Mobile Internet Access — No Strings Attached

NetZero, known for offering free dial-up access in exchange for watching ads, is back and is applying its budget-conscious approach to mobile broadband.
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Verizon Wireless Touts 4G Network, Shows Off Devices

Verizon showed off 10 devices coming in the first half of the year and said it will cover another 140 cities with the high-speed network by year’s end.

News Byte

Sprint Kicks Off Marathon of CES-Timed Mobile Phone Announcements

Just ahead of the start of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Sprint revealed the details on the HTC Evo Shift 4G and the Novatel MiFi 3G/4G portable Hotspot. The announcement bulks up Sprint’s 4G lineup ahead of what is expected to be the announcement of several phones for Verizon’s new LTE-based 4G network. Sprint said that the Evo Shift, which had already made a cameo in a leaked Radio Shack advertisement, will be available for $149 after rebates starting Jan. 9, while the MiFi won’t hit stores until Feb. 27. Among the Shift’s features are a slide-out keyboard, Android 2.2 and a 5-megapixel camera.

Saving Web Articles

Walt answers readers’ questions on saving Web articles, virus concerns and Wi-Fi-free Internet connections.

IPad Sales Begin at Verizon and AT&T

The iPad officially went on sale today at the two largest wireless carriers in the U.S.–AT&T and Verizon. AT&T is selling all three iPad Wi-Fi + 3G models at their standard prices, while Verizon is peddling the Wi-Fi-only versions paired with a MiFi 2200 mobile hotspot.

Confirmed! Apple Coming to Verizon–To Sell iPads

Apple and Verizon have yet to announce an iPhone deal. But this sure gets them pretty close: The carrier is going to start selling iPads.

Ford to Enable Wi-Fi Hotspots in Some Cars: BoomTown Rejoices

Last week, when BoomTown was taking a taxi from JFK Airport, I was more of a geek loser than usual, using my USB broadband modem to connect and write a post. But the jostling cut off the connection several times, which was frustrating. Now comes news that Ford will make the next generation of its Sync-enabled vehicles into Wi-Fi hotspots, allowing you to connect to the Internet everywhere much more seamlessly in a moving car. Oh, joy! Now, I can obsessively Gowalla myself while moving at 80 miles per hour, which should freak some people out.
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Web Surfing in a Wireless Network of Your Very Own

Verizon Wireless’s MiFi allows you to create a private Wi-Fi network anywhere and can be used by multiple devices at once, but the luxury of MiFi doesn’t come cheap.
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D7 Tech Demo: What’s in Greg Harper’s Bag?

In this session of D7, Greg Harper, president of Harpervision and co-founder of Gadgetoff, always sure to bring the novel and the wacky, will present a plethora of gadgets the technophile has collected. Harper says that in total, he brought “$20,000 [worth] of portable tech gadgets” with him. (Note to the Four Seasons Aviara: Increase security.) He’s known for doing these demos, at which he pulls out one interesting product after another from his cornucopia of gadgetry–to the astonishment of the crowd! Papa Harper’s got a brand new bag, and we’re about to find out what’s inside….
Greg Harper