HIGH-DEF DISC NEWS TAGGED "WI-FI"

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Unused TV Frequencies Become Free Wi-Fi in North Carolina

The TV White Space network has gone live in Wilmington, providing citizens with Wi-Fi, and law enforcement with broadband.

When television made the switch to digital, we were left with a pressing question - what do we do with all those unused frequencies? The folks in Wilmington, North Carolina are now getting to take advantage of the first commercial TV White Space (TVWS) network.

The new tech gives people Wi-Fi in city parks, which is certainly a well received improvement. No need to use your 3G service when you can connect up with your phone, laptop or tablet to proper Wi-Fi.

The biggest benefit, at least at this point, goes to law enforcement. The freed up space allows for better video surveillance, traffic surveillance and mitigation as well as security for both people and property.

"This technology has proven to be an unobtrusive, environmentally friendly way to offer services to our citizens and the visitors at our parks and to give our staff more efficient ways to manage these locations," says New Hanover County chairman Ted Davis. "We are extremely pleased with the installations of the white spaces systems."

Source: Engadget

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NPD Expects 600 Million Wi-Fi Home Theater Devices by 2015

It's not hard to imagine, considering the surge in connected devices over the last few years.

Just a year or two ago, only the top of the line Blu-ray players and TVs had wireless capabilities built in. Not much before that, it was unheard of to have a service like Netflix embedded into a TV. Things have changed dramatically and the NPD Group says this growth is only going to continue.

Wireless networking functionality is becoming increasingly common, to the point that you can find it in low priced set-top boxes and entry level Blu-ray players. According to the NPD, we're going to end up with somewhere around 600 million Wi-Fi capable units shipped to retail by 2015.

"Wi-Fi has moved from a nice-to-have feature to a must-have feature as it provides the connectivity necessary to support IP-based video content," says NPD's Frank Dickson. "It is important to note that Wi-Fi is growing from being simply about getting content from a network to device."

In addition to streaming from internet based sources and home computers, Wi-Fi may be one of the technologies that helps enable streaming directly from your laptop's screen to your computer. It also helps to enable smartphone and tablet control options.

Source: Home Media Magazine

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