RHODES, GREECE -- Boingo announced today in an e-mail newsletter to customers that it plans to extend its Wi-Fi hotspot coverage to include all Starbucks in the U.S. They already cover McDonald's and airports. Time to bounce back to Boingo?
ATHENS, GREECE -- One of my favorite magazines, The Economist, published a very good special report last month called "Nomads at last" in which they explored the "extreme telecommuting" lifestyle.
ATHENS, GREECE -- We've all gotten them. Somebody accidentally presses the speed dial or redial button on their cell phone. You get a call and get to "listen in" on the caller, who doesn't know they dialed. They're called "butt calls" because they can happen when someone sits on their phone.
AGIOS NIKOLAOS, GREECE - iPhone users around the United States have confirmed that AT&T is giving them free Wi-Fi access at their many hotspots nationwide. All they have to do is enter their iPhone's phone number to gain access.
AGIOS NIKOLAOS, GREECE - Here on the island of Crete, the cradle of European civilization, Internet access appears to be everywhere. Unfortunately, I've discovered, appearances can be deceiving.
ATHENS, GREECE -- Business, government and the courts impose a bizarre "double standard" when it comes to how we treat spoken and written communications. Anything written at work is fair game for corporate snooping, recording and legal liability, while spoken language is off limits. But what about IMs? What about text messages?
ATHENS, GREECE -- I don't write about every new cell phone that comes out -- in fact, I comment on individual phones only very rarely. But when it ships next month, the LG Secret just might prove to be the best cell phone ever. The highest praise I've ever given phones went to the iPhone, the BlackBerry Pearl and the LG Viewty. The LG Secret combines the best features of all three.
ATHENS, GREECE -- The Amazon Kindle's "secret sauce" -- the feature that sets it apart from competitor eBook readers like the Sony Reader -- is unlimited, free wireless mobile broadband access, which lets you auto-download books, magazines and newspapers and give you access to the Internet. The catch: It works only in the U.S. Take it abroad, and its advantage goes away. Or does it?
ATHENS, GREECE -- When it comes to PCs, GPS devices, gaming consoles, and in general the computerization of just about everything, Americans as a group tend to be active users on the "cutting edge" and quick to embrace all of it. But when it comes to cell phones, we suddenly turn into neo-Luddites.
ATHENS, GREECE -- The Taiwan-based digital camera OEM Altek unveiled an 8-megapixel consumer digital camera with built-in GPS and automatic geotagging. The camera is expected to ship by June, and will be the world's first, according to the company.
Beyond the GPS functionality, the camera is pretty standard, and sports a 3-inch touch screen.
ATHENS, GREECE -- A company called BigString Corporation today rolled out a new plug-in for AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) that lets you send messages that self-destruct and are impossible to copy or capture, according to the company. Users can also send IMs from the company's web site without using AIM.
ATHENS, GREECE -- Before flying here last week, I considered a wide variety of options for constant data connectivity and cell phone access. Buy a Greek phone and use a Greek carrier? Live in a cyber café and use VoIP? Satellite phone? Much to my surprise, it turns out that my BlackBerry Pearl and AT&T work just fine, thank you.
ATHENS, GREECE -- This ancient city is a metropolis of contradictions and surprises. For us "extreme telecommuters," one of them is this: Starbucks in Greece charges you $660 for a month of Wi-Fi access. But right next door is a better coffee joint where a month of Wi-Fi costs you zero. Hmmmm. Which to choose….
ATHENS, GREECE -- I wrote a column last week called, "Why not give users what they want?," in which I whined and complained about a long list of common-sense features missing from major products.
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