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Chicago, IL (AHN) – Web surfing among older adults with little Internet experience has been shown to give their brain function a significant boost, according to a new study.

The University of California, Los Angeles researchers said in a statement that Internet use among new Web users triggers key centers in the brain that control decision making and complex reasoning after just one week. The researchers presented their findings at the Oct. 19 meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago.

The researchers worked with 24 volunteers between 55 and 78 who had normal brain function. Half the participants said they had little experience using the Internet. Age, education level and gender were similar between the two groups.

The levels in brain activity were measured using magnetic resonance imaging before and after the two-week experiment began. In between, the participants conducted Internet searches at home for one hour a day, seven days a week, for two weeks.

In the end, the brain activation patterns among the computer novices were “very similar” to those seen in the savvy Internet users, the researchers said in a statement.

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Just as it did in March, Apple has subtly updated both the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule, this time improving performance on both. According to new testing between today’s model and yesterday’s edition, the AE Base Station (which ships within three days for $179) can hum along at up to 25 percent faster thanks to undisclosed tweaks to the antenna design, while the Time Capsule’s improved antenna promises the same. Just as before, both of these devices support dual-band 2.4GHz / 5GHz transmissions, though we can’t seem to find an “802.11n draft” phrase anywhere on either page. Apple hasn’t gone out of its way to say that both of these are certified with the final specification, but it’s certainly a possibility. Finally, the new Time Capsule promises Time Machine backups in Snow Leopard that are some 60 percent faster than before; we’re not sure whether to celebrate with new buyers or weep with existing ones, but it should ship within three days for $299 (1TB) / $499 (2TB).

Read – Updated AirPort Extreme
Read – Updated Time Capsule

Filed under: Wireless, Storage, Networking

Apple quietly updates AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule, promises improved performance originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not an issue you would think Congress would be worried about, but it turns out that the refusal to get high speed broadband service is a big concern for not only the U.S. government, but governments worldwide, so much so that Finland has promised universal broadband for all their citizens by the end of 2010.

The issue has become such a big problem that Congress this week ordered the FCC to research the lack of broadband acceptance and find out by February 2010 how they can turn around broadband subscriber numbers (hint, give it to us for free, just a thought).

Early numbers according to SlashGear are misleading, with 96% of American households being able to receive broadband services, but 33% of those same households refusing high speed services.

According to a New York Times report many of those households refusing service are lower income families who can’t afford the service and senior citizens who rarely or never use the internet. In fact only 30 percent of users 65 and older actually subscribe to any broadband services, with 18 to 29 years old users still at a low 77 percent.

What current reports don’t include are the number of users who simply refuse high speed internet because they don’t see the need for the services, a fact that the FCC will try to broach in their upcoming studies.

I’d like to save the FCC some tax payer cash and suggest they just figure out how to provide inexpensive broadband to the masses, rather than questioning why low income families aren’t paying $50 a month or more for those services, there you go, problem solved.

Related posts:

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While those legacy airlines are scheming to charge you more to fly over the holidays, Virgin America is making it even easier to choose its services over the rest. Announced today, the airline (which should expand to more cities on the double, just so we’re clear) has teamed up with Google in order to bring gratis WiFi to all flyers throughout the holiday season. If you’ll recall, VA recently made known that every single one of its aircraft was equipped with in-flight internet courtesy of Aircell, and between November 10th, 2009 and January 15th, 2010, your surfing will be on the house should your find yourself in a seat. Not a bad way to spread a little holiday cheer, huh?

[Via Engadget Spanish]

Filed under: Wireless

Virgin America and Google gift flyers with free WiFi for the holidays originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tim Berners-Lee, the man credited with creating the World Wide Web, recently said that his only real regret about the whole shebang is forcing people to type out the (essentially unnecessary) double slash after the ‘http:’ in URLs. Speaking at a symposium on the future of technology, he noted (in reference to the dreaded marks) the paper, trees and human labor that could have been spared without them. Hey Tim: don’t sweat it! You’ve done us enough good turns that we’re willing to overlook it.

Filed under: Software

World Wide Web creator sorry for the ‘//’ and other things that don’t matter originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Round Rock powerhouse has definitely worked with the lads and ladies at AT&T before, but never before has the company’s bargain-priced Vostro 1520 been available with WWAN. Until today, of course. Starting right now, users interested in picking up the 15.4-inch rig can add an AT&T 3G module for $125, though you should know that Dell forces you to purchase the $109 NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GPU (256MB) upgrade alongside of it. If you’re down with a two-year DataConnect 5GB plan, the Vostro 1520 with AT&T 3G can be ordered up for as low as $633, and we’re also told that a slew of other Inspiron, Latitude, Precision and XPS devices should be receiving similar treatment in short order.

Filed under: Laptops, Wireless

Dell’s 15.4-inch Vostro 1520 gets AT&T 3G option originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you, like us, are tired of the so-called browser wars trying to woo us with barely identifiable, context-dependent speed differences, this might be of interest. Firefox is about to get a whole lot more sentient on us — at least those of us with accelerometers in our hardware — courtesy of a new device API that is capable of maintaining a webpage’s vertical orientation relative to the ground, no matter what sort of salto mortale the underlying machine (Mac or otherwise) might be doing. Think of it as the cherry atop your Windows 7 multitouch tablet cake. Originally intended for mobile platforms only, this software will make its way into version 3.6 of the full-fledged browser — and you can find an early demo of what it can do just past the break.

Continue reading Firefox 3.6 will support accelerometers, make the internet seasick (video)

Filed under: Software

Firefox 3.6 will support accelerometers, make the internet seasick (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hear that Bluetooth? That’s the sound of competition… finally. After years of waiting for some sort of serious rival in the short-range communication realm, the Wi-Fi Alliance is doing what it should’ve done eons ago. Starting sometime in mid-2010 (if all goes to plan, of course), a Wi-Fi Direct specification will be published, enabling WiFi’d devices to connect to one another without some sort of WLAN hotspot nearby. Previously, the standard was codenamed Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, as it gives printers, mobile handsets, human interface devices, cameras, laptops and a host of other wireless wares the ability to talk to one another without first consulting an access point. We’re told that devices will be able to make “one-to-one” connections or talk amongst a group, and WPA2 security will be bundled in to keep the ill-willed sniffers at bay. Call us crazy, but we get this feeling we’re going to dig this protocol — now, if only we could actually count on seeing shipping products before we’re too old to enjoy it, we’d be set.

Continue reading Wi-Fi Direct enabling P2P communications amongst WiFi wares, scaring Bluetooth half to death

Filed under: Wireless

Wi-Fi Direct enabling P2P communications amongst WiFi wares, scaring Bluetooth half to death originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Since we last saw iTwin back in September, not much has changed — two physically synced USB dongles create a AES-256 encrypted connection between two Windows machines for transferring files from anywhere in the world (provided both are connected to the internet, of course). We had a chance to see a controlled demonstration up close at CEATEC, and while it worked as well as expected it to, we’re not quite sure the $99 price tag is low enough to pique our interests. We do appreciate the ability to “reverse” the flow of file sharing, but from what we gather it takes both parties to initiate the change — clearly there’s more flexibility in just setting up your own file server, but we’re probably not the target audience here. If you’re still interested but choose a lifestyle centered around a Mac, we were told an OS X firmware update would be available in early 2010, would apply to all existing models, and would allow both Mac-to-Mac and Mac-to-Windows transferring. Video after the break.

Continue reading iTwin fileshares over CEATEC showfloor, Mac firmware coming early 2010 (video)

Filed under: Internet

iTwin fileshares over CEATEC showfloor, Mac firmware coming early 2010 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We already know that you love your MiFi — after all, who wouldn’t be into a mobile hotspot that can easily slide into your rear pocket? But are you ready to adore it even more? Novatel Wireless has just announced the second phase of its MiFi Developer Program, which seeks to bring all sorts of apps and added functionality to an already heralded device. As the story goes, the dev program provides a set of APIs and tech support to those interested in expanding the abilities of the MiFi, and while the possibilities are obviously limitless (or close to it), we’re already hearing of a Nomadesk inclusion that will provide a web UI to access cloud storage when online via the MiFi. Then there’s also the Eye-Fi mention, which seems to let you upload photos from your SD card to your hotspot even when a 3G tower is nowhere to be found; once the MiFi gets back in range, it handles the uploading from there. Strangely, we’re seeing reports that all this fanciness won’t work with Sprint or Verizon’s MiFi, though Novatel’s own release says nothing of the sort. Whatever the case, guard your heart here just in case the allegations are true.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

Filed under: Peripherals, Wireless

Novatel announces new phase of MiFi Developer Program, Eye-Fi gets a mention originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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