At the beginning of the summit tests, Koenig's team will keep GROVER close to camp and communicate with it via Wi-Fi within a three-mile (4.8-kilometer) range.

ENGADGET: NASA's GROVER eco-rover to examine Greenland's ice sheet (video)

The significance of the new LIVE 5000 Wi-Fi speaker lies within its versatility and its multi-room, multi-platform operation.

ENGADGET: Altec Lansing Live 5000 WiFi music system makes its debut, plays nice with Android and iOS (ears-on)

"I could walk into your building and have Wi-Fi location working within an hour, " Atreya told the MIT review.

CNN: The growing push to track your location indoors

Instead of using menus on a screen to establish wireless connections, users will be able to simply hold a smartphone against another device (a wireless-equipped digital television, for example) and within moments a secure Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection is established between the two.

FORBES: Near Field Communications: More Than Mobile Payments

The bulbs must also all be within range of the same Wi-Fi network (or of another connected bulb) in order to operate.

FORBES: The Best Product of 2012: The Philips Hue LED Lighting System

The company will take a cut from Amazon purchases made within the shop's Wi-Fi zone, but it will get nothing from off-site transactions, or from shoppers with 3G devices (which do not require Wi-Fi).

ECONOMIST: A print bookseller tries to survive in a digital age

Intel's Classmate, on the other hand, connected to the same wi-fi network and was playing 9-inch videos of Korean break dancing within seconds.

FORBES: Intel Vs. The XO

All users within a couple of hundred feet of the base station who have an inexpensive Wi-Fi device in their PCs or PDAs can then share low-cost, high-speed access to the Internet--without having to pay individually for more expensive dedicated DSL or cable modem service.

FORBES: Wi-Fi Goes To Washington