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Want some free WiFi?  All you have to do is a) stay within 100 feet of a Chrysler; b) be able to run fast to keep with the Chrysler or c) hang out at the Chrysler dealer where they demo this baby all day long.  Or you can pay.

Yes, Chrysler is bringing a WiFi router, dubbed UConnect Web, to their cars to help differentiate themselves in the market.  Coming supposedly this August as a dealer installed item with a $449 price tag and a $29 monthly.  The connection service is by Autonet Mobile who has apparently been offering a service like this for the rental company Avis.  How about that?

I expect Chrysler to roll this into offering diagnostics, warnings and safety fun.  I also expect this to be common place in 2 years as other makers can’t afford to lose any marketshare; especially at the hands of something people are willing to fork over cash for.

I like the sound of this.  Chrysler still makes cars huh?

Read [Wall Street Journal]

Alltel has been working with Wi-Fi leader, Boingo, to bring unlimited Wi-Fi access to more than 25,000 hotspot locations. This service is available to both Alltel customers as well as non-Alltel users. In addition, Alltel is also offering their Internet Anywhere Bundle - more on that later.

Now, for $19.99 a month, or even $3.99 a day, you can get access to Alltel’s Wi-Fi in hotspots, which includes hotels, bookstores, restaurants, airports, and coffee shops. The neat thing about this is that you are not tied down to any contract, so if you wish to stop using it, you can easily opt out. Alltel is already offering this service in nearly 100 popular airports. So if you are waiting to catch a plane, you can get some work done using their Wi-Fi. Over the past year, Alltel has added nearly 15,000 Wi-Fi hotspots, so as time goes on, they will probably add even more to their already 25,000 hotspots in total.

Back to the “Internet Anywhere Bundle”, basically that gives you the option to use Alltel’s EVDO network or access to a Wi-Fi hotspot, and that costs $69.98 a month.

Angela Rittgers, Director of Product Marketing, had this to say about the new partnership and deals they have to offer;

“The Internet Anywhere Bundle is a common-sense approach to network connectivity and will enhance the choices available for our customers. Alltel, together with Boingo Wireless, is pleased to offer the flexibility of Wi-Fi to stay in touch with families and friends or access work email and schedules through a reliable connection.”

Read [Alltel] Via [Press Release]

The lawsuit that has only recently come to light, has seemingly gone away just as quickly. I am of course referring to the recent announcement that T-Mobile was suing Starbucks claiming “breach of contract” and “unfair competition” in regards to how they let AT&T quickly move in and take over and begin promoting their services.

According to reports T-Mobile, along with Starbucks and AT&T have reached a “memorandum of understanding” in an attempt to resolve their issues. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, however Starbucks spokeswoman Stacey Krum stated that they are “committed to providing a high quality WiFi experience for customers, including Starbucks Rewards Customers, at Starbucks locations nationwide.”

Which makes it sound like nothing will be changing, at least on the customer side, after all some of the new programs including the 2-free hours per day from AT&T is part of the Starbucks Rewards program. I am glad to see an issue get resolved, especially quickly, lets just hope that does not mean my free Wi-Fi is going away.

Read [CNN Money] Via [Starbucks Gossip]

SanDisk has announced they have purchased MusicGremlin, which for those of you who cannot remember, were perhaps way ahead of their time when they released their MusicGremlin Wi-Fi MP3 player a few years back. This terms of the sale were, of course, undisclosed and the details as to just what SanDisk has in the works remains a mystery. We do however know that the acquisition will fall under SanDisk’s Sansa audio/video business unit.

Daniel Schreiber, general manager and senior vice president for SanDisk’s Sansa audio/video business unit stated that;

“MusicGremlin’s digital distribution platform and capabilities will provide SanDisk with adaptive and innovative technology that will play a key role in the development of future Sansa products for consumers,”

While as far as we can remember the big catch on the MusicGremlin, although it was not well received at the time was the built-in Wi-Fi. It looks like SanDisk could be a making an attempt at a second shot with a Wi-Fi enabled music player. SanDisk tried in the past, with yet another acquisition that was the Sansa Connect.

Read [SanDisk]

In an attempt to bolster their in-flight entertainment offering, the JetBlue LiveTV division is finalizing plans to purchase Verizon’s Airfone network. JetBlue began testing their in-flight Wi-Fi service late last year, however it is nothing more than a glorified messaging service. The Wi-Fi service allows users to check email and also use instant messaging, in addition to watch television. JetBlue has been using the LiveTV service since 2002 and currently broadcasts DirecTV programming, no purchase price was announced for the sale. In a time when airlines are beginning to add extra charges for just about everything, its hard to understand just why they would spend additional money for new services.

Via [mocoNews]

T-Mobile has decided to sue Starbucks over their recent agreement with AT&T to begin providing free Wi-Fi. The lawsuit claims that both Starbucks and AT&T are not living up to their end of the agreement dealing with the switchover. They are claiming “breach of contract” and “unfair competition” and seeking an unspecified amount of damages.

“Starbucks and AT&T ... secretly developed a promotional plan under which they would offer ‘free’ AT&T/Starbucks Wi-Fi even in stores” that were still reliant on T-Mobile’s infrastructure, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit goes on to claim that “to date, only two markets—the San Antonio, Texas, and Bakersfield, California, markets—have been transitioned from T-Mobile to AT&T.” However we have used a few and also seen reports from many other Starbucks locations now offering AT&T Wi-Fi. While T-Mobile is understandably upset, the agreement that the stores would be converted “on a market-to-market basis” leaves a great deal of judgment room. It looks like this one could get messy.

Read [Reuters]

Starbucks and AT&T have officially begun offering free Wi-Fi, and just about anyone will be able to use this now free service. Beginning today, customers who get a Starbucks reloadable card, register for the Starbucks Rewards Card program and then use the card at least one time a month will get two free consecutive hours of free wireless goodness everyday. Also, as an added bonus, new card members will also receive a free drink!

Of course we all know that by Starbucks offering us free Wi-Fi, that just means we are going to sit in the store longer and that means we will most likely get more beverages, however it is nice to see that someone else is understanding that by giving something away for free does not always mean lost revenue. Well with that, I think its time to grab my Starbucks Card, (that I made sure I added some money to yesterday in anticipation) and head on over to my local shop.

Sign Up [Starbucks and AT&T] Read [USA Today] Via [Starbucks Gossip]

It was way back in February when we first learned that AT&T was beginning the process of taking over the Wi-Fi offering at Starbucks. With that announcement came the word that as long as you have a Starbucks gift card that you are actively using you will be able to receive two free consecutive hours of Wi-Fi a day. Well since then we have seen lots of Wi-Fi coming and going, sometimes with stories about the offers and sometimes it was related to the access being live. Well it turns out that two free hour offering is just about ready to go live.

According to Dave Zatz:

“the system was configured a few days ago and they’ve confirmed it works. I saw the back of the store memo and the manager says they’ve got signage behind the counter ready to go in conjunction with the June 3rd launch.”

And, just in case you have something against using the Starbucks card, those two hours of Wi-Fi will set you back just $3.99. In addition to this offer, those Laptop Connect customers are also able to get free Wi-Fi at Starbucks locations as well. Sadly this offer has no mention of whether that free iPhone Wi-Fi offer will be returning, but with the launch rumored to take effect tomorrow, we will not have to wait long to find out. Hopefully this roll-out will be for all Starbucks locations, however its possible that it may be a limited roll-out on an area by area basis.

Read [Zatz Not Funny] Via [jkOnTheRun]

While the latest round of details to surface for the Paris are not exactly as flattering as the rest, this should still prove to be a worthy handset. The new details that have come to light reveal a solid offering coming from SE. The P5 is a slider style phone with a QWERTY keyboard and will be UIQ based.

The handset also offers a touch sensitive display with one-touch screen rotation, the ability to browse or view bookmarks without sliding the handset open and one-touch zoom in/out navigation.

The Samsung based camera with auto-focus comes in at a nice 5-megapixels, and we can also expect to find Wi-Fi, an FM radio and standard Walkman player. The included GPS will default to Google Maps, however WayFinder 7 will also be installed as a trial option. Finally there will be support for Microsoft Office documents.

We also now know that the Paris is expected to retail for 400 Euros and is rumored to include UIQ 3.3 and Opera 9.5 at the time it ships. As of now it is expected to be available in early September.

Via [Mobile-Review] Image [My Symbian Forums]

We have recently seen the images and those gave a nice look at what appears to be a cross between a slightly more grown up Treo and a Centro. Those images did also give us a nice side shot that showed what appeared to be an on/off switch for the Wi-Fi and these recently leaked specs are indeed highlighting Wi-Fi as a feature, something that has been long lacking with the Treo lineup. Of course as with any leaked specs, these are highly unconfirmed and come courtesy of a “good friend.”

With that said, the details are set to include the previously mentioned Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g along with GSM, EDGE and UMTS HSDPA 3.6 support, a 2-megapixel camera, assisted-GPS, a microSD card slot which sadly is located under the 1500 mAh battery, a micro-USB connector for both power and sync, Bluetooth 2.0 EDR + A2DP, 256MB NAND-Flash with about 175MB available for the user, 32MB SDRAM, a 320 x 320 touchscreen display and running Windows Mobile Professional 6.1.

The new Treo, which is the 850 is also codenamed the Skywriter. With a solid set of specs, this should make anyone looking for a new Treo happy, but aside from the addition of Wi-Fi it just may not be enough to convince current Treo users they need to upgrade. Still waiting on any information regarding pricing and availability.

Via [TamsPPC] Via [Gadgets On The Go] Image [BGR]