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'Friendspotting' on MIT's campus

Do you remember the old-fashioned college days when a friend would call you by cell phone to let you know when "he" turned up at the library? Or maybe you figured out someone's class schedule, so you could just happen to be walking by when "she" got out. Technology, once again, is changing the game.

The Senseable City Lab at MIT released a free desktop application on Wednesday with real-time mapping and instant-messaging features. iFind, as it's called, works by detecting which Wi-Fi access point a person is near. Because MIT has over 2,… Read more

$26 Wi-Fi finder--take that, Starbucks

Rant against Starbucks Wi-Fi, Part II. To recap: The last time we checked, Starbucks charged $10 for a single day's Net access through a T-Mobile wireless connection. And unless you're planning to hide in the restroom all night, that probably means $10 for a few hours, not the full 24.

So a very viable alternative is to ditch Starbucks altogether and find another, friendlier coffee shop that offers free Wi-Fi. In our last episode, we offered the possibility of finding just such a caffeinated oasis via a $70 Wi-Fi detector. But now, Coolest Gadgets has found one much cheaper, … Read more

Zune.net is live

For those of you intrigued by the Microsoft Zune, the official Zune Web site is now alive and kicking.

Basically a glossy digital brochure of people having fun and looking cool (think J.Crew meets Lollapalooza), Zune.net reveals stuff that we've already seen such as: Zune photos, accessories such as the VAF Octavio speaker system, advertisements, Zune Marketplace and ZunePass PR fodder, artist profiles, and Zune "on tour" dates. The Zune hits the streets on November 14.

It beats paying for Wi-Fi at Starbucks

Cities keep promising to blanket us all with free Wi-Fi networks, but we're not holding our breath. At the same time, though, we're way too cheap to pay $10 just to read our e-mail while we have a soy latte at Starbucks.

So given our frugal nature, we're conflicted over whether it's worth shelling out $70 for a wireless detector like the DigiWifi from ThinkGeek. On one hand, that's only seven T-Mobile day passes at Starbucks; on the other--well, it's $70.

This particular device does claim to be a step above other Wi-Fi detectors, … Read more

All Flickr, all the time

The story of our life: Just when we find a gadget we like--nay, need--it's already sold out. Such is the case with the eStarling Wi-Fi photo frame.

The new version of the live LCD device (whose predecessor also sold out last year) can carry custom RSS feeds from Flickr based on your tags. You can also e-mail your phone photos directly to an eStarling frame on the fly.

ThinkGeek is selling the screen for $250, but its soonest restocking date is estimated at December 10. Which means the chances of getting one for the holidays are probably as slim … Read more