The CSIRO scientist was awarded the prestigious Prime Minister’s Prize for Science for 2009 for his WiFi technology now found in millions of laptops, printers, wireless access devices and even Nintendo’s Wii.

Dr O’Sullivan and his team found a way to speed up wireless networks in 1992 – a problem that had international scientists stumped.

The idea has since generated a windfall for the CSIRO to the tune of $205 million and counting.

Dr O’Sullivan will receive $300,000 at a gala event in Canberra.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the award recognised Dr O’Sullivan’s contribution to astronomy as well as wifi technology.

“While looking for exploding black holes Dr O’Sullivan created a technology that cleaned up intergalactic radio waves,” Mr Rudd said.

“Then in 1992, he and his colleagues at CSIRO realised that the same technology was the key to fast, reliable wireless networking in the office and home.”

Dr O’Sullivan and the CSIRO team beat 22 international labs to solve the “multipath” problem – the interference caused by reflected radio waves that slows network speeds.

They found a way to accelerate them by splitting radio channels apart, making wireless about five times faster.

The CSIRO waged a long-running legal battle against big computer companies such as Microsoft for using the technology without paying.

via WiFi pioneer John O’Sullivan wins PM’s Prize for Science | News | News.com.au.

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Apple may soon introduce a mouse featuring multitouch technology, like that seen in its iPhones, iPods and MacBook trackpads.

Sporting a touch-sensitive housing, the new mouse will do away with the roller ball on the current Mighty Mouse (pictured above), sources told AppleInsider. The rumored multitouch mouse might apply the inertia feedback seen in iPods and iPhones, whereas scrolling speed accelerates or decelerates in response to how the user touches the surface.

Presumably an Apple multitouch mouse would function similarly to the unibody MacBook trackpads, which detect multitouch gestures. On new MacBooks, tapping the trackpad with two fingers triggers a right-click function, for example; this rumored multitouch mouse might copy this behavior. Also, for a mouse, we would expect a multitouch gesture to replace scrolling in different directions, and perhaps there will be special gestures that trigger Exposé commands as well.

Apple’s new mouse may be released with new iMacs, AppleInsider’s sources said. The popular iMac desktops were last refreshed in March, and Apple typically upgrades them every seven months. That would suggest new iMacs — perhaps packaged with multitouch mice — will hit stores very soon.

San Jose-based eBay, which bought Skype in 2005, has been locked in a dispute over the licensing of peer-to-peer software at the core of Skype technology. Joltid Ltd., a company owned by Skype co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, retained the rights to the software when they sold the company.

Joltid has threatened to end its licensing agreement with eBay, a development the ecommerce giant recently acknowledged could put Skype’s continued operation at risk. In a July regulatory filing, eBay said it was developing “work-around” software to supplant the original technology still owned by Skype’s founders.

via EBay CEO: Skype Investors ‘Confident’ Of Work-Around Software – WSJ.com.