Wi-Fi

Virgin America announced today that they are the first and only (as of now) airline to offer Gogo In-flight Internet service on every flight. You can surf the web, check email, log onto your corporate VPN – all while flying at 37,000 feet. Basically, what this does is no longer give you an excuse as to why that email didn't get answered. But, will I use this service when I fly Virgin America? You bet!

The Gogo service is available for $12.95 for daytime flights of over three hours, $9.95 for daytime flights of less than three hours, $5.95 on red-eye flights and $7.95 for handheld devices.

Another cool thing…Virgin America has another first for an airline: an air-to-ground Skype video call with Oprah Winfrey which will air tomorrow (Thursday, May 21) on The Oprah Winfrey Show (check local listings). The episode is entitled "Where the Skype Are You?" and Oprah will host a video chat from the First Class cabin of Virgin America Flight VX780 en route from Seattle to Los Angeles. For more on the segment, visit www.oprah.com.

This is the world's first projector to feature built-in 802.11n WiFi. Sanyo just announced that the PLC-WXU700 will be coming to the U.S. next month at an expected retail price of $2,995. It will weigh in at 7.9lbs and the dimensions are 13.15" (W) x 3.1" (H) x 10.14" (D).

The PLC-WXU700 supports video playback for MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4 and WMV files and will have a widescreen native aspect ratio of 1280 x 800. Additionally, this projector will produce a solar like 3,800 lumens and will use a highly efficient, high-output, 275-watt lamp.

Sanyo further helps the environment by conforming to the European RoHS Directive and using packaging that contains pulp molds, which can be recycled as used paper.

Yes, you can make a call on your phone, but can you use it as a WiFi hotspot? Not too many people can say they can. The Atheros Ar6002 phone can serve as a wireless access point when its "AP Mode" is activated.

"Atheros AP Mode is capable of concurrently connecting as many as eight Wi-Fi enabled devices in an open network environment, or up to six devices in a secured network. The clients connect to the mobile handset in AP Mode in the same way they would to a WLAN AP or router."

Some other features you can expect to get with the AR6002 include an 8.1 megapixel camera, HSDPA / WLAN models and a 3.2-inch touchscreen with 854 x 480 resolution.

Currently there is no information on when this device will be released in the world or for how much.

For the full press release on the Atheros Ar6002, click here.

According to the Consumer Electronics Association's 2009 report Digital Imaging - A Focus on Sharing, more than 40% of consumers who share videos think it takes too much time to upload them. They won't be thinking that anymore. Now, with Eye-Fi's newest wireless memory cards, you can upload your videos wirelessly and automatically directly from your digital camera to Picasa, Photobucket, SmugMug, YouTube and Flickr. You don't even have to turn on your camera! Could it get any easier than that?

The 4GB Eye-Fi Share Video and Eye-Fi Explore Video cards also automatically geotag photos and videos with location information of where the video or picture was taken. Hotspot access is available from more than 10,000 Wayport and open hotspot locations in the United States to upload when you're away from home.

Eye-Fi's newest wireless SD memory cards are now available with an MSRP of $79 (4GB Eye-Fi Share Video) and $99 (4GB Eye-Fi Explore Video).

For more information visit www.eye.fi.

When I say thin – I mean it is the thinnest QWERTY smartphone on the market today. AT&T has this one exclusively for the U.S. market, and the 3G connectivity allows for more function than you could imagine for services like Kyte. The built-in music player and 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera make this device fun and functional. The WiFi allows for Web surfing and UMA calls.

You can find this phone at AT&T with a retail price of $99 (2-year contract and mail-in rebate price). To find out more information please visit the manufacturer's site, www.nokia.com or AT&T, www.att.com/nokiaE71x. You can also read the press release here.

A new router was just announced that allows you to connect to the Internet from anywhere, at any time, even when a wireless connection isn't available. The new LevelOne 3G MobileSpot Portable Wireless HotSpot by CP Technologies lets you connect and share an Internet connection or create a VPN from anywhere in the world (yes, in the WORLD!). Simply plug a compatible 3G notebook adapter into the device's CardBus slot, and you can share a UMTS, EV-DO, or HSDPA network with any Wi-Fi enabled device. And…if your Internet connection fails, the router automatically connects to the Internet via 3G connection.

The MobileSpot Portable Wireless Hotspot (model WBR-3800) is available now with an MSRP of $149.

Find out more information by visiting www.level1.com.Read more

Sony has announced a new WiFi Blu-ray player that connects to the Internet via your wireless home network. The Sony S560 is due to hit stores in July with an MSRP of $349.

It is said to feature a "quick start" function that will play Blu-ray discs in just six seconds and will also have BD Live capability, so you can connect to the Internet and download BD Live content such as additional movie scenes, shorts, trailers and more. The S560 also lets you wirelessly stream digital photos from your PC to the player and view photos on your HDTV. In addition, it upscales your existing DVD collection to (near) HD quality via HDMI.

Other features include TrueHD and dts-HD audio codecs for up to 7.1 channels of high-definition sound, a built-in USB port, BRAVIA Sync capability, Picture-in-picture capability, and is 24p True Cinema capable, so you can watch movies the way they were shot and mastered.

For more information visit www.sonystyle.com.