A company called Mad Catz known for making gaming peripherals released this week a new wireless adapter for game consoles. The Mad Catz Wireless N Gaming Adapter supplies full Wi-Fi capability including 802.11n. It arrives on the heels of a new Microsoft 802.11n gaming adapter but differs in one key respect: the Mad Catz adapter works via an Ethernet connection while Microsoft's requires USB.

Xbox 360 owners may discover Mad Catz is a cheaper alternative to Microsoft's adapter. And Mad Catz also works with Sony PS3, which USB adapters by themselves do not. Have any of you tried it yet?

→ See also - Mad Catz MC2 Universal Wheel Review (xbox.about.com)

The Vue Personal Video Network, a wireless camera package for home computer networks, began selling in September. The product ships with two battery-powered IP webcams and a gateway device that connects these cameras to a wireless router. Owners can watch live video feeds from their webcams across the Internet by setting up an account on myvuezone.com. Compared to products designed more for home video surveillance, Vue aims to provide a portable and fast to set up viewing system.

Vue Personal Video Network comes from a small private company called Avaak. Its cameras and gateway communicate via Avaak's patented FrameMesh protocols. Interestingly, this technology was developed out of earlier research into small medical diagnostic cameras designed to be swallowed by patients in pill form. Do not attempt to eat one of these new Vue cameras!

→ Discuss - Performance of Wireless IP Cameras

"Vue Personal Video Network from Avaak" - Photo: www.vuzone.com

To connect a wireless printer to a Wi-Fi home network requires setting matching security settings on the printer just like on home computers. When a home network utilizes WEP or WPA, for example, you must configure the correct key or passphrase through the printer menus. If you don't do this, and forget the settings, you'll be in the position our message board member 'seaskittle' currently faces.
→ Discuss - Wireless Printer Prompts for Passphrase

Wireless locators help track down the physical location of people or things. Personal locators, for example, are small devices that plot your position on a map. They are especially useful when lost while driving. Child trackers comprise a wireless transmitter fastened to the child and a receiver carried by the parent. When the child moves outside of a set range from the parent, the transmitter alerts the parent with sound. Other kinds of wireless locators are even designed to help you find missing keys or tools.

Wireless locators generally don't use Wi-Fi. Instead, each one features its own radio communication protocol. Personal locators typically also utilize GPS technology to plot physical coordinates precisely. Although these devices sound cool, research wireless locator products carefully before purchasing. Consumers historically have had many complaints about their reliability, the useful range of signals and alerts, and battery life.