by Lee Distad, rAVe USA Columnist

Who among you is still wiring your networks with Cat5e? That’s an excellent question. While I would like to think that amongst savvy readers the answer would be “nobody,” the fact that I still see Cat5e stocked at supply companies and offered in stock lists for online distributors tells me that, statistically speaking, the real answer is “some of you.”

Well, if you are, please stop.

It is now time to be wiring all of your networks, whether data or video distribution, with Cat6. And I’m going to tell you why -- bandwidth.

Cat5e allows transmission of up to 100 megahertz (MHz) with an impedance of 100 ohm. Cat6, however, allows a transmission of up to 250 MHz, and is certified for use at gigabit (1,000 megabits) speeds.

That difference didn’t matter a whole lot a year or two ago, but now it matters a lot.

The bottom line is that Cat5e and Cat6 are structurally different cables, with each suited to different tasks. While Cat5e is sufficient for distributing component video, AV pros need to move up to Cat6 in order to accommodate the necessary bandwidth and packet size to handle digital HD. Read more...

TripAdvisor members have recognized it as as the trendiest hotel in Canada, and it's one of Condé Nast Traveler's Best Hotels in the World.

Last March, the hotel became the first hotel in Canada to offer an iPad 2 in every room It comes with an iPad Virtual Concierge bundled on-board where the guest can choose from five different personalities of the virtual concierge, each with a specific set of applications.

Now the Opus hotel chain replaces all the hotel-room phones with iPhones.

Placed next to the bed on a charging station on top of a clock radio, guests are free to take the iPhone with them during their stay in Vancouver as they explore the city or for meetings, dinner, and shopping.

The iPhone provided by Opus also lets the visitor make calls with a Canadian phone number without fear of international roaming fees. Read more...

European Ingram Micro Q2 2012 sales decline by -7% Y-o-Y to $2.5 billion despite double-digit growth in Germany and the UK-- causing the world's biggest distributor to admit such growth is not sustainable.

Driving the strong German and UK growth is Ingram's "gaining further share" in SME, as well as stronger sales in e-tail and retail customers. However the rest of Europe continues feeling the crunch from the Eurozone crisis, particularly in S. Europe.

Meanwhile global Q2 2012 Ingram sales are "essentially flat" at $8.78bn, compared to $8.75bn Read more...

Social, Mobile, Cloud and Information-- a "Nexus of convergent forces" Gartner says will build the "technology platform of tomorrow," changing user behaviour while creating new business opportunities. 

Each of the 4 individual forces is innovative and disruptive on its own right, but combined they are "revolutionizing business and society, disrupting old business models and creating new leaders." 

Gartner continues, "Mobile devices are a platform for effective social networking and new ways of work. Social links people to their work and each other Read more...