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BAE Systems' NAVSOP does positioning without GPS, makes sure the only jammin' going on is yours
Just in case GPS and GLONASS didn't make for enough of an acronym soup, BAE Systems wants to add one more to the navigation broth. NAVSOP (Navigation via Signals of Opportunity) uses some of the basic concepts we know from cell tower triangulation and WiFi location-finding to lock down a position, but goes much further to geolocate from nearly anything that pushes out a signal, such as nearby radios and TVs. It doesn't even need to know what kind of signal it's looking at, and it can get its position in places there's no GPS to work from, whether it's in an urban canyon or the natural kind. BAE is most excited about the prospects of ending GPS jamming against soldiers and UAVs, once and for all: not only is the new technology mostly impervious to attempts to block its signal, it can use the jamming attempt itself to get the position fix. Thankfully, the company's roots in defense aren't precluding use for civilians, so there's a chance that future smartphones might never have to use guesswork to get their bearings -- provided that governments around the world sign off on the idea, that is.
University of California, Riverside runs entire building floor off of 1.1-megawatt green battery
We're used to batteries powering a lot of devices, but the University of California, Riverside is upping that a notch by charging up a whole floor's worth. The school's Winston Chung Global Energy Center is walking the eco-friendly walk and has started using a huge bank of rare earth, lithium-ion batteries from Balqon to produce 1.1 megawatts, enough to keep Winston Chung Hall's entire first floor humming along while tapping renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. The batteries bank their energy overnight, keeping the throngs of students happy without having to recharge as much or use the regular power grid as a fallback. While it's considered a testbed, the university's giant battery is considered a blueprint for cellular towers and the green power sources themselves -- the combination of which could keep your smartphone up and running with a lot less of an environmental hit. [Thanks, Justin B]
AT&T small cell site pilot due between late 2012, 2013
AT&T has been hinting for a while that it's getting closer to implementing small cell sites in its network, and at CTIA Wireless 2012 gave a stronger clue as to when and how the mini network hubs will operate. Executive technology VP John Donovan clarified to Reuters that a pilot is expected to start late this year and should run into 2013. If all runs smoothly, the below-tower-sized sites will be clipping on to lamp posts and other parts of the urban landscape to strengthen coverage in places where wide-area WiFi alone won't do. While Donovan didn't venture deep into the infrastructure at the trade show, Cisco had previously said that AT&T would be using sites incorporating 2G, 3G, 4G and WiFi when the provider did start experimenting with small cells. If so, there's a chance subscribers could get AT&T WiFi without having to turn to an airport, landmark or coffee shop.
Nokia Siemens HSPA+ Multiflow lets one device connect to two cell sites simultaneously
If you've ever used a cell phone while moving, then you've probably experienced the depressed network connectivity that becomes more of an issue as you move further away from any given tower. Some of us are even unfortunate enough to reside or work right at the edge of a cell, forced to live with poor connectivity for much of every day. A new feature called HSPA+ Multiflow may offer some relief, "delivering double the data speed and up to 50 percent faster response compared to existing HSPA+ networks," according to Nokia Siemens, which will be demonstrating the technology at Mobile World Congress later this month. Essentially, Multiflow allows compatible devices on the edge of a cell to connect to two sites simultaneously, letting your device send and receive data between two base stations at once. Multiflow will be available as a software update for Single RAN systems, so it could make its way to a cell site near you just after Nokia Siemens flips the switch during the second half of 2013. Full PR is just past the break.
DoJ: Stingray cellphone tracking device falls under Fourth Amendment, but don't ask about it
In 2008, federal authorities arrested David Daniel Rigmaiden on charges of spearheading a massive identity theft ring in Arizona. Rigmaiden allegedly led this operation from January 2005 to April 2008, harvesting some $4 million off of more than 1,900 fraudulent tax returns. He was ultimately nabbed, however, thanks in part to controversial, and somewhat mysterious tool known as a "stingray" -- a device that effectively acts as a fake cell tower, allowing authorities to locate and track a cellphone even when it's not being used to place a call. Since his arrest, the 30-year-old Rigmaiden has been battling the feds in the U.S. District Court of Arizona, on allegations that their tracking tactics constituted an unlawful search and seizure, thereby violating his Fourth Amendment rights. For more than a year, the Department of Justice has maintained that the use of stingrays does not violate the Fourth Amendment. When it comes to sending data from a mobile device, the DoJ has argued, users should not have a "reasonable expectation" of privacy. Recently, though, the judge overseeing the case has indicated that he will press the feds for more information on how stingrays actually work -- something the government clearly has no desire to disclose. Prosecutors are so reluctant, in fact, that they may be willing to sacrifice their case against Rigmaiden in order to safeguard the stingray's secrecy. Read more about the latest developments, after the break.
AT&T users in New York City suffering partial phone outage (update: restored)
We've been inundated with a flood of tips from Big Applers this morning, and we just confirmed ourselves -- a large sect of AT&T users in New York City aren't receiving calls. Even the ones who aren't just holding it wrong. It seems as if outgoing calls operate just fine, but folks trying to dial in are greeted with eternal ringing. As in, it doesn't even go to voicemail. We're assuming the engineers at Ma Bell are all over this as we speak, but be sure to let us know how wrecked your Big City life is due to this in comments below. Update: Right on cue, AT&T pinged us to say everything should be back to normal. The formal quote is below: "Wireless voice service has been restored and is back to normal now after a software issue occurred during routine maintenance which caused some customers on Long Island and in parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan to experience voice service disruptions this morning. We apologize for any inconvenience to our customers." [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
iOS 4.3.3 to fix location tracking issue, due soon
A rumor out of BGR suggests iOS 4.3.3 will land in the upcoming weeks. As expected, the update will fix the location tracking issue that blew up last week. In this public debacle, Apple confirmed cell tower and Wi-Fi hotspot information was being stored on the iPhone and 3G iPad to improve location fix acquisition. Apple promised to address these issues, and according to BGR, the changelog for 4.3.3 will include the following improvements: iTunes will no longer backup the location database to your desktop the location database will be smaller, reducing the amount of data stored on the handset the handset will delete the database when the Location Service option is turned off Besides the location information, the update will also improve battery life and fix some unidentified bugs with the iPod.
AT&T's new cell tower can fit in a suitcase, help restore networks after natural disasters
Whenever a natural disaster strikes, phone companies are typically forced to patch up their own networks with fleets of trucks that serve as temporary cell towers. It's a process that involves plenty of manpower and, most importantly, plenty of time. AT&T has a more portable solution: a cell tower small enough to fit into a suitcase. The company's new Remote Mobility Zone is comprised of an antenna and accompanying satellite dish, both of which can handle up to 14 simultaneous calls placed within a half-mile radius. Any AT&T phone can connect to the makeshift system, which will sell for anywhere between $15,000 and $45,000 (plus some monthly fees), though emergency workers will need a generator to get it up and running. They'll also have to live without 3G data, which sounds like a reasonable compromise to us.
Alcatel-Lucent's lightRadio shoves a base station in a box, minimalists cheer
They've been fashioned after palm trees, Christ on the cross, and what look to be Dyson Ball vacuum attachments. But now, Alcatel-Lucent is giving cellphone towers a makeover that might actually stick. The company's new broadband base station solution, known as lightRadio, eliminates the need for cumbersome huts at the base of cellphone towers and packs antennas into a series of 2.5-inch boxes, while simultaneously improving capacity and reducing cost. These so-called radio cubes combine 2G, 3G, and LTE antennas with an SoC for processing, making them small enough to prop up on a lamp post. They're firmware upgradable, and utilize beamforming to more efficiently connect to wireless devices; according to the company, groups of 'em can not only increase broadband capacity by 30 percent, but also cut operation costs and CO2 emissions in half. Clearly, lightRadio makes a compelling case for narrowing the digital divide, but it won't be available broadly until 2012, which means the creative cover ups will just keep on coming. Sorry, JC. [Thanks, Nathan]
T-Mobile USA fires up first solar-powered cell site in Pennsylvania
A solar-powered cell site? In Pennsylvania? Say it ain't so! Rather than heading to Death Valley or southern Nevada, T-Mobile USA has selected the bustling metropolis of Chalfont, Pennsylvania for its first US-based solar cell site. According to a report over at GigaOM, the carrier isn't dishing any real details on the new development, only saying that it generates enough power to take the site "off-the-grid" and occasionally feed extra power back into said grid. It's likely that the site is primarily being built for positive PR and as a test for future rollouts, as the actual cost for installing this versus a standard grid-powered site is "around two to three times more." But hey, there's nothing like looking forward to the karma that comes with giving Ma Earth a kiss this big, right?
'Signal' jailbreak app for iPhone maps out your towers, turns death gripping into a pastime
If you're familiar with Android apps like CellFinder, you've got a good idea for what this is -- and the name "Signal" is a pretty accurate representation, too. Basically, iPhone Dev Team member planetbeing has thrown together a neat little app that shows you signal strengths of your phone's connections to nearby cell towers along with their position relative to you (if the positions can be determined), an especially welcome utility considering that you can't access Apple's old "field test mode" in iOS 4. Our favorite part, though, has to be planetbeing's desire to turn this from mere information into entertainment -- and to hopefully take the edge off your pain and deep-set resentment over the signal strength and call dropping issues in your iPhone 4 -- by adding a mode where your goal is to get the signal to drop completely, at which point you'll hear the voice of Spock announce a Vulcan death grip. Who knew an engineering defect could be so much fun? If you're jailbroken -- or you're willing to jailbreak -- you can score Signal in Cydia for a five-spot. Follow the break for video of the app in action. [Thanks, Pytey]
Hacker intercepts phone calls with homebuilt $1,500 IMSI catcher, claims GSM is beyond repair
In 2009, Chris Paget showed the world the vulnerabilities of RFID by downloading the contents of US passports from the safety of his automobile. This year, he's doing the same for mobile phones. Demonstrating at DefCon 2010, the white hat hacker fooled 17 nearby GSM phones into believing his $1,500 kit (including a laptop and two RF antennas) was a legitimate cell phone base station, and proceeded to intercept and record audience calls. "As far as your cell phones are concerned, I'm now indistinguishable from AT&T," he told the crowd. The purpose of the demonstration was highlight a major flaw in the 2G GSM system, which directs phones to connect to the tower with the strongest signal regardless of origin -- in this case, Paget's phony tower. The hacker did caveat that his system could only intercept outbound calls, and that caller ID could tip off the owner of a handset to what's what, but he says professional IMSI catchers used by law enforcement don't suffer from such flaws and amateur parity would only be a matter of time. "GSM is broken," Paget said, "The primary solution is to turn it off altogether." That's a tall order for a world still very dependent on the technology for mobile connectivity, but we suppose AT&T and T-Mobile could show the way. Then again, we imagine much of that same world is still using WEP and WPA1 to "secure" their WiFi.
RIM finally catches up to the competition with non-GPS-based BlackBerry 'Locate Service'
It's hardly the first company to implement the technology in a smartphone, but it looks like RIM finally has an answer for folks not satisfied with the GPS capabilities of their BlackBerry. It's now announced the simply-named 'Locate Service' for developers, which relies on cell tower triangulation to either augment the phone's built-in GPS, or completely replace it when a GPS signal isn't available. According to RIM, the service also includes a set of components that "integrate seamlessly" with the BlackBerry Maps and Contacts applications and, of course, the GPS capabilities of the device. There's still no word on any apps that actually take advantage of the new service though, but it is now at the disposal of developers, so we're guessing we'll see some soon enough.
Inhabitat's Week In Green: 3D printed veins, solar cell towers, and the Ingocar
At Inhabitat we've seen 3D printers that create entire buildings out of stone and complete meals out of simple ingredients, but this week we watched in awe as scientists used a 3D printer to create the world's first "printed" human vein. And if advances in biotech get your blood flowing, you'll be excited to hear that this week a team of researchers successfully tested a new type of nanobot that travels through the bloodstream to turn off tumor cells. Contact lenses are also getting a much needed upgrade as scientists unveiled a new type capable of fighting glaucoma and other diseases by dispensing a powerful dose of medication. In other news, solar energy is lighting up the world at large as India gears up to power all of its cellphone towers with photovoltaic cells, saving 5 million tons of CO2 and $1.4 billion annually. And speaking of silicon cells, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory recently unveiled its latest creation: a super robot capable of assembling an entire photovoltaic cell in 35 minutes flat. We also looked at a prototype of a prismatic solar balloon that uses a colorful new type of solar cell to soak up the sun's energy from high in the sky. Finally, this week we took an in-depth look at the Ingocar, a hydraulic hybrid drive vehicle so light and efficient that it promises a mileage of 170MPG. This next-gen vehicle uses hydraulic fluid under pressure to accelerate, brake, and eliminate the need for a heavy mechanical drive train, making it 50% lighter than hybrid electric vehicles. And if you've ever experienced the maddening anxiety of circling for a parking spot on crammed city streets, relax - there's an app for that!
Indian mobile carriers scramble as illegal towers are shut down
Apparently the dizzying expansion of mobile coverage in India has proceeded a little quicker than the regulatory process there -- Indian carriers are in a bit of a tizzy after authorities shut down 300 allegedly illegal towers in a suburb of New Delhi called Noida. The gub'mint says the towers are on private land that's not approved for commercial use, but the carriers say the move is "arbitrary and uncalled for," and even "inhuman" because the loss of service means people can't make emergency calls. That's a strong card to play -- let's hope this gets sorted out soon.
Ukraine war memorial given eternal LED torch, cell antenna
An eternal flame that once blazed via good old fashioned science has now been given a new lease on life thanks to modern technology. This Cherkassy, Ukraine war monument, erected in honor of fallen World War 2 soldiers, had been sitting extinguished given the price of natural gas after the fall of the Soviet Union. Now, though, the bowl has been gifted with a LED marquee simulating a flame, which covers up its alternate use as a cell tower. Sure, beauty's in the eye of the beholder and we're fairly certain this hasn't been accepted with universal approval, but if you ask us, and admittedly we're biased, the more LEDs the better. [Via Hack a Day]
Bell Canada cell tower in Calgary confused, thinks it's in Edmonton
If you live in the 7 Street and 7 Avenue, S.W.,area in Calgary, Alberta, are a Bell Mobility subscriber, and noticed a pile of long distance calls to Edmonton on your current bill, feel free to blame Bell. Apparently a new tower in that area was not set up properly and thought it was in Edmonton, so calls placed through it during October and November could result in long distance charges. Bell has patched up the problem, but the onus is on you, dear subscriber, to find any billing errors and phone them in for a credit. We'd love to hear about your outrageous bills, so if your wallet's hurting this month, or a teenager's in the doghouse because of yet another $300 phone bill -- when it really wasn't their fault, this time -- please drop us a line.[Via HowardChui]
FCC to revise emergency backup power rule for cell towers
Even though the FCC could have simply overridden a White House decision to reject the backup power requirement, it's deciding to reel in its ego and revise things for the betterment of all involved. After taking a fair amount of flack for its emergency plan being too outlandish and impossible to afford / implement, the agency has stated that it will issue a new proposal "with the goal of adopting revised backup power rules that will ensure that reliable communications are available to public safety during, and in the aftermath of, natural disasters and other catastrophic events." Details beyond that are scant, but we suspect the whole "at least eight hours of backup power" could be changed to something smaller. Moral of the story? Don't ditch that Y2K preparedness kit just yet.[Via mocoNews]
FCC's cell tower backup power plan gets spiked by White House
The White House's Office of Management and Budget has rejected the FCC's plan to require carriers to juice most cell towers with at least eight hours of backup power, citing a failure to solicit public comments. In this case, "public comments" would particularly refer to the CTIA and its members, which had sued to stop the FCC in its tracks; besides the staggering cost of outfitting a majority of towers with backup power systems, carriers have argued that they already have sufficient disaster recovery plans in place for making sure service interruptions are held to a bare minimum following a loss of juice. The FCC says it's "considering [its] options" following the ruling; technically they can overrule the OMB on the matter, but they'll just be staring down the barrel of the CTIA's suit if they do.
Verizon Wireless to launch its own Samsung Ubicell
We figured it was only a matter of time before someone else took Samsung up on its offer of a branded Ubicell for their network, and it seems as if Verizon Wireless will be calling the two spot. After Sprint launched the CDMA femtocell (dubbed AIRAVE) for users with lackluster service at home, the unit was widely regarded as amazing, magnificent and just downright stupendous. According to a new filing with the FCC, Verizon is hoping to provide those same wonderful emotions to its own customers who are already frustrated with dropped calls and terrible service at home. Obviously, there's no mention of a price or release date, but judging by the user manual, installation and operation will be exactly the same -- and yes, that means it won't operate without a GPS lock proving that you're currently situated in America. Now, if only a universal GSM version were right around the bend, we'd be pleased as punch.[Via CellPhone Signal]
