Wi-Fi

If there were snakes on this plane, you could IM your friends and tell them.

Low-cost airline JetBlue has equipped one of its Airbus A320 planes with an onboard wireless network and has forged partnerships with Yahoo and BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion to give passengers access to the companies' e-mail and instant messaging functions while in the air. The airline considers the plane, nicknamed "BetaBlue," to be an early-stage test as the company explores expanding in-flight communication options.

Passengers won't be able to surf the full Web. But if they bring Wi-Fi-equipped laptops along, they can … Read more

It's the fight you've been waiting for, folks. In one corner, we have the rightfully smug Apple iPod Classic. In the other corner we have the dark horse, the ugly duckling turned swan, the Microsoft Zune 80. After five bruising rounds of unflinching criticism from our three judges, which MP3 player will triumph as the new king of high-capacity music gadget goodness? Read on, to find out.

This post is brought to you by the letter G--as in 802.11g. No broadband-infused home is complete without a router, which lets Wi-Fi-equipped notebooks, cell phones, Zune players, and the like roam free within the walls. Now's your chance to scoop up a TrendNet 802.11g router for just 5 bucks (after $35' worth of mail-in rebates).

Granted, TrendNet's not exactly a household name, but the router appears to have all the prerequisite features and security goodness: four wired LAN ports, virtual server support, 64/128-bit WEP WPA/WPA2 encryption, and so on. And it scored 4.… Read more

This is an ideal accessory for those unfortunate enough to still be lugging around a laptop that doesn't have a built-in Wi-Fi card. If you're tired of hiding that embarrassing protrusion from the slot of your notebook at Starbucks, now you can get something that will give you wireless access and make you look like a cutting-edge geek at the same time.

Asus has come up with what it calls "the world's smallest 802.11n USB 2.0 card," which comes with its own cradle that plugs into your computer and proudly sits upright in … Read more

Now that Google has officially announced that it will bid on the 700MHz spectrum, most of us are speculating about the possibilities. And while I have my own beliefs about where Google will go with the spectrum, I'm sure many of you have your own.

But regardless of where you stand on this issue, one thing remains certain: the future of the technology industry is currently being shaped by high-paid Google lawyers and accountants who are working out the details of this auction.

Simply put, we're on the precipice of something groundbreaking that will change this industry forever. Whether it will be good or bad is unknown, but regardless of the long-term effect, Google has its sights firmly planted on this 700MHz spectrum and if you ask me, we won't even know what hit us.… Read more

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--As a fairly frequent conference attendee, I have had to deal with all kinds of little annoyances that come with the endless confabs that go on these days.

Over the years, one of the ones that has most bothered me--and annoyed others--has gotten somewhat better: the lack of Wi-Fi. It's not perfect, of course, but more and more I'm finding that I can get online wirelessly, something crucial to me as a reporter.

But one pet peeve has not gotten any better, and I, and others, have had enough: the lack of power strips.

I'… Read more