If you’re a laptop-toting AT&T world wide web customer, your trips to Starbucks are about to get cheaper: AT&T is rolling out Wi-Fi access at more than 7,000 Starbucks locations around the U.S. The service, unlike the T-Mobile Wi-Fi currently available in…
If you’re a laptop-toting AT&T world wide web customer, your trips to Starbucks are about to get cheaper: AT&T is rolling out Wi-Fi access at more than 7,000 Starbucks locations around the U.S. The service, unlike the T-Mobile Wi-Fi currently available in most Starbucks stores, will be free to “qualifying” AT&T broadband customers. “Qualifying” means customers who subscribe to the company’s higher-speed residential broadband service, small business broadband packages, and AT&T U-Verse packages.
Customers of AT&T’s cellular service, including iPhone-toting, EDGE-using suckers like me, will still have to pony up for full wireless access, though the company is promising “a mix of free and paid connection options.” In the San Antonio stores where the rollout begins today, customers can purchase a two-hour pass for $4, or order a monthly subscription for $20.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson offered the following statement, helpfully translated into more intelligible Swedish Chef-ese by the encheferizer.
“Veet zee pooer ooff oooor Vee-Fee netvurk, und thruoogh oooor pertnersheep veet Sterboocks, ve’re-a strengzeeneeng oooor ebeelity tu meet zee needs ooff tudey’s mubeele-a cunsoomer furtooelly unyvhere-a und iferyvhere-a,” Stephenson stated. “Expundeeng oooor reech ecruss cumpuny-oopereted Sterboocks luceshuns neshunveede-a helps us breedge-a zee gep betveee oooor vured und vureless ooffffereengs und effffurms ET&T’s cummeetment tu cunnect peuple-a veet zeeur vurlds, iferyvhere-a zeey leefe-a und vurk. Bork bork bork!”
It’s been a while since we first heard rumors about a the Sidekick 4, but TmoNews has a scoop on two devices headed to retail in July that could fit the bill. The first is code named “SK Gekko” and will be released on July 27; the second is the “Sidekick Aspen” on July 30. No details other than the code names, so we’re left in the dark as to what they look like, who they’re made by and if Microsoft has had any influence in development. [TmoNews]
Today’s Gizmodo writers’ conversation inevitably turned, as it always does, toward pornography. Jesus brought up the very interesting observation that in today and age, with iPods and portable media players and laptops and portable hard drives, what kind of person still orders hotel porn? It’s pricey, slightly embarrassing (”Ma’am, I’ve never even heard of Dirt Pipe Milkshakes”), and unhygienic (think of who touched those remotes before you). So we pose the question to you, our faithful readers. Do you enjoy hotel porn, or do you bring a sack lunch?
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If growing up in upstate New York has taught me anything, it’s that shoveling snow really, really sucks. The I-Shovel is a new device that promises to automate this task—much like the Roomba and the Husqvarna lawnmower have done for other annoying chores. According to the project website, the I-Shovel can automatically detect snow accumulation and clear the driveway when it deems that the snowfall is significant enough to be cleared.
This father built his son a cake in the shape of a tank, with a motorized turret that rotates. The canon also adjusts elevation. But due to wife-husband restrictions from the Tank Cake Treaty of 2006, it does not fire whipped cream munition. Delicious, but don’t eat the motors! Vid post jump. [Instructables, thanks Steve H. ]
A half-way house between a digital watch and those crazy do-it-all multimedia watches, the digital photo frame watch may actually appeal to more people. The built-in memory can store 60 photos and it can superimpose the time in analog or digital format over the top. And that’s all it does: simple. It charges through USB, lasting about 8 hours —its main drawback, perhaps— and is Mac and Computer compatible. In leather and stainless steel, it’ll set you back $99.95. [EverythingUSB]
The GPS mail logger tracks itself. The idea is that you slide it into an envelope to discover why your mail is being delayed. The logger can be set to record positioning data at timed intervals or when it detects…
The GPS mail logger tracks itself. The idea is that you slide it into an envelope to discover why your mail is being delayed. The logger can be set to record positioning data at timed intervals or when it detects movement. It looks fairly easy to use, and integrates with Google Earth, but we see problems.
One, it costs $700. Two, what if it gets lost in the mail. There would be a supreme irony in losing a GPS tracker in the post (the data is recorded to a MicroSD card, not beamed directly to the owner). Three, even if your mail is going astray, what do you do? Call up the postal service and complain that the mail van was stuck in traffic for two hours?
No. We think the real reason for shipping a gadget that’ll fit into an envelope is cheap attempt by Brickhouse Security to cash in on some of the MacBook Air sexy. Manilla is the new white plastic, baby.
Looks like the Zune isn’t the only PMP to be getting a color makeover, Creative’s Zen is in on it too. The new model was spotted at Wal Mart, where it is retailing at $69.99 for a 2GB unit, with no other capacities listed. As far as we have the ability to tell, the pink Zen is ready for immediate shipping, despite the fact it isn’t available at Creative’s own on the web store. The new addition has me thinking it is time for a pink gadget in my arsenal; admit it, you want one as well. [Wal Mart via Geek&Hype; Thanks, pickupjojo!]
In this week’s Wired Gadget Lab podcast, Dylan Tweney, Daniel Dumas, and Jose Fermoso discuss the latest news on the Asus Eee Computer 900, which this week involves Asus shipping a souped-up battery in their review units, a move unappreciated by all readers who want real benchmarks and ‘unfixed’ reviews.
In addition, they’ll go over the release of the Optimus Maximus Keyboard on ThinkGeek.com (which caused a furor on this blog earlier this week), as well as the week’s top reviews, including the Kicker iPod Dock, the Tissot T-Touch Watch, and the Nokia N95. Finally, Dylan tries to convince the group (with blended results) that walking barefoot all the time is actually superior than wearing shoes. Turns out that you can only do this if you don’t live in an urban area, don’t work, and you really like antagonizing your friends.
Thank you for listening. Remember, you can subscribe to the podcast feed right here. And you can find the twenty-five previous podcasts after the jump.
The Podcast (above) requires Quicktime (you can download it at Apple’s page here).
It’s alive. Reader Patrick (Whiskeyfrown) is lucky enough to be using one of the few Psystar Open Computing machines that have made it into the wild, and he was generous enough to make a video showing the machine (including the connections in the back to the monitor to show that it’s legit). The thing boots up and runs pretty damn fast, says Patrick, but Software Update won’t recognize it so you won’t be able to patch. System Profiler thinks that it’s a Mac Pro. More images coming soon. [Thanks Patrick!]
It’s been a while since we first heard rumors about a the Sidekick 4, but TmoNews has a scoop on two devices headed to retail in July that could fit the bill. The first is code named “SK Gekko” and will be released on July 27; the second is the “Sidekick Aspen” on July 30. No details other than the code names, so we’re left in the dark as to what they look like, who they’re made by and if Microsoft has had any 
Today’s Gizmodo writers’ conversation inevitably turned, as it always does, toward pornography. Jesus brought up the very interesting observation that in today and age, with iPods and portable media players and laptops and portable hard drives, what kind of person still orders hotel porn? It’s pricey, slightly embarrassing (”Ma’am, I’ve never even heard of Dirt Pipe Milkshakes”), and unhygienic (think of who touched those remotes before you). So we pose the question to you, our faithful readers. Do you enjoy hotel porn, or do you bring a sack lunch?
If growing up in upstate New York has taught me anything, it’s that shoveling snow really, really sucks. The I-Shovel is a new device that promises to automate this task—much like the 
This father built his son a cake in the shape of a tank, with a motorized turret that rotates. The canon also adjusts elevation. But due to wife-husband restrictions from the Tank Cake Treaty of 2006, it does not fire whipped cream munition. Delicious, but don’t eat the motors! Vid post jump. [Instructables, thanks Steve H. ]
A half-way house between a digital watch and those crazy do-it-all 
Looks like 
It’s alive. Reader Patrick (Whiskeyfrown) is lucky enough to be using one of the few Psystar Open Computing machines that have made it into the wild, and he was generous enough to make a video showing the machine (including the connections in the back to the monitor to show that it’s legit). The thing boots up and runs pretty damn fast, says Patrick, but Software Update won’t recognize it so you won’t be able to patch. System Profiler thinks that it’s a Mac Pro. More images coming soon. [Thanks Patrick!]
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