12/24 Tech Beat - BusinessWeek

Please add updates@feedmyinbox.com to your address book to make sure you receive these messages in the future. Tech Beat - BusinessWeek Wi-Fi Hotspot Use Shifts from Laptops to Handhelds December 23, 2009 at 12:17 pm More people are accessing Wi-Fi hotspots at cafes and airports via handheld devices, according to a new study from In-Stat. While, last year, devices like smartphones accounted for 20% of total connects to Wi-Fi hotspots, in 2009 that number jumped to 35%. And by 2011, smartphones should account for half of hotspot connects -- and challenge laptops' dominance of Wi-Fi hotspots, In-Stat estimates. It's clear why this is happening: More smartphones feature built-in Wi-Fi capabilities. More carriers are promoting these features. More places, such as bookseller Borders, have recently made Wi-Fi access available for free. All that is contributing to increased use of hotspots with all devices. Hotspot usage has increased by 47%, to 1.2 billion connects in 2009, In-Stat estimates. The findings may also indicate that people increasingly use their smartphones to do many of the things they used to reserve for their netbooks and laptops. The handsets are now larger than they were only several years ago, with easier-to-use keyboards and screens. So consumers increasingly find they can use them for everything from surfing the Web to typing e-mails to gaming. When tablets debut some time next year, they could further accelerate this shift from laptops and netbooks to handheld devices. Nortel to Shed Yet Another Business Unit December 23, 2009 at 11:52 am Bankrupt gearmaker Nortel has just inched closer to becoming a gearmaker no more. On Dec. 23, the company announced a preliminary agreement to sell a unit that makes software and gear for making cheap Web calls to telecom gearmaker Genband for $282 million, a sum that is subject to adjustment. The agreement is not final: More companies could bid for the unit in an auction early next year. Nortel has already sold a number of other business units over the summer. Once the sale of this unit, called carrier VoIP and application solutions, is complete, Nortel will be left with only a few holdings, including a unit that sells so-called multi-service switches, which direct traffic along communications networks. It also still owns the majority stake in the LG-Nortel joint venture, which has sold wireless telcommunications equipment to carriers in South Korea. And Nortel still owns as much as $2 billion worth of patents, which it might hold on to or sell separately. I suspect that Nortel will finish selling its assets in the first half of 2010.   This email was sent to gamblusirus.jaid6@gmail.com.  Create Your Account Don't want to receive this feed any longer? Unsubscribe here.