SkyPilot has released the SkyConnector Mini, a new generation Broadband Wireless Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) for long-range connectivity to broadband wireless subscribers. The SkyConnector Mini costs 50%  less than the current generation of SkyConnector while maintaining advanced wireless features including a high-gain antenna, high-power radio, OFDM modulation, AES encryption, and QoS capabilities.

The SkyConnector Mini’s deployment can be outside of commercial or residential buildings. Upon establishing a link, the CPE automatically configures itself and once connected, it provides an Ethernet connection to subscribers. The SkyConnector Mini includes extensive options to define and manage per-user rate control and other quality-of-service parameters. The SkyConnector Mini connects to a SkyGateway or SkyExtender point-to-multipoint base station.

Features of the SkyConnector Mini include:

• Low Cost – a per-unit MSRP as low as US$199
• Long Range – wireless connectivity up to 7.5 miles/12 km from the base station
• High Capacity – up to 13 Mbps of throughput
• Non-Line of Sight – industrial-strength OFDM improves deployment flexibility and resiliency
• Synchronous QoS – deterministic latency and jitter guarantees for applications like VoIP
• Encrypted Security – hardware-based AES encryption
• Frequency Flexibility – access to entire spectrum from 5.250-6.075 GHz
• “Zero-Touch” Configuration – auto-discovery and auto-provisioning via SkyControl™ EMS
• Traffic Management – Layer 2 networking with per-subscriber rate limiting and VLANs

The SkyConnector Mini is available from SkyPilot’s distributors and resellers. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price is US$299 per unit for individual units and US$199 per unit when purchased in a bundle of 100 units.

Popularity: 46% [?]

As part of Mozilla’s ongoing stability and security update process, Firefox 3.0.3  for Windows, Mac, and Linux has been released. This version repairs a problem experienced by some users with the Password Manager feature in Firefox 3.0.2

What’s new in Firefox 3.0.3:

• Fixed the problem on saved passwords’ retrieval and saving new passwords.
• Fixed several security issues.
• Fixed several stability issues.
• Fixed the hang and crash problems when using screen readers.
• Fixed Mac-specific issues.

Download Firefox 3.0.3

Popularity: 23% [?]

Western Digital has announced the ShareSpace, a network-attached storage (NAS) solution for SoHo.

The ShareSpace is a 2 or 4 Terabyte squat box NAS with four-bay system and a gigabit ethernet connection. The ShareSpace can also serve as an FTP server to let users access their files from remote locations. It has three USB ports (two at the back and one at the front) and comes with a built-in backup software and iTunes server for sharing content over the network. The front USB port allows users to dump other USB-based drives into the RAID array with just a touch of a button, without consuming bandwidth on the network.

The 2 or 4 TB drives are currently available and going for $699 and $999 respectively.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Super Talent, a Flash storage and DRAM manufacturer has launched two new high quality SATA-II SSDs. Part of the MasterDrive LX series, the new 64GB and 128GB drives are  aimed at customers who want affordable SSDs and at the same time take advantage of the SSD features.

“The MasterDrive LX is our most cost-effective SSD yet. However, we’ve made no compromises in quality and reliability,” said Super Talent Director of Marketing Joe James.

Super Talent’s 64GB and 128GB MasterDrive LX drives are rated at 100MB/sec reads and only 40MB/sec writes and priced at $179 and $299 respectively.

Both drives will be available this week.

Popularity: 18% [?]

After numerous rumors and several leaked images from the web, Samsung has officially unveiled its M8800 Pixon 8 Megapixel camera phone. Samsung M8800 Pixon, the thinnest among the current 8 megapixel camera phones, is a full touchscreen handset with a very strong focus on it’s photo functionality. The Samsung Pixon M8800 measures 108 x 54.6 x 13.8 millimeters and features auto focus, flash, face detection, WDR, geotagging, lens cover and video recording at up to 120 frames per second.

Below are the official specs of Samsung Pixon M8800:

• Quad Band GSM (850/900/1800/1900)/GPRS/EDGE, WCDMA 2100/HSDPA 7.2 Mbps connectivity
• 3.2″ 240×400 262K color WQVGA TFT display
• 8 megapixel camera with: 16x digital zoom, Dual Power LED Flash, ASR (Advance Shake Reduction),  WDR (Wide Dynamic Range), Face Detection, Smile Shot, Face Tagging, Geo-Tagging, Auto Panorama Shot, Photo memo, Accelerometer bases Tilt&Flip Photo Browser, Sorting by Face/Time/Color/Folder)
• Video recording: 720×480 px at 30 fps, QVGA at 120 fps, Mpeg4, Divx and Xvid  video support (record&play), slow motion video playback
• Virtual 5.1 CH Surround Sound
• FM Radio with RDS
• High Speed USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0, TV-Out
• 200MB of internal memory
• MicroSD memory card slot
• 1000 mAh battery, with 3.5 hrs talk and 290 hrs stand-by time
• Dimensions: 107.9×54.6×13.8 mm
• Weight: 121gr

Priced at around 550 Euros, the Samsung Pixon M8800 will be available in France in mid-October.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Digium and Skype have announced the availability of a new channel driver that will enable Asterisk users to access Skype features integrated with the features and capabilities of Asterisk. The new Skype for Asterisk Beta allows the creation of native Skype trunks inside Asterisk 1.4 or 1.6. The Skype wideband codecs that provide excellent call quality to Skype calls will be built into the module. This will allow the transcoding between Asterisk codecs and the Skype SYLK codec.

Beta testing for the Skype for Asterisk has started and it is limited to a small group selected to represent a broad cross-section of potential users and developers.

The new module requires a per-channel license fee, therefore it is not going to be an open source. The Skype module will be available through the Digium Asterisk Marketplace.

Click here for more information.

Popularity: 37% [?]