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Vizio goes beyond TV with 6 new gadgets

January 12th, 2010, 4:31 pm by

Vizio Universal RemoteVizio conquered the LCD HDTV market last year. Now it wants a piece of the TV accessory market.

While the Irvine TV company unveiled its first Blu-ray Disc player, sound bar and cables last year, this year’s show had many nice surprises as well. It not only showed its latest TVs, including a 3D model and a super skinny HDTV, but it offered up a bunch of interesting TV accessories. I’ve highlighted the following, with pictures of course:

Number 1 stock artUniversal remote control with built-in LCD – Two of them are coming but the more interesting one is the XRT100 touchscreen remote control has a 3.5-inch LCD display to control the home’s entertainment system. It will work with Vizio’s upcoming (and delayed) Internet TV, as well as older audio and video devices. Unlike the Samsung Wi-Fi remote with the built-in TV display, this one works over Bluetooth. Click photos to enlarge.

Vizio universal remote control with touchscreen Vizio universal remote control with touchscreen

Number 2 stock artHeadphones with built-in LCD — Why does one need an LCD screen on a set of headphones, I’m not quite sure. But it was cool to see. Vizio added a round LCD display to the outer part of each earpiece. Users will be able to see the album cover or personal images on the screens. These are future products with no price or availability date available. Watch the video I took inside Vizio’s dark CES suite: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Gadgets • iPods • Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • | 9 Comments »

Free Wi-Fi Internet at McDonald’s begins January

December 16th, 2009, 8:50 am by

McDonald's offers Wi-FiNoted: If you need to surf the Web while eating a Big Mac, you’ll soon be able to surf for free. McDonald’s is lifting the regular $2.95 fee for two hours of web access beginning in mid January.

There will be no hourly limit. And you don’t even have to buy any food. The Register’s Fast Food Maven has the scoop about Orange County McDonalds: “Local McDonald’s to offer free wireless access soon.”

“We’re not just about hamburgers,” Dave Grooms, chief information officer for McDonald’s USA, said in an Associated Press story. “We are about convenience and all kinds of value.”

Not all the fast-food joints nationwide will offer free access to customers, notes the Dallas Morning News. Only 11,000 out of the 13,000 are going free. Fast Food Maven notes that Southern California locations are participating.

AT&T owns the wireless Internet network offered at McDonald’s, following last year’s acquisition of Wayport Inc. Terms for the free Wi-Fi deal at McDonalds were not disclosed.

AT&T already lets iPhone and its Internet customers access the company’s massive Wi-Fi hotspot network for free.

On Tuesday, Verizon Wireless added its mobile broadband customers to the group of Verizon customers who can now use its Wi-Fi network at no extra charge. They join Verizon FiOS Internet and certain DSL customers. T-Mobile also lets some of its Google Android customers access T-Mobile’s hotspots at no extra charge.

There are dozens of McDonald’s in Orange County that offer Wi-Fi. You can use this restaurant locator to find places near you: Find a McDonald’s with Wi-Fi.

More free Wi-Fi stories:

Posted in: Wi-Fi & networking • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

Verizon begins offering free Wi-Fi to its mobile broadband users

December 15th, 2009, 12:30 pm by

Free Wi-FiIf you’re a Verizon Wireless customer who pays a chunk of change each month for mobile broadband, Verizon is now tossing in access to its 11,000 Wi-Fi hotspots for no extra charge.

Verizon already offers free Wi-Fi to its FiOS subscribers, plus its DSL customers who spend $30 a month on service. See the earlier story, “Verizon offers some customers a bonus: Free Wi-Fi.”

Verizon hotspots include some Starbucks stores, Barnes & Noble bookstores, several hotels and more. There are nearly 1,000 places within 50 miles of The Register’s headquarters that offer Verizon Wi-Fi service. Here’s a link to Verizon’s hotspot finder: verizonwireless.com/wi-fi

To qualify, you need either a monthly Mobile Broadband account or a GlobalAccess plan. You also need a Verizon-supported device, which is either a USB modem, PC Card, ExpressCard, the Verizon MiFi portable hotspot, or a netbook or notebook. Here is a list of qualified devices: www.vzam.net.

Verizon isn’t the only one offering free Wi-Fi to its customers.

AT&T has been a leader of free Wi-Fi for its customers. It offers free Wi-Fi access at its hotspots to iPhone customers and home broadband users. It recently added 25,000 more hotspots around the globe. See the earlier story, “25,000 more places for Wi-Fi (if you’re with AT&T).”

AT&T also offers free Wi-Fi to anyone at Barnes & Noble stores. See earlier story, “Free Wi-Fi at Barnes & Noble for everyone!”

T-Mobile also offers certain customers free access to its Wi-Fi network.

Recent stories on free Wi-Fi:

Posted in: Cell phones • Wi-Fi & networking • • • • • • | 9 Comments »

25,000 more places for Wi-Fi (if you’re with AT&T)

August 25th, 2009, 2:41 pm by

Free Wi-FiAT&T just announced that its collection of global Wi-Fi hotspots increased 25 percent today, bringing its total to 125,000 hotspots worldwide.

The new 25,000 hotspots are in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Croatia, the Netherlands, the UK and China. Sites in China are live and active. The European sites will be activated over the next 45 days.

But for the most part, these new sites are geared toward AT&T business users who pay $19.99 a month for AT&T’s Wi-Fi Premier plan.  Still, any one can get this plan, which could come in handy when traveling overseas.

Here in the United States, AT&T offers access to its hotspots for free to iPhone users, and for its high-speed Internet or U-verse Internet customers. Non AT&T customers can pay a daily fee of $3.99 for access or, of course, purchase the monthly $19.99 Wi-Fi Premier plan. There are 20,000 AT&T hotspots in the United States.

Alternatives for non-AT&T customers include the free Wi-Fi for Verizon customers (read: “Verizon offers some customers a bonus: Free Wi-Fi“), free Wi-Fi at Barnes & Noble and Starbucks (read: “Free Wi-Fi at Barnes & Noble for everyone!” “Free Wi-Fi at Starbucks — with restrictions“) or WiFiFreeSpot page, which lists cafes and businesses offering free Wi-Fi nationwide. If any one else knows a useful free Wi-Fi service, please point it out. Thanks!

Previous stories on free Wi-Fi:

Posted in: iPhone • Wi-Fi & networking • • • • • • • | Comments Off

Can two types of Wi-Fi routers work together?

August 25th, 2009, 1:49 pm by

Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. And don’t forget to stop by the Gadgetress’ home for the PC Club, at ocregister.com/link/pcclub, to find out how to ask a question and read past answers.

QUESTION: I currently have a wireless G router and I am considering buying a 5 GHz N‑band router. Is it possible to set up two wireless routers in my home but still have computers and printers on either router communicate with each other?  If it is possible, how do I set that up? For example, if I have one of my laptops connect to the 2.4 GHz G band router, can it communicate with the desktop that is hardwired into the 5 GHz N Band router?  And can that laptop print to a wireless printer that is wirelessly connected to the 5 GHz N Band router?

PC CLUB: I have to admit that your question made my head swim. Typically, a home has one source of Internet service, be it DSL or cable. From there, Internet is connected to a modem and then to a computer. Many users add a router between the modem and the PC for several reasons: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Stump the PC Club • Wi-Fi & networking • • • • • • • • • • | 5 Comments »

Verizon’s MiFi is handy portable hotspot if you can afford it

June 5th, 2009, 4:24 pm by

REVIEW: (Wow …  it’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these …)

A day before I set off on a road trip to San Francisco, Verizon Wireless shipped me its new MiFi 2200 to play with. This portable Wi-Fi hotspot came in really handy for the long drive and later at the hotel, which was trying to get us to pay $10/day for Wi-Fi. 

Verizon "iPhone" - back.
Verizon’s MiFi personal hotspot sitting on top of an iPod Touch.

Now, I already have a broadband card, gratis the OC Register, which lets me work almost anywhere, like the car (but not while I’m driving, of course). The $150 MiFi trounces broadband cards for several reasons: There’s no need to install software (like my broadband card), MiFi isn’t accidentally bendable (like my broadband card), it causes no issues when it turns off (unlike my broadband card if I skip the “safely remove” step) and it shares its single mobile Internet line with everyone else in the car.

This looks like a sleek, black business card holder with a 20-card capacity. It’s actually a bit larger than a business card and slightly thicker than an iPod Touch (see photo). A button on top depresses to turn it on, while a mini-USB port on one side is used to recharge the removable Li-ion battery.

Verizon "iPhone" - Back, shows modem is on. Verizon "iPhone" Verizon's new MiFi 2200 hotspot compared to the iPhone.

It took several seconds, maybe five to 10, before the MiFi wireless signal was recognized by nearby computers, iPods and other Wi-Fi devices. But after the network showed up, we connected and started surfing in no time. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • | Comments Off

Sprint to offer mobile Wi-Fi gadget 2 weeks after Verizon

May 13th, 2009, 1:05 pm by

Sprint's mobile hot spot is Novatel's MiFi gadget.Just spotted: Verizon’s won’t be alone in offering Novatel Wireless’ MiFi mobile Wi-Fi gadget. Sprint just announced it too. Available in the first week of June for the same price as Verizon (or $99 after $50 mail-in rebate). Monthly service fees are between $59.99 (data only) to $149.99 (Sprint’s Simply Everything package). 

Sprint manages to one-up the Verizon offer saying it will be “the first in the U.S. to support MiFi’s GPS capabilities, allowing users to take advantage of select location and mapping applications.”

More on Sprint’s MiFi:

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Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local cell phone services 

Posted in: Cell phones • Wi-Fi & networking • • • • • • | Comments Off

Wi-Fi hot-spot on the go for $15/day

May 12th, 2009, 12:10 am by

The MiFi 2200 from Verizon Wireless.Verizon Wireless introduced a handy little Wi-Fi gadget to help your wireless cloud travel with you, literally. Even when you’re in a moving vehicle. The company is calling the MiFi 2200 the “World’s Smallest Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot.” 

While the concept is far from new (D-Link Systems, for one, has offered 3G mobile routers with slots for a wireless broadband computer card for years), Verizon is offering service with the MiFi 2200. That means hand over $150 (get $50 back after rebate), sign over two years of your life and pay monthly fees of $40 to $60. 

Those fees really add up. And most consumers, and even companies, don’t really need to use a mobile hot spot every day, right?  I mean how many corporate caravans to Vegas does one do every year? 

But there is a cheaper option available. Buy the MiFi from Verizon Wireless at its full price $270 price and pay $15/day to use the service. No contract, no monthly fees, no worries!

Of course, you could lose the teeny 2-ounce MiFi, which measures 3.5-inch by 2.3 inch by 0.4 inch. To help you see how slim and trim that actually is, I’ve laid it out for you against one of the most familiar gadgets in the world, the Apple iPhone: 

Verizon's new MiFi 2200 hotspot compared to the iPhone. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Cell phones • Gadgets • Wi-Fi & networking • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

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