Posts tagged Wifi at Switched

Posts with tag wifi

AT&T's Free iPhone Wi-Fi Finally Goes Live

by Paul Miller, posted Jul 18th 2008 at 5:38PM

Despite AT&T's best attempts at completely failing its free Wi-Fi promises eternally, iPhone owners can finally fire up Mobile Safari in their local Starbucks, or, um, that one other place we heard about with AT&T Wi-Fi, and get browsing. Of course, that's not to say the service won't crash horribly in the next 10 minutes, but at least AT&T stuck by its word, and can now move on to more pressing issues.

Starbucks Web Site Overwhelmed By Users Seeking Free Wi-Fi

by Will Safer, posted Jun 4th 2008 at 5:11PM

Starbucks customers looking to get their Wi-Fi fix along with a caffeine kick found themselves stymied for a few hours yesterday while the Web site the coffee company set up to handle free wireless Internet access buckled under the influx of new jittery customers.

The ubiquitous coffee retailer announced this Spring that it would be switching its in-store Wi-Fi access from a paid model with T-Mobile to a free membership model, with a few caveats, with AT&T. The coffee chain will be rolling out implementation of the AT&T hotspots throughout 2008.

Customers wanting to take advantage of the Wi-Fi access -- two hours a day in exchange for buying one cup of coffee (or another item) per month -- need to first purchase a rewards card for $5. Not a bad deal.

For much of the morning, visitors to the rewards site were met by a pop-up window stating "Due to overwhelming interest in Card Rewards we are currently experiencing difficulty accessing Starbucks Card accounts. We are working to fix the problem and ask that you please try again later." The problem was fixed by midday Pacific Coast Time. Starbucks took the blame on this, saying AT&T had nothing to do with the site not working properly.

Who out there in Switched Land is using this new Wi-Fi access? Or do you just go to Starbucks for the hot Java? [Source: Yahoo! News]

Free AT&T WiFi Now at Starbucks

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 3rd 2008 at 11:56AM

It all looks legit and final. AT&T and Starbucks have finally rolled out their free WiFi plan to Starbucks Card users registered with AT&T. In exchange for letting AT&T send you up to 4 emails per year, you get a single WiFi session of up to 2-hours per day at any of Starbucks' 7,000 or so US-based stores. Now get out of here, and don't forget your MacBook for some conspicuous posing and caffeine consumption.

[Via Gear Diary]

Eye-Fi Launches Wireless Location-Aware Camera Memory Cards

by Ryan Block, posted May 12th 2008 at 12:01PM

Eye-Fi's expanding from a single card to a family of three tonight. All are the same 2GB as before, but now we've got the new flagship Eye-Fi Explore ($129), which includes geotagging courtesy of Skyhook (the same WiFi-based location system that helps the iPod touch and iPhone find their way) and on-the-go WiFi via Wayport. Then you've got the Eye-Fi Share ($99) -- basically the same card we used to know simply as the Eye-Fi -- and finally the Eye-Fi Home ($79), which appears to only be able to upload photos through desktop software using your home network. Expect 'em all on sale come June 6th.

Gallery: Eye-Fi

Nike Dunks + WiFi = A Step in the Right Direction

by Ryan Block, posted May 5th 2008 at 5:42PM

Get ready to pay atelier sneaker prices for these babies, because designer MSTRPLN (not to be confused with MSTRKRFT) and Ubiq (not to be confused with Ubiquio) teamed up to produce some straight black Nike Dunks with built-in WiFi detection. It's called A Step in the Right Direction, and we might actually agree. [Source: mstrpln.com]

[Thanks, JideOsan]

Wi-Fi Detecting Watch Finds Networks, Social Isolation

by Nilay Patel, posted Apr 30th 2008 at 3:51PM

Now that most smartphones worth having sport WiFi, the need for wireless finders has dwindled somewhat, but we'll still give credit to the designers of this WiFi-detecting watch for cleverness. That's not to say we'd ever recommend wearing this this fashion disaster -- check out that "WiFi" button on the bezel -- but if you're on a mission to consolidate your gear and you don't mind the mocking laughter of others, £20 ($39) is all it takes.

[Source: Thumbs Up (UK) via digital-lifestyles]

Nikon Debuts Slim, Wi-Fi-friendly Fashion Camera

by Paul Miller, posted Apr 10th 2008 at 10:54AM

Nikon is fleshing out its "Style Series" of shooters with the COOLPIX S52 and S52c (pictured) compact cameras. The two cameras are pretty much spec-for-spec identical, other than the Wi-Fi capabilities of the S52c, which allow it to upload shots wirelessly to services like Flickr or Nikon's own "my Picturetown." Otherwise, you're looking at a pair of fairly standard compacts, with 9-megapixel sensors, 3x zoom, optical image stabilization and so forth.

Both will be available in May, with the S52 retailing for $250, and the S52c arriving at $280.

From Engadget

Chrysler to Offer Wireless Internet Access In Its Cars

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 24th 2008 at 10:28AM

Chrysler is looking to pick up its sagging sales by being the first to offer in-car Internet access in the U.S. Later this year, an unspecified mobile broadband (read: cellular data) radio will be offered as an option on Chrysler vehicles, with the goal of making it standard on all of the company's cars down the road.

Inside the new cars, a Wi-Fi router will be installed to allow any Wi-Fi-enabled device to take advantage of the connection. That means no wasting your cell phone battery or messing with add-on cards to get your laptop online from the road. You'd simply connect to the car's Wi-Fi as you would to your home network.

At least initially, charges for a cellular data plan will apply.

From Engadget

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Five Things to Consider When Buying a Laptop

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Feb 18th 2008 at 6:18PM

Buying a new laptop can be a daunting task. First off, there are many more factors to take into account when buying a laptop than when buying a desktop PC -- size and battery, for example. Budget laptops can be alluring, but will they have the horsepower you need for daily computing tasks? What difference does having an AMD or Intel processor make? And how do you make sense of the alphabet soup that is Wi-Fi (802.11a, b, g, n)? Well, dear reader, and potential buyer, Switched is here to help you wade through the spec lists you see on those Sunday circulars and help you make the best of your laptop money. Take a look at our crib sheet of five things to consider when picking out your new portable, which starts on the next page, so click below....

Next >>

Starbucks to Offer Free Wi-Fi Via AT&T

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Feb 12th 2008 at 11:16AM

Starbucks, the chain that showed the world there is more to coffee than drip or perk (then proceeded to abuse our trust by dumping an overrated coffee hut on every corner), just announced that it will be switching its for-pay Wi-Fi hotspot service from T-Mobile to AT&T, and that it will offer up to two hours of free Wi-Fi a day. The switch will take place in 7,000 U.S. Starbucks locations by this Spring.

So are T-Mobile hotspot customers out of luck? Not at all. AT&T will let current T-Mobile subscribers continue to use the hotspots free of charge.

For those who aren't T-Mobile customers, though, the deal is even sweeter. As usual, existing AT&T broadband customers will get free access at the new AT&T-powered Starbucks access points, but even better is the deal that Starbucks card (basically a prepaid coffee card) holders get -- two hours of free Wi-Fi a day. This means all you have to do to get the free Wi-Fi is pre-pay for your coffee in the form of a Starbucks card and then use your card to complete the transaction.

Even if you don't fall into one of the above three categories, you'll save with the AT&T partnership. AT&T will be charging only $4 for two hours of Wi-Fi connectivity, which compares quite favorably with the $6 an hour T-Mobile charges. Let's just hope they make it easy to add extra days to all-day pay-as-you-go accounts, something that the T-Mobile HotSpot service has made really difficult.

All-in-all, it's a good day for consumers and Starbucks customers.

From GeekSugar

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Proposed Law Requires Age Verification on Public Wi-Fi Networks

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Feb 7th 2008 at 3:27PM

Utah Wants Age Verification on Public Wi-Fi Networks

We all know there's a lot of questionable content online, most notably pornography, and keeping kids from that content is a big priority for parents and social conservative groups everywhere. The question is how to do it. A Utah-based non-profit teamed up with a member of the State's House of Representatives to introduce a bill that would make pornography inaccessible at public Wi-Fi hot-spots with out age verification.

The bill would place responsibility on the wireless providers to verify age or face stiff fines -- even private citizens who have open access in their homes are susceptible to these fines. In other words, if a child next door leeches off your Wi-Fi network and accesses pornography through it, you could be fined $1,000.

XMission, a Salt Lake City based Wi-Fi provider has estimated that it would cost $5,000 per month to implement the verification process. Placing the burden of the verification process on the provider is considered unfair by many. If kids are dedicated enough, they'll always find a way around these road-blocks, and in this case it would be very easy since the specifics of the blockage would only affect sites hosted in the U.S. In our opinion, the best solution is for parents to actually parent and teach their children what is appropriate and apply the right amount of supervision to keep their kids out of trouble.

From ArsTechnica

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Southwest Airlines Adding In-Flight WiFi Internet Access This Summer

by Will Safer, posted Jan 24th 2008 at 3:40PM

One of the United States' best-known, no-frills airlines may be getting a bit, well, frilly, as Southwest has just announced it will be testing a new broadband, satellite-delivered Internet access service to its passengers starting this summer.

Dallas, Texas-based Southwest is working with Row 44 (self-described world leader in airborne broadband communication) to equip four aircraft for trials this summer so customers can have access to e-mail, music, shopping, and virtual private networks (VPN) via a high-speed connection.

Row 44 is the same company working with Alaska Airlines to implement its in-air wireless access tests this Spring.

Virgin America is also promising in-air internet access, although the timetable for that service has not yet been set. American Airlines and JetBlue have also announced plans for in-flight Internet access, although JetBlue's plans may be limited to a few types of devices and services. American is working with AirCell, a competitor to Row 44. No exact timetable is available for their full service roll-outs, either.

From BetaNews.

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Netgear's "All Access Home": What It Is, and Why You Should Care

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jan 6th 2008 at 3:45PM

Netgear is launching an absurd 18 new products here at the Consumer Electronics Show. However, at its press event this morning, Netgear focused on 3 new products aimed at simplifying serious home networking, part of their vision they call the "All Access Home".

First up was the new RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Router, which features a pair of new fancy-sounding technologies called 'Metamaterial Antennas' and 'Push 'n' Connect.' So what does the marketing jargon really mean? You can expect longer range, faster speeds, less interference, and internal antennas for a sexier package.

Netgear has also taken the decorative plastic dome that adorns every RangeMax device and turned it into a functioning button. Pressing down will put the router in set up mode, allowing you to connect to the router without bothering with software. Pressing the button quickly will turn on and off the blinking status lights, a feature anyone who keeps their router in their bedroom will be thankful for.

Continue reading Netgear's "All Access Home": What It Is, and Why You Should Care

Wi-Fi Robo-Webcam Can Be Controlled From Anywhere

by Alon Avdi, posted Jan 6th 2008 at 5:17AM

Who would have thunk it, but those Canadians sure don't mess around when it comes to... well, the "wow" factor. WowWee, a Montreal-based robotics company that brought us the Robosapien and the animatronic Elvis Head, is already dazzling the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas with some brand new products for 2008. Easily the coolest development from those guys that like to say "eh" is something we first mistook for a miniature Batmobile, a sweet little thing Wowwee call Rovio.

The device, a Wi-Fi-enabled robotic webcam, streams audio in addition to video and gives users remote control from any Web-connected gadget, such as a computer or even a cell phone. Owners can direct Rovio to move to a specific location with the touch of a button, and the robot will get itself to the destination. Using the impressive NorthStar navigation system, Rovio knows where it is, where other objects are and moves from way point to way point on its own. Whether you want to know what's shaking with the fam when you're away or simply solve the mystery of which dog has been peeing on the carpet, you need look no further than Rovio for help.

Wowwee has certainly wowed us with mass-market robotic inventions that dance, growl, fly, sing, and sometimes just act cute, but this is the first wireless one we've seen that has both a gee-whiz factor and a genuine practical use.

Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until the Fall for this one to hit stores, and it'll be a semi-hefty $299 a pop, but it's certain to make you the coolest gadget hound on the block (at least judging by the attention the Rovio was getting on the CES show floor this evening).

From Wowwee

Gallery: Rovio

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American Airlines and JetBlue to Offer In-Flight Wi-Fi

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Dec 7th 2007 at 12:39PM

In-Flight Wi-Fi Coming From American and Jet Blue

It appears as if this whole Wi-Fi on airlines thing is finally taking off (sorry, couldn't help it). Four months after announcing that it intends to put Wi-Fi on some of its planes, American Airlines is starting to reval some specifics on the plan. Wi-Fi access to a broadband data connection will be provided by Aircell (which has also partnered with Virgin) on transcontinental 767-200 flights starting in 2008. The best part is the price, which we were worried about back in August when we heard the first rumblings of this program. How much, you ask? Well, it's going to cost $0. Thats right, it's free.

Not to be out done, JetBlue yesterday announced that it, too, would be offering free Wi-Fi on some of its planes -- as long as you're using it to access your Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, or BlackBerry Mail. This amounts to nothing more than a tease. The airline might as well not offer anything at all.

So far, efforts to bring the Internet to the air have failed. And pretty miserably, we might add. Connexion and Lufthansa (among other international airlines) teamed up a few years ago, but the service was shut down last December since no one seemed willing to pay for it.

Will these new efforts succeed where past ones have failed? In the case of American Airlines, we'd say there is a strong possibility, since it's offering access to any site, just like on the ground! And it makes a lot of sense to focus only on long-haul flights, since a long 14-hour flight to Tokyo is exactly when you need to be getting online.

Let's just hope people don't start using Skype or other Internet phone services and yap away the hours.

From CrunchGear

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AT&T's Free iPhone Wi-Fi Finally Goes Live

Starbucks Web Site Overwhelmed By Users Seeking Free Wi-Fi

Free AT&T WiFi Now at Starbucks

Eye-Fi Launches Wireless Location-Aware Camera Memory Cards

Gallery: Eye-Fi

Nike Dunks + WiFi = A Step in the Right Direction

Wi-Fi Detecting Watch Finds Networks, Social Isolation

Nikon Debuts Slim, Wi-Fi-friendly Fashion Camera

Chrysler to Offer Wireless Internet Access In Its Cars

Five Things to Consider When Buying a Laptop

Starbucks to Offer Free Wi-Fi Via AT&T

Proposed Law Requires Age Verification on Public Wi-Fi Networks

Southwest Airlines Adding In-Flight WiFi Internet Access This Summer

Netgear's "All Access Home": What It Is, and Why You Should Care

Wi-Fi Robo-Webcam Can Be Controlled From Anywhere

Gallery: Rovio

American Airlines and JetBlue to Offer In-Flight Wi-Fi

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