Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Just when we thought things were kosher between Starbucks, T-Mobile, and AT&T over the Wi-Fi switchover, it turns out that T-Mobile isn’t so happy with how the deal is playing out. They claimed Starbucks secretly colluded with AT&T to offer free WiFi access and left T-Mobile in the lurch. The lawsuit, filed last week in New York state court, alleges that AT&T and Starbucks weren’t sticking to the terms of the original agreement, which would have allowed T-Mobile customers to freely roam on the new AT&T service. Now, it seems, they’ve all entered into a “memorandum of understanding to resolve their disputes and are committed to providing a high quality WiFi experience for customers.” So far, though, we don’t know any details as to what this agreement will mean for T-Mobile WiFi subscribers, but we’ll keep an eye on this.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Wireless

Hey, do you guys want to hear our AT&T impression? It’s pretty awesome. Okay, okay, here it goes: “Great news, we’re offering free WiFi to iPhone users! Wait, no we’re not. Yes we are! Oh, no, wait, cancel that.” Pretty spot-on, right? Sadly, it looks like we might need something else to rag on shortly, since an AT&T spokesman started clearing the air with the New York Times late last week. The bottom line — for the moment, anyway — is that AT&T has “long planned” to offer up its WiFi hotspots as a free value-add for the iPhone and all of the other WiFi-equipped devices in its arsenal, but that the brief enabling of the feature thus far and the mention on AT&T’s site were results of human error, and the company isn’t prepared at this point to commit to an actual launch date or details on how the service will work. Hey, at least we know we’re not just suffering from some brutal hallucinations now.

[Via TUAW]

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Filed under: Wireless

Remember that WiFi pact brewed up between AT&T and Starbucks earlier this year? How could you forget, right? As if it wasn’t official enough already, the two have announced that the rollout has begun at company-operated Starbucks locations, and the nationwide effort will continue throughout 2008. Effective May 1st, qualifying AT&T high-speed internet / WiFi customers — that’s those who subscribe to one of the three higher-speed residential broadband packages, a small business broadband package or a U-verse offering with high-speed internet — will have free WiFi access at over 7,000 coffeehouses across the US. Unfortunately, we’re not given any real insight into what kinds of potential deals are in the works for AT&T wireless customers (if any at all), but here’s to hoping you all can get a little love, too.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Panny’s Lumix DMC-TZ50 isn’t brand new or anything — after all, we first caught wind of this WiFi-equipped point-and-shoot late last month in Japan. Nevertheless, Panasonic is now announcing that said camera will be heading Stateside with 802.11b/g capabilities, access to T-Mobile HotSpot service and the ability to upload photos directly to Google’s Picasa Web Albums — exactly like we saw at CES. Specs wise, you’ll find a 9.1-megapixel sensor, 10x optical zoom, 28mm wide-angle lens, 720p movie mode, SD expansion slot, video output, red-eye correction, optical image stabilization, the Venus Engine IV and a 3.0-inch LCD monitor to boot. Unfortunately, there’s still no word on when (or if) this technology will filter out to more Panasonic models, but folks interested in this here camera can pick one up next month for $449.95.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Panny’s Lumix DMC-TZ50 isn’t brand new or anything — after all, we first caught wind of this WiFi-equipped point-and-shoot late last month in Japan. Nevertheless, Panasonic is now announcing that said camera will be heading Stateside with 802.11b/g capabilities, access to T-Mobile HotSpot service and the ability to upload photos directly to Google’s Picasa Web Albums — exactly like we saw at CES. Specs wise, you’ll find a 9.1-megapixel sensor, 10x optical zoom, 28mm wide-angle lens, 720p movie mode, SD expansion slot, video output, red-eye correction, optical image stabilization, the Venus Engine IV and a 3.0-inch LCD monitor to boot. Unfortunately, there’s still no word on when (or if) this technology will filter out to more Panasonic models, but folks interested in this here camera can pick one up next month for $449.95.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Panny’s Lumix DMC-TZ50 isn’t brand new or anything — after all, we first caught wind of this WiFi-equipped point-and-shoot late last month in Japan. Nevertheless, Panasonic is now announcing that said camera will be heading Stateside with 802.11b/g capabilities, access to T-Mobile HotSpot service and the ability to upload photos directly to Google’s Picasa Web Albums — exactly like we saw at CES. Specs wise, you’ll find a 9.1-megapixel sensor, 10x optical zoom, 28mm wide-angle lens, 720p movie mode, SD expansion slot, video output, red-eye correction, optical image stabilization, the Venus Engine IV and a 3.0-inch LCD monitor to boot. Unfortunately, there’s still no word on when (or if) this technology will filter out to more Panasonic models, but folks interested in this here camera can pick one up next month for $449.95.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Panny’s Lumix DMC-TZ50 isn’t brand new or anything — after all, we first caught wind of this WiFi-equipped point-and-shoot late last month in Japan. Nevertheless, Panasonic is now announcing that said camera will be heading Stateside with 802.11b/g capabilities, access to T-Mobile HotSpot service and the ability to upload photos directly to Google’s Picasa Web Albums — exactly like we saw at CES. Specs wise, you’ll find a 9.1-megapixel sensor, 10x optical zoom, 28mm wide-angle lens, 720p movie mode, SD expansion slot, video output, red-eye correction, optical image stabilization, the Venus Engine IV and a 3.0-inch LCD monitor to boot. Unfortunately, there’s still no word on when (or if) this technology will filter out to more Panasonic models, but folks interested in this here camera can pick one up next month for $449.95.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Well, goodness, try saying that five times fast. T-Mobile has officially unveiled its rather longwinded “HotSpot @Home Talk Forever Home Phone” plan add-on for folks that aren’t quite ready to put their landlines out to pasture quite yet, though there’s a catch: much like the original, it’s beginning life as a trial in just a couple of test markets. Lucky folks in Seattle and Dallas will be able to march into their local T-Mobile outlet and pick up the long-rumored WRTU54G for $49.99 on contract, at which point $10 a month tacked onto their T-Mobile bill will allow them to jack in their old-school landline phones and get unlimited domestic calling. In the event they need a landline phone (o rly?) or are looking to upgrade their 70’s vintage AT&T Slimline, stores will also be offering this lovely DECT system from VTech to complete the package. There’s no word just yet on when we might see the hardware outside the test markets, but with landline popularity waning the way it is, we’d suggest they get a move on.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

If you’re tired of shelling out laptop prices for your WiFi smartphone browsing, Boingo’s got help on the way. At Mobile World Congress the company announced Sony Ericsson and iPhone / iPod touch versions of its connection client software, with the SE version to show up in the second half of the year, and the iPhone software to hit as soon as Boingo can get a hold of the SDK. Boingo already has Nokia and Windows Mobile-compatible versions of its software, but with 6 percent of users attempting to connect to Boingo already rocking an iPhone, it looks like this software can’t come soon enough.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Don’t get us wrong, it’s great that T-Mobile has lowered the price of its unlimited WiFi calling service both at home and at T-Mobile Hotspots everywhere from $19.99 down to $9.99 per month (forgetting for a moment that it was $9.99 per month as an introductory price, anyway), but in changing the name from HotSpot @Home to HotSpot @Home Talk Forever, we’d been hoping for something just a little more compelling. Previous intel had indicated that we’d be seeing the introduction of T-Mobile’s first SIM-sporting routers, allowing the use of traditional landline phones in conjunction with the service — but at this point, it looks like it’s going to be at least a little longer before the hardware launches, and it’s unclear whether there’ll be yet more trademarked service branding introduced when it does.

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Filed under: CES, Digital Cameras, Wireless

Details are admittedly scant at the moment, but it appears that Panasonic and T-Mobile are collaborating on some front to develop the first ever wireless Lumix digital camera. If you couldn’t guess, the cam will feature integrated access to T-Mobile HotSpot and will give owners the ability to beam images directly to Picasa Web Albums. The elusive Lumix — which still sports no model number — will apparently come bundled with a full year of complimentary HotSpot access, but we’re told absolutely nothing else specs wise. On that note, we’re not even given a clue as to when said camera will launch nor how much it’ll run, but at least we’ve got something to keep an eye out for, right?

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Filed under: Wireless

Yes, that’s “Buy One, Give One” for those out of the loop, and for the sect willing to fork out $399 in order to claim an OLPC XO of their own and have one donated too, T-Mobile is announcing that it will give you a solid year of HotSpot access gratis. The partnership is hoping to encourage participation in the philanthropic campaign, but this is most certainly not the first time T-Mobile has handed out free WiFi in order to get its name out there. Nevertheless, if this tidbit somehow pushes you into the buyers’ camp, you can place an order between November 12th - 26th and calmly anxiously await your new machine along with “information on how to activate the one year of complimentary HotSpot service.” Go on, you know it’s the perfect excuse to pull the trigger, and besides, that warm, fuzzy feeling you’ll have will totally justify the hit to your checking account.

[Via DailyWireless]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Based on a new section of Alltel’s website, it seems pretty safe to say that the carrier is jumping head first into the WiFi arena. Apparently, Alltel customers can now sign up for a variety of WiFi plans that will enable them to surf the internet via their 802.11b/g-equipped laptop whenever they’re near one of the “thousands of convenient hotspot locations.” Among those spots are Barnes & Noble, Avis, Embassy Suites, Hilton Hotels, Holiday Inn Hotels, Marriot Hotels, Tully’s Coffee and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. As for rate plans, you can snag unlimited access to the “North and South American WiFi network” for $21.99 per month so long as you have any voice or data plan already, while the Premium WiFi plan requires that you’re already paying for an Alltel Wireless Internet plan. Of course, there’s also the Pay As You Go approach, and while it’s yet to be confirmed, we’re hearing that the company could be in talks with Boingo Wireless.

[Via GigaOM]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!