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AT&T’s bringing free wifi to the iPhone — once it finishes wigging out

Chris Ziegler — Mon, 12 May 2008 08:17:00 +0000

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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SingTel ropes iPhone distro in Singapore, India, Australia, and Philippines

Ryan Block — Mon, 12 May 2008 07:36:00 +0000

Filed under: Cellphones

Singapore Telecommunications (aka SingTel) announced that it's secured agreements to distribute the iPhone in Singapore (on SingTel Mobile) and its partly-owned subsidiaries in Australia (on Optus), India (on Bharti Group), and the Philippines (on Globe Telecom). Vodafone's also distributing the iPhone in India and Australia though, so we'll have to wait until later this year to find out who gets to shoot first.

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HP’s 2133 now officially configurable with XP

Ryan Block — Mon, 12 May 2008 07:03:00 +0000

Filed under: Laptops

HP's got some new 2133 configs out as of tonight, including options for "downgrading" to Windows XP on models over $700 -- more or less as expected. They're up to eight base configs ranging from $500 to $820, so if you've been thinking of picking one up you've certainly got plenty of options to choose from.

[Via HP 2133 Guide]

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Eye-Fi launches Eye-Fi Home, Share, and geotagging Explore

Ryan Block — Mon, 12 May 2008 06:23:00 +0000

Filed under: Peripherals, Wireless, Storage

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). 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 launches Eye-Fi Home, Share, and geotagging Explore

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RIM’s BlackBerry Bold / 9000 gets official

Ryan Block — Mon, 12 May 2008 05:16:00 +0000

Filed under: Cellphones

Damn, took 'em long enough! RIM finally announced the BlackBerry Bold / 9000 -- we've got specs, but no price or hard launch date. Here we go:

HSDPA and EV-DO versions (including an AWS-capable 1700MHz version)
480 x 320 display
625MHz CPU, 1GB internal flash memory
802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 (with A2Dp), GPS, MicroSDHC
480 x 320 video recording, photo geotagging
4.5 x 2.6 x 0.55-inches, 4.7 ounces

PC Mag's got the (latest) hands-on, hit the read link.

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Apple promo references 2.6GHz MacBook

Ryan Block — Mon, 12 May 2008 04:36:00 +0000

Filed under: Laptops

Not that we wouldn't eventually expect a 2.6GHz MacBook, but Apple's Hot News site is running this promo that references a new, upgraded model of the laptop (which right now only reaches 2.4GHz). Our take? We're thinking typo, not premature announcement.

[Thanks, Matthew and fr]

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Powerset Launches Showcase For User Search Experience

Michael Arrington — Mon, 12 May 2008 03:59:33 +0000

Today marks another milestone for San Francisco based contextual search engine Powerset. They’ve launched a showcase for their user search experience - effectively the search engine minus the web crawl. For now, Powerset queries only Wikipedia and augments results with data from Freebase. The product launch comes just a day after reports that the company [...]

Renault / Project Better Place shows off new electric sedan prototype

Ryan Block — Mon, 12 May 2008 03:12:00 +0000

Filed under: Transportation

We'd heard Renault was prepping a new electric car in conjunction with EV start-up Project Better Place, but no one had actually seen the thing until its unveiling today in Tel Aviv. The car itself only has a 125 mile range, which is where Project Better Place's network of charging and battery swap stations come in. But since those aren't intended for rollout until 2010 in Israel and Denmark, Renault won't have any EVs immediately available to buyers -- making this consumer-friendly sedan more of a precursor to the supposed $0.5-1 billion the Renault-Nissan alliance are lining up to invest in their respective electric vehicle businesses.

[Via AutoblogGreen]

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E-Ink to introduces new segmented display cell displays

Ryan Block — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:26:00 +0000

Filed under: Displays

E-Ink has a new display made available last week, based on segmented display cell (SDC) technology. Apparently the new screens are 40% thinner and have increased flexibility over E Ink's previous displays, and can now be formed in "organic non-rectangular unique shapes, including holes, curves, and other non-standard designs". Delphi's already picking up use of the display for future keyfob products -- always good to know there are consumer applications right around the corner.

[Thanks, Pat]

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Microtransat robot sailing takes to the high seas this fall

Ryan Block — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:18:00 +0000

Filed under: Robots, Transportation

Maybe our robo-challenges speak something to our respective histories: Americans have spent the last few years driving intelligent vehicles through vast expanses of desert, but over in Europe, scientists and technologists are preparing for this fall's Microtransat, wherein machines must sail across the Atlantic propelled only by wind and artificial intelligence. The race, intended as a public proof of concept for long-range autonomous sea-faring scientific vessels, should take the, um, roboats three months to complete.

[Via Piquepaille]

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