It plans to have commercial services of long-term-evolution (LTE) technology operating by the end of this year.

Initially Telstra will only offer USB dongle devices ( which plug into a laptop or computer), until LTE handsets and tablets come onto the Australian market.

‘With more than a million mobile and wireless broadband customers joining Telstra in the past 12 months, and data usage on the NextG network doubling every year, the increased network capacity LTE will provide is vital,’’ Telstra’s executive director of networks and access technologies Mike Wright said in a statement.

Telstra is setting its LTE network at 850 and 1800 megahertz frequency, the latter is the frequency used by 2G phones. Already 80 per cent of customers have moved from the 2G to the 3G network, freeing up the frequency for new technology.

Telstra has chosen Sierra wireless to provide the dongles, which will work on both 850 and 1800 megahertz.

Both Optus and and Vodafone have also announced plans to roll out LTE networks. In April Vodafone announced it will replace 8000 2G and 3G base stations with equipment which can be switched to LTE “at the flick of a switch”.

The idea is to change how people communicate and deliver information through remote presence, according to iRobot CEO and chairman Colin Angle. He went on to call Ava the first app-ready robot.

iRobot Ava will work with a pad-based interface and is meant to encourage robot designers, apps developers and market innovators develop mobile robotic applications. The Ava showed at the Google I/O had a camera and microphone for visual input and a screen and speakers, while a Motorola Xoom tablet was used as the head, face, and interfac

Google hopes that the devices, which it says will eliminate the need for software updates and hard drive backups and will boot up within eight seconds, will replace PCs running Microsoft’s Windows software in offices and homes around the world.

“Whether it be Microsoft or other operating software vendors, I think the complexity of managing your computers is really torturing users out there,” said Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder and director of special projects, speaking at Google I/O, its developer conference here. “That’s a flawed model fundamentally. And I think Chromebooks are a new model that doesn’t put the burden of managing your computer on yourself.”

Google will not have an easy time challenging Microsoft, which dominates the workplace. While Google has bested Microsoft in operating system software for mobile phones, it has taken on Microsoft in the workplace before and failed to budge it, most notably in word processing and spreadsheet software and collaboration tools.

Google says Chromebooks will attract corporate technology buyers because Google automatically updates the Chrome operating system over the Internet and there is no need to back up computers because if they are lost or ruined, all the data exists online. “We’re venturing into a really new model of computing that I don’t think was possible previously, even a few years ago,” said Mr. Brin. “I think it’s just a much easier way to compute.”

Google’s biggest challenge will be persuading people to do computing in a completely different way. The Chromebooks, named after Google’s Chrome operating system, will store all of a user’s data and the computer’s software online. Google’s idea is that anyone could walk up to an Internet-connected computer anywhere and have access to his or her information.

But since most computer users are accustomed to using desktop software and storing data on a computer’s hard drive, getting people — and corporate managers of information technology — to change will be difficult, said David Daoud, research director for personal computing at IDC. “Large companies are still very much Windows-centric,” Mr. Daoud said. “Yes, Google might find a niche market for this, but it’s going to be very difficult to compete with Microsoft in the large enterprise space, given the complexity of those installed products.”

The Chrome operating system, which Google introduced in 2009, does away with desktop software and storing data on a computer. Instead, it is not much more than a browser, and all of a computer user’s information, like documents, photos and e-mail messages, is stored on the Internet, or in “the cloud.” Instead of desktop software like Microsoft Word or iPhoto, people use Web-based software like Google Docs, Microsoft Office 365 or Picasa.

Corporate I.T. departments are not known for quickly adopting flashy new products. Half of businesses are still running the 2001 version of Windows XP, said Sundar Pichai, Google’s senior vice president for Chrome. However, tablet computers with touch screens, like the iPad, are replacing laptops in some workplaces, so the Chromebook may be late to the game. Microsoft has also seen some softness in its sales for its operating system software.

Google’s strategy is to go after businesses and schools first. If students get used to a Web-based operating system, they might request it in their offices later on, and if people use it at work, they might decide to buy one for their homes.

“There’s a limit to how many people will get a Chromebook on their own, so they’re probing for another entry point into this lightweight computing market,” said Ray Valdes, research director for Internet platforms at Gartner, a research firm.

The first Chromebooks, made by Samsung and Acer, will start at $349

Solution: CW Technology was able to implement systems that met and exceeded the customers own time and budget forecasts

Issue: A client required remarketing and bundling, for a product that was at the end of its product cycle.

Solution: CW Technology developed a return to depot, repack, remarket solution and processed 2000 items in under 2 weeks

President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion, Mike Lazaridis said the company is “now building on the BlackBerry PlayBook’s many advantages with support for additional 4G networks that will allow enhanced business opportunities for carriers and developers and unparalleled mobile experiences for users.”

This will bring RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet range to total of four: BlackBerry PlayBook with Wi-Fi, Blackberry 4G PlayBook with Wi-Fi + WiMax, BlackBerry 4G PlayBook with Wi-Fi + LTE and BlackBerry 4G PlayBook with Wi-Fi + HSPA+

Recycling Tech. products that customers no longer use.

Technology recycling makes our addiction to the newest and latest a little more acceptable. You can update without being harmful or wasteful with the earth’s resources. And all we have to do is recycle, or sell your old mobile phones.

C.W Technology recycles iPads, tablets, ipods, and mobile phones. C.W Technology is committed to keeping our planet safe and green, by helping to keep electronic devices out of landfills.

Almost a year after buying Palm and nearly two years since Palm introduced its last product, H.P. announced on Wednesday in San Francisco that it would make a PC tablets, the Touchpad, running on the webOS operating system.

It looks like an iPad. But it is lighter, weighing 680 grams, and has a 9.7-inch screen. Running on the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the device’s selling point will be its ability to multitask quickly.

It will support virtual private networks for corporate users and enables video conferencing.

The device will be available later this year, the company said, with Wi-Fi. Devices for 3G and 4G phone networks will come later.

The company also introduced the Veer, a small phone — the dimensions of a credit card, with a slide-out keyboard. It also operates as a hotspot device. It will be available in the 3rd quarter of 2011.

And the company will also introduce the Pre 3, an iPhone look alike for the business market. It also has a slide-out keyboard.

Consumers are able to update without being harmful or wasteful with the earth’s resources. And all they have to do is recycle.

We must recognize that re-new and reuse is the highest form of recycling. While recycling and reuse has doubled over the last few years, only 10% of mobile electronic products are currently being recycled.

One of the leaders in recycling and reverse logistics, in Australia is C.W Technology Recycling is an industry leader with more than a decade of experience providing supply chain services to a wide range of clients, from chain retailers, to network operators. With capabilities ranging from asset recovery and depot repair, to advance exchange and warehousing, our supply chain services team can access and analyze our clients individual needs, then customize a real-world solution that works and enables maximized asset recovery.

re-manufacturers—including Caterpillar Inc., General Electric Co., General Motors Co., Eastman Kodak Co. and Xerox Corp.—would like the government to push harder for free global trade in reconditioned products and to help fund research into better methods of re-manufacturing, which involves restoring used products to like-new condition for resale.

A main issue for re-manufacturers is they haven’t convinced everyone that their products are as reliable as new ones. Many countries, including China, Japan and Brazil, have banned or restricted imports of used medical equipment. Even when imports are allowed, government-controlled hospitals sometimes are barred from buying them, with officials citing fears that foreign companies are sending outdated or substandard products.

An estimated $100 billion of remanufactured goods are sold each year in the U.S. and more than 500,000 people are employed in the industry, according to Nabil Nasr, who heads the Center for Remanufacturing at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, N.Y., which is hosting the meeting of more than 20 companies along with the Council on Competitiveness, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit group.

The thousands of large and small companies involved in re-manufacturing tout it as a highly profitable business that affords customers lower costs—sometimes as little has half the price of a new product—and also helps the environment by reducing e waste and energy use. Re-manufacturers say any expansion of their activities will create jobs—a should be a priority.

Manufacturers often see better profit margins on re-manufactured products than on new ones, said Trent Simpson, a product manager at Caterpillar, the construction- and mining-equipment giant, which re-manufactures engines and parts for a variety of machines.

“Customers, business and the environment all win,” Mr. Simpson said.

Officials from the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative are also due to attend the meeting, which comes as the Obama administration seeks improved its relations with the business community.

Re-manufacturing also faces challenges on pricing. Imports of low-priced new auto parts from Asia, for example, can sometimes still undercut parts re-manufactured in the U.S., and many products may never be good candidates for re-manufacturing. Some, like toasters or hair dryers, are already so cheap it would be hard to justify the expense of fixing and putting them back on the market. Rapid changes in fashion and technology also frustrate some efforts to revive old products.

Working in re-manufacturing’s favor, however, is the rising cost of copper, steel and other commodities, making it economical to invest in processes that extend the life of these materials. Meanwhile, environmental legislation is forcing companies to seek production methods that use less energy and leave less waste. Many states have passed or are considering legislation requiring manufacturers of electronic equipment to take used goods back for recycling or other reuse. Those laws facilitate re-manufacturing because they create more reliable ways of gathering used products.

Vacuum Systems International Inc., or VSI, based near Cleveland, re-manufactures commercial-grade vacuum cleaners used to clean retail stores across the U.S. Diana Richards, VSI’s chief executive, says she is expanding the business in Europe. ReCellular Inc. of Dexter, Mich., re-manufactured or recycled parts from about five million cell phones last year, up 25% from 2009, says Steve Manning, the company’s CEO.

One reason for such growth is that companies and consumers are searching for cheaper goods as the sluggish economy squeezes budgets. Health-care companies “are under a lot of economic pressure these days,” said Dave Elario, who heads a General Electric unit that re-manufactures medical equipment. As hospitals seek lower-cost gear, GE’s sales of refurbished imaging and ultrasound machines last year totaled about 1,500 units, up more than 10% from a year earlier, he said