Wi-Fi Problems Dog Apple-Samsung Trial 80
alphadogg (971356) writes "There's a new sign on the door to Courtroom 5 at the federal courthouse in San Jose, the home to the Apple v. Samsung battle that's playing out this month: 'Please turn off all cell phones.' For a trial that centers on smartphones and the technology they use, it's more than a little ironic. The entire case might not even be taking place if the market wasn't so big and important, but the constant need for connectivity of everyone is causing problems in the court, hence the new sign. The problems have centered on the system that displays the court reporter's real-time transcription onto monitors on the desks of Judge Lucy Koh, the presiding judge in the case, and the lawyers of Apple and Samsung. The system, it seems, is connected via Wi-Fi and that connection keeps failing."
Um... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Why is everything else allowed on the network? (Score:5, Informative)
There are plenty of other ways to cause problems, even if the network is secured.
The more likely problem is that there is simply too much interference from devices providing their own WiFi hotspots. For instance, if enough reporters are carrying 3G hotspots, those will eventually cause problems for both each other and for existing WiFi networks in the vicinity. Something similar actually happened a few years back during an Apple keynote speech, where Steve Jobs had to ask the attendees to turn off their WiFi hotspots so that he could demo some tech on stage. Enough did it that they were eventually able to demo the tech, and it wouldn't surprise me if a similar problem is happening here.