Into Tech

Vehicles equipped with wi-fi are being used to deliver web content to rural communities in the developing world.

Making its debut at Texas’ SXSW music fest is Slacker, a new hybrid music service that delivers music online, via satellite, or from any wireless hotspot. It’s a pretty big package so we’ll break it down to its simplest forms. So first let’s check out the service. It’s already up and running and free to anyone after a quick sign up. The service makes money through video ads, so naturally there’s also a premium plan sans ads that goes for $7.50/month. Users in both camps can tune into any Slacker station (their DJs cover all the genres just like XM and Sirius) and you can vote to “heart” or “ban” songs from the station’s playlist by simply pressing the appropriate icon. As an extra perk, you can also republish your music channels to your blog/website. Next comes the device, a sexy little player with enough features to put many of today’s DAPs to shame….

It’ll debut this summer in sizes ranging from 2GB to 120GB (prices will range from $150 to $350). It’ll have a 4-inch screen with a touch-sensitive side strip for scrolling through your music. Like any other DAP, It’ll play WMAs, WMVs, MP3s, etc, all of which you can load onto the player via USB. Here’s where things get interesting. The device will also have built-in Wi-Fi so it’ll sync up with your personalized Slacker stations wirelessy. You’ll then be able to listen to them from any hotspot. Alternatively, you can listen to Slacker via a satellite broadcast system (you’ll need the optional Slacker “car kit” for this) that’ll beam the music to your player from unused commercial satellites. This is Slacker’s own proprietary technology here at work, so you’re not relying on Slacker’s own satellites here.

So after spending the morning personalizing a few Slacker stations, I got a decent feel for the service. Quality-wise, music plays hiccup free with no lags or delays (and very little video ads, at least for now). More importantly, music sounds awesome for an online station. I’m not talking audiophile quality, but still pretty damn good. I found banning songs from stations to be pretty addictive/fun (free members can only ban 6 songs/hour) and I’m guessing this is how Slacker will rope people into paying for the premium service. Slacker’s real test will come with the debut of their player. Is there a market for another DAP and will the Wi-Fi feature work as promised? If they deliver on the hardware front, they can consider me a full member. This is one space you’ll definitely want to stay in tune with. – Louis Ramirez

Product Page [via Orbitcast]

Throw away your cables! The latest Cybershot from Sony adds wireless, a feature that you can get on a slowly growing number of other digital cameras. Nikon, Kodak and Canon already sport wire-free models.

Just imagine not having to fiddle around with bloody storage cards, readers and cables – almost too good to be true. This year you will see a lot more cameras add Wi-Fi, which will no doubt drive down prices a bit and that can only be a good thing.

Even cuter is that you’ll be able to share pics with cameras that sport the DNLA logo (Digital Living Network Alliance).

The DSC-G1 is a 6-megapixel camera with a 3.5in LCD screen and 2GB of internal memory. It supports Memory Stick Duo or Pro Duo cards, which come in capacities up to 8GB.

It’s due out next month in the US and trust me, you will pay for the privilege. It will cost a cool $600 (£350), but will cost more than that here when it arrives in a few months.-Martin Lynch

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21-year old Brian Tanner got busted by the cops up in Palmer, Alaska for using the local library’s free Wi-Fi to play World of Warcraft after the library had closed. Patrolling cops seized the poor guy’s laptop and claimed that although the library provides free Wi-Fi, there are rules governing its use. Rules which apparently Tanner wasn’t following. Only one room in NY’s Public Library offers free Wi-Fi (and you’re not allowed to plug into an outlet) so I feel Tanner’s pain, but if the library (which you’d think would want to provide free Wi-Fi for everyone) doesn’t want people using their “service” after hours, then don’t broadcast your signal. – Louis Ramirez

Gamer Busted for Using Library Wi-Fi [TechEBlog]

LONDON (Reuters) - BT Group is in talks for a landmark deal
with Spanish start-up FON aimed at boosting BT’s fledgling
mobile service and driving up its broadband sales, two sources
close to the talks said on Friday.

Bluetooth
is French company Parrot’s Raison d’etre, and while they haven’t
pursued all the options yet - like Bluetooth-enabled cheesburgers, they
have managed to squeeze radios into many other doodads.

Today they debuted their latest Bluetooth-equipped picture frames
with colorful 7-inch, 720-by-480-pixel screens — a huge improvement
over the squinty-small 3.5-inch frame they introduced last summer. The
7-incher has 128MB of built-in memory - enough for 500 photos, they
say. And it includes a sensor that adjusts screen brightness according
to the room lighting. The only thing it doesn’t’ have is frickin’ slots
for memory cars –which is the most important feature on a digital
frame.

Parrot says you can load photos from a "Bluetooth-enabled
cell phone, digital camera, laptop other storage device." Well, few
cell phone pics are going to show up well on such a large screen. And
there is exactly one Bluetooth-enabled digicam — Kodak’s V610 - which
takes pictures that are slightly better than those from a cell phone.
Wireless transfer from a computer is kinda cool. But if you could pick
just one wireless technology, why not the near-ubiquitous Wi-Fi? (Check
in tomorrow for news of such a product.)

On the plus side, the frame is quite plush-looking, with the choice
of handsome black or tan leather finishes. These will be available when
the frame goes on sale this spring for $249. And Parrot says it will
offer more styles later this year. – Sean Captain

TAIPEI (Reuters) - As much of the world buzzes with
high-speed 3G mobile services, Taipei is humming another
wireless broadband tune with a year-old network providing
low-cost Wi-Fi service throughout the city.

TAIPEI (Reuters) - As much of the world buzzes with
high-speed 3G mobile services, Taipei is humming another
wireless broadband tune with a year-old network providing
low-cost Wi-Fi service throughout the city.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Internet telephone company Vonage
Holdings Corp. plans to launch phone products based on
Wi-Fi wireless technology in 2007, Chairman Jeffrey Citron said
on Friday.

Manchester City Council plans free wi-fi zone covering more than 400 square miles.