Internet Service with No Fees, No Contracts and No Strings MetroFi, a leading provider of free municipal wireless (Wi-Fi) Internet service, today announced the next phase of its free wireless coverage plan for the city of Portland. The second phase will be completed over the next four months, and will include the districts of Pearl, Old Town, Portland State University's surrounding areas, Hosford-Abernethy, Richmond and Sunnyside, respectively. The Portland network already covers the districts ... [full story]

Tektronix, Inc., a leading worldwide provider of test, measurement and monitoring solutions, announced that Parade Technologies, Inc., has validated their new DP501 DisplayPort(TM) Transmitter for compliance with the emerging DisplayPort standard using Tektronix test equipment. About Parade Technologies, Ltd and Parade Technologies, Inc.: Parade Technologies, Ltd is a privately-held fabless semiconductor company that specializes in developing digital video display interface products. About Tektronix: Tektronix is a leading supplier of test, measurement, and monitoring products, solutions ... [full story]

Until recently, USB flash storage units - often called thumb or key-fob drives - were like the lead character in the movie "Rain Man": lots of memory, but not really smart. Like Dustin Hoffman's character, who stored baseball statistics and much of the phone book in his head, thumb drives were repositories for files and not much more. A new generation of drives changes that. Called smart drives, these little USB devices sport a variety ... [full story]

Intel Corporation today announced fourth-quarter revenue of $9.7 billion, operating income of $1.5 billion, net income of $1.5 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of 26 cents. Excluding the effects of share-based compensation, the company posted operating income of $1.8 billion, net income of $1.7 billion and EPS of 30 cents. Fourth-quarter results included a gain from the sale of certain assets of the company's communications and application processor business to Marvell Technology Group partially ... [full story]

Technology originally developed by the military to help fighter pilots immerse themselves in air combat is now helping surgeons performing minimally invasive surgery be more precise when removing a diseased prostate or completing a hysterectomy. Like the pilots, surgeons using the system slip a pair of sophisticated goggles over their head. But rather than seeing radar images, night vision or other perspectives of the pilot's battlefield, the surgeon is immersed in the patient. Projected before ... [full story]

Not long ago, sports fans were beholden to whatever was on network television. But advances in online broadcasting technology now make it possible for fans to have their sports anytime, anywhere and any way. Armed with the knowledge that devoted fans are increasingly opting to watch live sports on their computer screens, PDAs and cell phones as well as their television sets, Texas-based WhiteBlox has taken sports broadcasting to the next level. The company offers ... [full story]

For most people, underwater diving is strictly a recreational activity - a carefree swim through lush coral reefs. But for those who work in the field of underwater construction, diving is an activity that requires extensive training and experience so as to avoid dangerous, even fatal situations. According to statistics from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, between 1989 and 1997 the average death rate for commercial divers was 40 times the national average for ... [full story]

Computers today consistently pack more power for the dollar than models just a few years old. Faster processing and greater storage has become the norm. That's good news for value-conscious consumers, but can lull home users into poor practices. With hardware and computer memory so inexpensive, why worry about power surges? Protection of data is why. As computers have become cheaper, they are being used for more tasks - online banking, online tax filing, financial ... [full story]

Sooner or later, your computer is going to need an upgrade. You'll copy its vital files onto the new device and then recycle the now-obsolete hardware. But what about those files? Did you delete them? Are they really gone? You had personal and credit information on there for friends, family and clients. The answer far too often is no, the files aren't really gone. In the bad old days when everyone tossed their old technology ... [full story]

Plenty of technology companies that were once household names have become industry footnotes - thanks to management missteps or new technology leapfrogging over their products. But few companies have had a more tumultuous, lingering fall than Iomega. Iomega's Zip drives for backing up computer data were so popular that the company became a top name in the technology industry.   COMEBACK AHEAD? - Iomega’s Zip drives for backing up computer data were so popular that the ... [full story]

When Boeing announced plans in September to discontinue its high-profile Connexion in-flight Internet venture, the Carlsbad, Calif., company ViaSat saw a potentially lucrative contract essentially grounded. But the satellite equipment maker, which built onboard modems and other avionics for Connexion, is maintaining its foothold in aviation by setting its sights on business jets.   AIR WAVES - ViaSat technician Ken Reahr tests a business jet satellite system in Carlsbad, Calif. ViaSat’s systems will be installed on ... [full story]

Alzheimer's disease costs American businesses $61 billion annually -- $36.5 billion of that total is attributed to the cost of lost productivity, absenteeism and worker replacement when employees become caregivers to family members afflicted with the disease, according to a 2006 Fact Sheet published by the Alzheimer's Association. While there are currently an estimated 4.5 million Americans with the disease, by 2050, the number could grow to 16 million. GPS (Global Positioning System) technology has ... [full story]

Daily, the hard-luck hard-drive tales trickle in to San Diego PC Help. Often, the computers had been giving warning signals, making strange noises, clicking and whining. And finally, the hard drives stopped altogether, putting all their files out of reach. "We get 10 or 11 a week," said Jeremy Frank, a service coordinator for the repair business. "In many cases, we're able to recover some or all of the data. But in about four cases ... [full story]