Starbucks, B&N, iPhone, and free Wi-Fi

CyberNet and others are reporting that the AT&T provided Wi-Fi at Starbucks and Barnes and Noble has started to rollout: Free Wi-Fi for iPhone Subscribers at Starbucks/Barnes and Noble

We’re not quite sure how many of you out there are iPhone owners, but our guess is that there’s at least a good handful of you who will be able to benefit from free Wi-Fi for your phone. First it started as a rumor but now it has been confirmed that AT&T is now offering iPhone subscribers free Wi-Fi access at Starbucks and Barnes and Noble locations. When you bring your phone in to those locations, a login prompt will appear on your screen, you enter your phone number in, and in no time you’ll be surfing the web on a Wi-Fi network (which we all know is much faster than the Edge network) for free. Nice.

I was at both Barnes and Noble and Starbucks yesterday, used my iPhone in both locations, and wasn't presented with the special login. Further reading has confirmed that it is being offered in "select" markets so I might have to wait a while before I can use it.

But having my iPhone work just a tad faster isn't what I'm really after. I'm presented with the option of switching from EDGE to Wi-Fi all the time, and it isn't that big of deal. EDGE, for all its reputation isn't really that bad. But this right here totally got my attention: AT&T WiFi portal for iPhone users shows up at Starbucks

I should note that this iPhone portal isn't specific to Starbucks -- every AT&T WiFi hotspot features the same interface...

Wow indeed. I will be able to use my iPhone to access the Internet at any AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot. The only missing link is the tethering to my computer, and as it turns out I can access the Wi-Fi with my computer using my iPhone account without having to tether at all: It works! Basically, you emulate your iPhone in Safari through the Mobile iPhone User Agent, enter your phone number, and voila you're on.

Now all I need is an AT&T hotspot for testing. I am traveling a ton over the next two months. I'm almost looking foward to it just to see how many places I can connect where previously I would have had to pony-up $10. I'll keep you posted through Twitter every time I succeed. I'm also having to eat-my-words on anything snarky I might have said about AT&T in the past. This is very nice indeed!

Nokia N810 WiMAX

Nokia is releasing an N810 WiMAX capable version of its internet tablet next week. If I lived in an area with WiMAX coverage I'd be in line to get one of these right now. I have the Wi-Fi version of the N810, and it is an incredible device. I have an iPhone and iPod Touch, but my meeting and/or conference weapon of choice is the N810 without question.

My toys runneth over

I've got two really interesting pieces of hardware coming soon. The first, and one y'all should get today, or at least before November 26th is the XO laptop. The One Laptop Per Child Foundation (OLPC) is doing an interesting promotion right now: Give One Get One. You buy two, you get one and the other is donated to a child in a developing country. "It's not a laptop project, it is an education project."

Between November 12 and November 26, OLPC is offering a Give One Get One program in the United States and Canada. This is the first time the revolutionary XO laptop has been made available to the general public. For a donation of $399, one XO laptop will be sent to empower a child in a developing nation and one will be sent to the child in your life in recognition of your contribution. $200 of your donation is tax-deductible (your $399 donation minus the fair market value of the XO laptop you will be receiving).

The second toy I have coming is a Nokia N810 Internet tablet. I'm anxious to compare this device to the iPod Touch. It arrives on Monday. I hate waiting, but am doing my best to be patient. I'll give you a report Monday night.

UPDATE: The OLPC has extended the Give One Get One program until December 31st.

Wednesday's major Apple announcement

Rumors are that the announcement is about an iTunes kiosk:

Well, truth be told, word on the street is Apple will be unveiling, among other things, new iTunes kiosks that will be set up through various retail outlets in North America. No word on how many or what stores they'll be at, but apparently you will be able to dock your iPod/iPhone onto one of these things and download some tunes on a whim. The machines will accept credit cards as well as iTunes gift cards and will support all iPod models. It will even upgrade your iPod software if it's not up to date!! But here's the real kicker, TOUCH SCREEN INTERFACE!!!

Yawn, how 1995. What is the market for this? How about an iTunes juke box? Now that makes total sense.

UPDATE: From CrunchGear

Wednesday’s iPod’s are expected to have digital radio and the ability to purchase songs directly from iTunes via WiFi.

Okay, that's interesting! Wifi built into the iPod would be most awesome. No docking! No need for those kiosks either.

Using an iPhone without AT&T EDGE?

I've been wondering about using an iPhone without the EDGE network? I hardly ever talk on my phone anyway. All I want is the network enabled device, and in the places I frequent they almost always have wifi.

I'd love to have a compact and very portable internet device, and the iPhone sounds like it is as close to perfection as it gets. I'm locked into VZW until January, however, and I'm not anxious to spend a bunch to change carriers. Voice is the thing I care the least about.

So, I got to thinking about using the iPhone without any phone service and was pleasantly surprised to see that many others had the same idea. This looks totally doable: Tada! The 6th Gen contract-free WiFi-enabled iPod

So what did I discover? I found that your activated iPhone is a lot more flexible and powerful than AT&T and Apple admit. Pop out the SIM or put an inactive SIM and your iPhone works pretty much like a contract-free WiFi-enabled 6th Generation iPod. The WiFi means you can do Mail and Safari without a phone connection.

Just what I was wanting to hear. Anyone want to convince me that this might be a bad idea? Seems to me that the only downside is that I might end up with an iPhone that isn't as functional as the next revision scheduled for January.

Here are some other sites that discuss hacking the iPhone as well:

• IPHONE AS WI-FI NON-PHONE
• The iPhone Works Without AT&T Service

Using your neighbor's wireless

The Wired Blog Network has a funny read: Request For Analogies: Using Open Wireless Connections Without Permission Is Like...

My favorite:

..reading the back of someone else's newspaper on the train.

Reading these, I was reminded of when my son came home from college for the summer several years ago. The neighbor's wifi signal from across the street was stronger than ours from downstairs. He did what any enterprising young man would do... he attached to the stronger signal. Several weeks into the summer the neighbor called in shock that the boy had been "using" their wifi. I asked the neighbor where he got his Internet service, knowing full well that there was only one provider at the time. When I suggested that we were all sharing the same pipe anyway, and that sharing the air was not such a big deal, he was actually fine with it. He just had to think it through a bit first.

Personally, I love to watch the neighbors hit my open wifi. They access some weird stuff...

The wifi desert

I slept right through a significant technology anniversary and forgot to mention it. The big event was on February 23rd. That was the one year anniversary since I'd authored anything using Word. It was back in October when I first realized that I had changed the way I write:

So my question, if you‘re writing for online consumption why would you use a tool made for putting words on paper? Seems like serious overkill. Every time I hear, “write it in your word processor and just cut-and-paste” I‘m left scratching my head. Why not use a more appropriate and lighter-weight tool? I‘m thinking word processing as we have known it is obsolete.

I also remarked recently that I couldn't remember the last time I'd used my computer when I wasn't connected to a network.

If I am offline then I am offline. I cannot remember a single time in the last three years (or so) where I have used my computer when not connected to the network.

Well, that changed last weekend at the Beyond Broadcast conference when I was suddenly thrust into the wifi desert.



Disconnected from the network I pulled up Textmate and started taking notes. How sad is that? At least I didn't break the Word streak.