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wireless

Weekend Webware: Find Wi-fi hotspots with Hotspotr

I discovered Hotspotr at SF Beta this past week. It's a neat little service that mashes up Google maps with a local Wi-Fi hotspot finder. The real pull of the service is you can rate and comment on hotspots as you would with restaurant reviews on a review site like Yelp. It's the perfect service for the casual Wi-Fi traveler to benefit from road warriors who are willing to take the time to review a wireless access point.

The ratings aren't just things such as the overall quality of the wireless signal either; you also can rate … Read more

V Cast TV could launch March 1

The tech sites are buzzing with loads of Verizon Wireless dish today. First and foremost, it's now almost certain that Verizon's V Cast TV is aiming for a March 1 launch date. That's a bit sooner than we expected (Verizon originally said near the end of March) so it's very good news indeed. If you remember, V Cast so wowed us at CES that we chose it as our best in show pick for the cell phone category.

Though Verizon showed two V Cast TV phones at CES--the LG VX9400 and the Samsung SCH-U620 (aka the … Read more

Palm Treo 700wx finally lands at Verizon

Boy, are Palm Treo 700w owners going to be miffed. Today, Verizon Wireless and Palm announced the availability of the Palm Treo 700wx, which is almost identical to its predecessor except for one key difference: it ups the 700w's paltry 32MB of RAM to 64MB, clearing the way for snappier performance. Aside from the increased memory, there aren't any major differences or upgrades (ahem, Windows Mobile 6) from the Treo 700w or Sprint's version of the 700wx. The Windows Mobile 5 smart phone has push e-mail capabilities, EV-DO support, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and Bluetooth. The Palm … Read more

Wii battery packs and sensor bars: Neat things from Nyko

Nyko sent us its new Wireless Sensor Bar and a Charge Station for the Nintendo Wii, so I took it home for the weekend and gave it a spin. This is only a first look, but the results for both devices were very promising.

The Nyko Charge Station is an all-in-one battery dock for Wii controllers. It comes with two rechargeable battery packs, two rubberized covers, and a two-slot charging dock for the Wiimotes to sit in. The battery packs replace the AAs that normally charge the Wii remotes, and the covers have a small hole in them so the … Read more

Verizon PN-820 launches; first decent-looking clamshell smart phone

I like flip phones. I like smart phones. But I have yet to see a cell phone manufacturer successfully combine the two into a nice-looking package. Motorola came out with the i930, but there's no way I was going to carry that big honkin' phone around, and it was definitely catered toward the Nextel bunch. Then, HTC had a go at it with the Cingular 3125, but I don't know, I still find the design just ... weird. Now, Verizon Wireless has picked up the clamshell Pantech PN-820 (aka Verizon Wireless PN-820) smart phone, and it actually looks decent. … Read more

Hello Kitty plays cat and mouse

Loath as we are to post anything involving the evil Hello Kitty, we are compelled to issue an alert anytime it sets paw close to home--as in the desktop. So we are depressed to report that it's has been conjured in the form of a pink wireless mouse, which Chip Chick says is available for $25 at Best Buy. (We've heard of "CatDog, but a cat mouse?) It's almost creepier that the image doesn't have eyes, making it seem all the more like Big Brother.

Virtual umbilical cord to your laptop

In case you haven't noticed, one of Crave's more distinguishing features is paranoia over a vast number of issues. But one of them we've yet to explore in depth is our fear of having a laptop stolen at a Wi-Fi coffee shop while we are, er, preoccupied.

That's why we like the idea of the "Bodyguard," a tracking system that triggers an alarm whenever your designated possessions are separated from you by a predetermined distance. It's similar in concept to other wireless transmitters, but at $40 the Bodyguard is a lot cheaper than … Read more

Sony joins band for wireless audio

When we began out campaign for wireless home audio systems, little did we know how many others shared our opinion. Even big-name companies are joining the fray, the latest being Sony.

Its VAIO WA1 "Wireless Digital Streamer" lets you "stream music from your PC and listen to it where you want--be it the bedroom, kitchen or anywhere else in the house," according to TechShout. The $350 device is a bit steep for our taste, but that's Sony for you. Our only question is: What took them so long?