The prospect of faster LTE over AWS frequencies has made Verizon lick its chops since late 2011 , and now it’s finally starting to sate its speed-demon appetite. Big Red has confirmed to PhoneScoop that many of its “major markets” are now being graced with the fresh spectrum (Band 4, if you’re curious), which is expected to boost bandwidth, help its infrastructure cope with growth and improve reliability. While the carrier didn’t specify which areas are seeing the rollout, several reports indicate that the new frequency has arrived in parts of New York City. In particular, GigaOM reader Milan Milanovic has pulled down 80 Mbps on the new waves while in Midtown Manhattan, with uploads hovering around 15 Mbps. Of course, those speeds are sure to take a dive as more and more folks jump on the bandwagon. Milanovic says fellow network testers have seen Verizon activate AWS in Chicago and Los Angeles, but we’ve yet to spot speed test results for those areas. Before you get too excited at the prospect of increased bandwidth, keep in mind that only handsets with the appropriate radios can surf the AWS band. However, Verizon says an update for phones sporting the right hardware, such as the Galaxy S 4 , is due in the near future. There’s no word on how quickly AWS will spread throughout the wireless telco’s domestic empire, but we’ve reached out for a timeline and will update things here if and when we get one. Update: Verzion has passed along the following statement on LTE over AWS, compatible devices and software updates: As our customers’ wireless data usage continues to grow, AWS spectrum is being deployed to ensure the continued consistent reliability and capacity of our 4G LTE network. Verizon Wireless has begun activating 4G LTE service on its AWS spectrum in many of our major markets across the US. A limited number of devices are AWS capable at this time. We plan to push a software upgrade to other AWS-capable devices in the near future. [Image credit: Milan Milanovic] Filed under: Cellphones , Mobile , Verizon Comments Via: Droid Life Source: GigaOM , HowardForums , PhoneScoop
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Verizon’s LTE boosted in ‘major markets’ by new frequency, hits 80 Mbps down (update)
Sony has announced a couple of new cameras early this morning, including the A7 and A7R, both mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras with a twist that’s unprecedented for that type of device – a full-frame sensor is housed within each. That makes these the smallest, lightest full-frame cameras with swappable lenses to boast full-frame power, and with a 36.4 megapixel sensor on the A7R, and a 24.3 megapixel one in the A7. Of course, it’s the sheer size of those sensors that makes all the difference here. Full-frame blows away the APS-C and micro four thirds sensors found in most MILC systems, like Sony’s existing NEX line or the Olympus OM-D models, in terms of their ability to capture light and deliver better over all image quality through accurate and rich color and contrast capture. The new Sony A7R also omit an optical low pass filter, which results in better resolution and detail rendering. Both of these new cameras have a new BIONZ X processor, a hybrid AF system that uses both phase and contrast detection for quicker focus, an OLED Tru-Finder hybrid optical viewfinder and a 3-inch rear screen that can be tilted, another first for a full-frame. ILCE-7_tilt_low ILCE-7R_wSEL35F28Z_top ILCE-7_front ILCE-7_rear ILCE-7_wSEL2870_right View Slideshow Previous Next Exit Both camera models also boast both NFC and Wi-Fi for easy pairing and direct transfer of photos to devices, and they’re built for pros, with dust- and moisture-resistant magnesium alloy cases. They take a new full-frame E-mount lens, of which Sony is release five in time for launch, and they also work backwards with standard E-mount lenses designed for the NEX series, albeit with some cropping. There will also be an adapter for Sony’s A-mount lenses, which work with their non-mirrorless DSLR range. The A7R and A7 will both go on sale in December, for $2,300 and $1,700 for body-only, respectively. There will also be kits available with some of the new lenses. Sony’s new full-frame interchangeable powerhouses aren’t cheap, but they aren’t crazily expensive, either – on par with the new lower cost line of full-frame DSLRs, in fact. Sony has been absolutely blazing a trail through the digital photography world these past few years, with its RX- line of powerful pocket cameras , and even the innovative (if odd) Q- series cameraphone lens attachments . The A7R and A7 look to be a continuation of that trend, but we’ll reserve final judgement until we get some hands on time with these new photographic monsters. 
For nearly a decade now, TrueCrypt has been one of the trusty tools in a security-minded user’s toolkit. There’s just one problem, though. No one knows who created the software, and worse still, no one has ever conducted a full security audit on it—until now. Since last month, a handful of cryptographers have newly discussed problems and alternatives to the popular application, which lead on Monday to a public call to perform a full security audit on TrueCrypt. As of Tuesday afternoon, that fundraiser reached over $16,000, making a proper check more likely. Much of those funds came from a single $10,000 donation from an Atlanta-based security firm. “We’re now in a place where we have nearly—but not quite enough—to get a serious audit done,” wrote Matthew Green , a well-known cryptography professor at Johns Hopkins University, on Twitter. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments 
Nerval’s Lobster writes “Wireless and cellular networks cover beaches and extend over the ocean to ships at sea but not, so far, under the ocean. A team of researchers at the University of Buffalo believe they’ve solved at least the technical problem of how to push wireless networking signals for long distances through the deep ocean to connect offshore oil and gas platforms, floating and underwater tsunami sensors and other remote facilities without having to bounce signals off a satellite first. Radio waves tend to be smothered or distorted by travel through water; most ocean-based sensors use acoustic waves instead, which link sensors into underwater acoustic sensor networks (UWASN). The team designed a low-power IPv4/IPv6-compatible networking protocol that uses very low power, compresses headers, is tolerant of fragmented data and connection delays, allows bi-directional communication with (and reconfiguration of) existing underwater sensors and is compatible with standard TCP/IP networks and IP router proxies. The approach is more than a simple translation from one networking medium to another. It leaves the higher-level TCP/IP networking protocols intact, but adds an adaptation layer between the data-link layer and network layer that compresses headers, changes packet size, transmission time-out settings and other requirements to be compatible with slower underwater transmissions. The team tested the implementation using a Linux-based driver, both PC and ARM-based computers and a Teledyne Benthos SM-75 Modem. They sealed two network nodes in 40-pound waterproof cases, dumped them into Lake Erie near Buffalo and transmitted instant-messaging signals from the application IPTUX from one to the other. They were also able to transfer files using FTP from an underwater client to server.” Read more of this story at Slashdot. 