John Blau

Efforts to use electricity cables to transmit data took a step forward in Europe with the publication of an open specification for power line communications (PLC). The Open PLC European Research Alliance (OPERA), which is partly funded by the European Commission, said its specification will accelerate the development of products that use powerlines for broadband Internet access, voice and video services, as well as utility applications such as automatic meter reading.

Several of the world's largest mobile phone operators have agreed to offer instant messaging (IM) across their networks as part of an initiative to make IM service globally available and interoperable.

Several big companies in the mobile phone and gaming industry, including Microsoft Corp. and Nokia Corp., are teaming to support an open gaming architecture designed to lower development costs, speed up delivery times and create richer content, the group said Friday.

Scientists at IBM Corp. have developed a chipset that they claim is capable of allowing wireless devices to operate more than 10 times faster than today's advanced Wi-Fi networks.

World Cup soccer tournaments have traditionally been used to help launch new technologies, such as color television and wireless communications. This year's event in Germany is no exception -- even if a couple of promising technologies such as a chip-enabled soccer ball and broadcast mobile TV will miss the kickoff.

Soccer stadiums aren't the simple structures they once were. The sport's soaring popularity has led to the construction of a new generation of eye-catching, high-tech stadiums, equipped with the latest IT, security, energy and building management systems. Munich's new soccer stadium, the Allianz Arena, is in that league.

Swisscom AG has been forced to replace Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jens Alder after he quit over government opposition to his international expansion plans, the telecommunications operator said in a statement. Carsten Schloter, previously in charge of the carrier's mobile phone division, will replace Alder as Swisscom new CEO.

New mobile phone ticketing technology could soon push paper-based tickets to the sidelines in many European soccer stadiums, ski resorts, trade shows and other large venues, according to an industry executive.