion plans.

Sony and Konica Minolta have agreed to develop digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras jointly, paving the way for Sony`s full-scale entry into the market for DSLR cameras.

Forbes.com says Sony and Konica Minolta plan to release cameras with interchangeable lenses under their respective names in the middle of 2006.

The partners will combine their imaging technologies and devices, such as Sony`s charge-coupled device and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor imaging sensors and Konica Minolta`s auto-focus and auto-exposure technologies.