Broadcom and Atheros drop conflict, team up for interference-free Wi-Fi: The Wi-Fi industry closed ranks today when a long-simmering dispute between Broadcom and Atheros over interference caused by competing high-speed products was dropped in favor of joint development.

There's a history of this form of cooperation in which companies that otherwise compete cross-license patents and develop standards so that each can offer products that benefit the consumer.

As Tom's Networking reports, the new SuperBurner-AF technology overcomes both physical obstructions that can reduce the range of wireless networks while also eliminating the interference caused by nearby wireless LANs.

In related news, Tes-La has introduced Wi-Fi-based laptop charging. The Tes-La wireless power system allows hotspot operaters to add a TCP/EP (TCP over Electrical Power) to their access points, while users add an adapter to their power jack. TCP/EP allows a hotspot to meter and charge for electrical use over Wi-Fi.

Tes-La's leading competitor, Noside Connections, claims Tes-La technology could cause death and injury, which all business travels know is a small price to pay to keep one's laptop charged.

In an entirely unrelated story except for the name "Connections," but which happens to fit in this space, prisoners in the UK get free Wi-Fi. It's the latest innovative approach to rehabilitation coming from the country that brought us debtor's prison and jail time for failure to pay television license fees.

Meanwhile, Doc Searls of Linux Journal forwarded this item: Reuters reports the discovery of a Wi-Fi hot spot "about the size of Turkey" in the Atlantic Ocean, just west of the Canary Islands. The dimensions of the spot were determined by combined reports of communications officers on-board container cargo and cruise ships. Asked to comment on the quality of the connection through the hot spot, Ozmo Zdilmidgi, who works with the Maersk Sealand company, said, "I dunno. It was WEPped and we couldn't get on."