boeings sonic cruiser is struggling to take off but even more fantastic models are on the companys drawingboard at first sight it looks like all systems goboeing one of the worlds largest aerospace companies has started windtunnel tests at the laboratories of qinetiq a privatised defenceresearch establishment in britain of a model of its proposed sonic cruiser this aircraft if it is ever built would be a 200250seater jet that would fly just below the speed of soundboeings bosses expect qinetiqs tests to confirm promising numbers that emerged from the computers that helped to design the sonic cruiser these suggest that the plane would be neither a gasguzzler like the concorde nor too noisy for modern airports in other words it might be a commercial runner the basic design has been altered it now bears little resemblance to the sketches released when boeing launched the concept a year ago in order to disguise its retreat from the superjumbo market those sketches owed more to public relations than to aerodynamics the new shape should actually stay airborneanalog phones may hang it up that bulky crackling analog cellphone is poised to follow the black rotary telephone into the dustbin of telecommunications history the fcc is expected to give wireless carriers permission to shut down their analog networks in five years say people familiar with the matter the companies say analog networks are less efficient and more costly to maintain than digital and they want to reclaim the airwaves to improve coverage for digital customersanalog phones are dinosaurs says brian fontes of cingular wireless which along with verizon wireless and att wireless are the major operators of the older analog networks and support their phaseoutauto makers to use wireless chips auto makers exploring the potential of wireless technology will incorporate shortrange wireless communications chips in one of five new vehicles by 2007 according to a study released in los angeles market research firm allied business intelligence said the promise of dashboard mobile telephone dialling more advanced stereo systems and even more efficient car production has automakers looking at the use of wireless chipsfarther out car companies are exploring the use of longrange wireless to warn drivers when other cars are too close and to allow emergency vehicles to communicate with surrounding cars to clear a path on the road safety it turns out is a focus as car makers study the feasibility of potentially distracting gadgets in the caragencies