Similar to something out of a James Bond movie comes Brookstone’s Wi-Fi-enabled 2GB USB cufflinks for super stealthy international missions or just a regular day to the office. The polished silver oval Wi-Fi and 2GB USB combination cufflinks offer both style and function and are perfect for business meetings, travel and more. The high-tech cufflinks can be used to share data and Internet access between smartphones, laptops, tablets and more. All you have to do is download the accompanying software, pop the USB hotspot into your computer and the cufflinks turn into a Wi-Fi hotspot! But don’t think all this cool tech will come cheap because they’re selling for $249.99 on Brookstone’s website.

Seagate’s wireless hard drive has only been around for a few months, and the rug has already been pulled out from under them.  What are we talking about?  Seagate’s GoFlex Wireless hard drive is targeted at iPad and iPhone users who are challenged with capacity caps on their devices.  This hard drive provides up to 500GB of data storage and allows anyone with a WiFi enabled device to connect to it wirelessly and playback movies, music and access the usual vareity of other documents and files.  However, some caveats of the device include the price ($200) and that you can’t daisy chain other USB storage devices to it.

Enter the CloudFTP.  Yup, it’s another Kickstarter project, but this one already has legs, over 100,000 of them.  In a nutshell, this tiny box allows you to convert any USB storage devices into a wireless USB storage device.  Just plug in a USB flash drive or a hard drive, connect to the box on your computer or portable device by selecting it from your list of available WiFi network, navigate to the appropriate page and you can play movies, music and more.

For those who are attuned to a more advanced setup, you can add the CloudFTP to your wireless network, which should allow anyone whose joined the network to access the attached drive’s contents.  With this featured enabled, you can also set the CloudFTP to automatically back up its contents to DropBox, iCloud or pretty much any cloud service out there.

Inside the tiny black, plastic box is an LCD screen to keep you up to date on its activity, a low power ARM Cortex A8 microprocessor to keep things humming along smoothly and a 2600mAh li-ion rechargeable battery that can power any attached USB device for up to 5 hours.  It’s capable of connecting with up to 3 WiFi devices simultaneously, which is 2 less than Seagate’s offering, but at intro price of $69.99, $130 less than the competitor, who cares.

As we’ve already inferred, this project has already received over $100,000 in funding, exceeding their goal.  We’d expect more funds to flow in over the next 32 days, where upon the project will be officially funded and the CloudFTP will go into production.

The Belkin F9K1107 Wireless Dual-Band Travel Router is designed to be taken on the road and more importantly stuffed inside a bag.   There is no mention of its actual measurements, but Belkin is tossing in a a carrying case that holds the plug and some additional cords.  Like many of today’s full sized routers it supports WiFi b/g/n and simultaneous dual band mode.  There is also the usual assortment of security protocols and even a push button WPS setup.  So at the end of the day it’s a full featured router, though it lacks the additional Ethernet ports or a USB port for sharing storage devices on the network.  It’s just too bad there isn’t a built-in battery.

No word on availability, but it will retail for $79.99.

Knowing that they were missing out on yet another way to nickel and dime their customers, AT&T worked with Apple and added a hotspot feature in iOS 4.3 and above, the result is that iPhone 4 users can turn their phone into a wireless hotspot with yet another hefty monthly fee.  Verizon users can also get the privilege for a similar additional fee of $20 a month.  But for the easy nature of simply flipping a switch, or for those not comfortable with jailbreaking their phone, it’s a convenient, but costly method.   And if you like to play by the rules, well, enabling your iPhone’s hotspot feature couldn’t be easier.  One warning though, if you’re currently grandfathered into AT&Ts  unlimited data plan, once you enable the hotspot feature, you will have forfeited your all your can eat days in favor of their more limited tiered plans.

1. Talk to the right people (legal option)

Contact AT&T or Verizon and have the hot-spot feature enabled on your phone account.

2.Set up your phone

Once AT&T or Verizon has given you official sanction, you can go into your iPhone’s “General Settings”, and under “Network,” you’ll find the Hotspot switch and the ability to password protect it.  Please note, that this is for iPhone 4 customers only.  If you’re using an iPhone 3GS, you won’t have the hotspot feature available.

3. Catch a WiFi signal and a wave

Once you’ve got the phone all set up, all that’s left to do is connect the phone to your laptop or other wireless device by selecting it amidst the available WiFi signal.

That’s it for the official method.   if you’re still using an iPhone 3GS or want to use the hotspot feature “under the radar,” then there’s a simple two step method to jailbreak your phone and add hotspotting under the radar …

1. Jailbreak your phone (illegal option)

Now I know what you’re thinking … it’ll void my warranty!  It’s illegal!  It’ll mess up my phone and I won’t get it back to the way it was!  All not true.  First, it won’t void your warranty, nor will it mess up your phone to the point you can’t get it back in working order.  If you don’t like it, you can easily go into iTunes and restore it to the way it was.  It’s a good idea, though, to backup your iPhone in iTunes before you jailbreak it.  And it’s not illegal either.  According to the US Library of Congress Copyright office, it is perfectly legal to jailbreak your phone.  So fear not.  The only reason to not jailbreak your phone is that when there are updates, you have to reset your phone back to the way it was to update it.  Then you have to wait for the jailbreak tools figure that out before you can free it up again.  But these days, it’s largely a  painless process now.

Now that we got that out of the way … There are a myriad of ways to accomplish this, but by far the easiest is to use a web based app like jailbreak.me, which frees your phone with a simple, familiar slide.  Other utilities to jailbreak your phone include “redsn0w,” Pwnage Tool, but there isn’t anything as easy as Jailbreak.Me.

So, how do you do it?  Easy. a) Just navigate to  with your phone’s safari app to this page  b) tap the “Free” icon for Cydia.  The Free Icon becomes an Install icon c) tap that as well.  It will then install Cydia, the open source iPhone app store onto your phone.  d) Then, reboot your device.

2.  Open Cydia and download MyWi

MyWi is the hotspot utility that will enable you to unofficially turn your phone into a hotspot.  You can try it out for free, but if you plan to use it beyond the free trial, MyWi is about $20. You can set passwords, change your SSID settings, make security settings, etc.  Once you have MyWi installed and enabled, you will notice a blue bar at the top of your screen showing the hotspot connection active and functioning.  You will also not how much data you are using both up and down – a handy feature.

3. Surf to your heart’s content … or until you’re caught

Once you’re all set up, you can acquire your phone’s WiFi hotspot signal and you’re off to the races.  It’s a simple matter of choosing your iPhone from the list of wireless routers your gadget or laptop sees and inputting the password.

A few things though.  First, using your iPhone as a wireless hotspot will drain your phone’s battery as fast as continually using your GPS feature.  But you can get a few hours of hotspot use easy from it.  Or, you can attach your phone to your laptop via USB and not only have the security of a wired connection, but also not drain your phone battery thanks to the USB charge feature.

Additionally, wireless carriers have taken to having the iPhone call home and download usage statistics.  If they see you have been using your phone with another number or with unauthorized hotspotting they’ll simply add the charge to your bill.  The good news is, however, that it isn’t a contract fee, so if you stop using it, they won’t charge you, even if you’re paying by the rules.  But it also means you don’t have that extra bump in your data cap.

In the end, it may just be easier to get a MiFi card which will provide 3G wireless hot-spotting for a minimal fee.  They range from $20-60 a month depending on data usage and doesn’t require jailbreaking or catching the ire of your wireless carrier.

Netgear’s newest router, the N750 is one speedy best.  It’s a dual band daddy, which means it can output over the 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz spectrum, nothing new by today’s standards.  However, they say that the 5Ghz band can achieve a 450Mbps throughput and the 2.4Ghz a 300Mbps.  That’s a total of 750Mbps and hence the router’s model number.  

For $150 you’ll also score a a ReadySHARE USB port for sharing media, guest access, DLNA support and live parental controls.

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Getting photos to your iPhone, iPad or Android device is a somewhat laborious device.  Upload, download and wait, not something we’re fond of.  Fear not, for EyeFi has your back.

Today, the company issued a firmware update, called Direct Mode that makes the aforementioned devices compatible with their X2 card.  Just pop it into your computer, install the update and then pop it back into your camera.  Provided you’ve synced the two devices, future photos snapped on your digital camera will automatically be transferred.

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A wind powered router?  Sign us up. Sadly that’s not what this is.  In fact, it’s Logitec’s (not the US Logitech) LAN-WH450N/GR wireless router.  That unsightly windmill like protrusion is a tri antenna design that supposedly helps achieve a throughput of 450Mbs, which is par for the course for an N router.  Nonetheless, the wacky antenna design warrants at the very least a look, right?  If you’re of the wired type, there is also a set of gigabit Ethernet ports.

You can snag one for about $230.

Via: Ohgizmo

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Living in London has its fair share of problems, the which of least is their underground network of trains and stations.  But, as we’ve learned today, the city will soon roll out 120 FREE WiFi hotspots in tube stations throughout city in anticipation of next year’s Olympic games.  

Unfortunately, WiFi will not be available in the tunnels, but instead be accessible from platforms and perhaps even those lingering at the entrances of the stations.  A trial has already begun at Charing Cross station, organized by British Telecom.

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We’ve long hated the idea of delivering an Internet connection over a home electrical circuit, but now it looks like we won’t have to choose one router over the other in the event that a signal won’t reach the most subterranean of areas.

The D-Link DHP-1320 router provides not only WiFi and Ethernet connectivity, but an Internet connection over your home’s electrical sockets. From what we’ve inferred from the press release, the WiFi and Ethernet connections work like any other router and the powerline connectivity is delivered using the routers AC plug.  Course, to achieve the latter feature you’ll need to make an investment in D-Link’s line of of PowerLine accessory products.

Other features included WiFi N, 3 10/100 Ethernet ports, WiFi protected setup, built-in QoS Engine Enhances Internet Experience, 128-bit AES Encryption For PowerLine Network Security and their Atheros Hy-Fi™ technology that expands coverage.

The D-Link DHP-1320 router is available now for $129.99.

D-Link® Hybrid Wireless-N PowerLine Router Now Available

200 Mbps Combination Wi-Fi and PowerLine Router, Along with PowerLine Adapters and Switches, Enable Consumers to Work, Play, View, and Share Anywhere in the Home

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Mar 02, 2011 – D-Link® today announced its Wireless-N PowerLine Router (DHP-1320), a combination networking solution for extending wired and wireless home networks throughout the house by tapping into a home’s electrical wiring, is now available. This combination IPv6-ready network solution merges PowerLine 200 Mbps technology with a Wireless-N router and Ethernet ports, offering consumers two connectivity options to extend home network coverage and enjoy high-bandwidth applications, including HD video content, multimedia, VoIP calls, and more.

“As the amount of high-bandwidth Internet-based content viewed and shared in today’s homes continues to grow exponentially, superior network coverage is essential,” said Daniel Kelley, associate vice president of consumer marketing, D-Link North America. “With this combination router and D-Link’s line of PowerLine accessory products, we’re able to provide consumers with a simple way to extend their networks into ‘dead zones’ where wireless coverage has previously been limited or spotty, such as a basement, an upstairs bedroom, or other hard to reach locations.”

Wired and Wireless Network Coverage Anywhere in the Home

The DHP-1320 extends wired and wireless networks to all devices in the home with optimal speed and bandwidth for a range of HD video-on-demand, gaming and other applications. Essentially turning a home’s existing electrical system into an Ethernet network, PowerLine’s extended coverage can be obtained without any drilling, difficult installation or messy cables. Simply plug the DHP-1320 into an electrical outlet and the technology distributes broadband to Internet-connected devices both wirelessly and through the electrical wiring in a home. D-Link® PowerLine adapters then plug into outlets anywhere in the home to extend wired coverage to additional rooms and devices where coverage is limited.

The DHP-1320 also provides IPv6 support, enabling consumers to future-proof their home networks for the next-generation of the Internet, ensuring connectivity with new wireless devices for years to come.

Additional features of the Hybrid Wireless-N PowerLine Router (DHP-1320) include:

HomePlug AV certified with up to 200Mbps throughput
Wireless N 300
3-Port 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet Ports
Wi-Fi® Protected Setup™ (WPS) for Simple Push-Button Wireless Network Configuration
Atheros Hy-Fi™ technology expands coverage, improves performance and simplifies network set up and management
Built-in QoS Engine Enhances Internet Experience
Supports Secure Wireless Encryption Using WPA™ or WPA2™
Supports 128-bit AES Encryption For PowerLine Network Security
PowerLine Sync Connection (ENY) Button
Plug & Play Installation

Also shipping are a number of 200 Mbps PowerLine accessory products, including the PowerLine AV 4-Port Switch, Wireless N Extender, and Network Starter Kit. Combining these products with the DHP-1320 allows consumers to create the ultimate wired and wireless home network.

Availability and Pricing

The DHP-1320 Hybrid Wireless-N PowerLine Router is now available throughout D-Link’s vast network of retail and e-tail outlets in North America, and at the company’s online store, http://www.dlinkshop.com, with an MSRP of $129.99.

The following 200 Mbps PowerLine products are also now available:

PowerLine AV 4-Port Switch (DHP-346AV); $99.99
PowerLine AV Wireless N Extender (DHP-W306AV); $119.99
PowerLine AV Network Starter Kit (DHP-307AV); $139.99

As you might have read we weren’t huge fans of Grace Digital Allegro WiFi Internet radio.  Let’s just hope they read our review and made the appropriate, or should we say suggested changes to their next table top system, the Wi-Fi Bookshelf Music System.

They’re laying claim to the “world’s first Internet radio system to incorporate two bookshelf speakers and 802.11n connectivity”, which very well might be true…in a turn key solution, but the tech is obviously just a rehashing of already existing components in their lineup.

Included with the micro-system are two large bookshelf speakers featuring 3.5” full range drivers, 1” tweeters, and a 16 watt RMS Class D digital amplifier.  You’ll be able to access a crap load of programming (17,000 radio stations, 20,000 plus on-demand programs, and over 35,000 podcasts) as well as the hottest personalized radio stations and your iTunes library (if you can get it to work).  A USB port facilitates your MP3 player of choice, which will no doubt be an iPod of some sort, while RCA outputs and inputs in addition to a headphone jack have you covered on all other audio fronts.

You can snag the Wi-Fi Bookshelf Music System from Grace Digital at Amazon for $249.99.

*Stay tuned – we’re giving away one of these starting next week to one lucky person.*

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Sexy and sleek aren’t two words that usually come to mind when describing a WiFi router, but that’s exactly what we’re thinking when we laid eyes on the Linksys E4200.  She’s a beauty, but don’t get us wrong, she’s not all surface like those Hollywood types.

There are 6 hidden antennas for maximum throughput, the ability to broadcast over 2.4Ghz and 5.5Ghz, four Gigabyte Ethernet ports for you cord lovers and a USB port that lets you share files over the network with support for UPnP AV media serving.

You can purchase the Linksys E4200 from Cisco for $179.99.

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Archos comes steaming out of the gate at CES with two new portable media players powered by Android and by the well-known Archos policy of pricing things as low as manufacturing will allow. Models 28 and 32 have, surprisingly, 2.8 and 3.2 inch screens, and come with the over-reaching ‘internet tablet’ moniker.

Pretty small for a tablet, don’t you think so, Archos? That’s not to say that these little players, with their WiFi capability and Android platform aren’t extremely nice for the $100 and $150 price.

They both come with 8GB of storage, which will hold a bit of songs while you chat and play and Facebook your life away, and all the other things you can do with a mini-micro-tablet. And the Music Cover Carrousel app churns through album covers like a fat kid through McDonalds hamburgers, especially since it lets you add widgets to the home screen for faster access to your choice of musical poison.

Build in accelerometer and Open GL 3D technology brings these babies up to speed with whatever games can be player on smartphone-sized tablets.

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Archos doesn’t like shooting single bullets, so their launch of Android devices couldn’t include just small media players. An Android tablet seemed very much called for, and that’s what the $350 7-inch Archos 70 Internet Tablet is. With 8GB of flash memory, a 250GB hard-drive and an 800 x 480 capacitive multitouch screen, it’s no revolution in the land of tablets, but Archos is taking a step in the right direction by mostly letting go of proprietary ports and connectors, and the Android Marketplace, making this a platform more open towards whatever configuration you have in mind for it.

Running Android 2.2 on a 1GHz ARM Cortez A8 processor, it gets graphics acceleration through an OpenGL ES 2.0 card, and remains slim enough to measure in at 0.43 inches thin and weigh in at 11oz. The front-facing VGA camera doesn’t add much weight, and connectivity happens through 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and, of course, Bluetooth.

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With a new version of its home theater system remote, Bang & Olufsen beings wireless control to its living room entertainment system. The Beo6 replaces the Beo5 and looks good doing it.

A glass display with touch interface provides for the more complex aspects of the interaction, and it’s connected to an aluminum ball sporting the more classical buttons you’d expect on a remote control, although with the touch-screen-connected-to-a-sphere design, this is more reminiscent of Star-Trek than anything that controls a television.

TV menus and station logos will be displayed on the touchscreen, and programmable macros give meta-control over your living room environment, from dimming the lights to switching media sources.

No prices and shipping dates are available, and I say prices because the Beo6 will come in either aluminum or gold, both with black accents.

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Call us skeptical, but something tells us that this aftermarket antenna for your wireless router won’t make that much of a difference.  It costs $60, so if you’ve got a b/g wireless router, we suggest you upgrade to 802.11n, which inherently has a greater range than the previous 802.11 iterations.  If that doesn’t work, then you might want to consider this device, or drop a comparable amount of money on a repeater station.

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Cloud Engines has once again updated their Pogoplug device.  Officially called the Pogoplug Pro, it offers the same functionality as the previous model, which included the ability to connect up to 4 USB storage drives to your home’s network and access those drives any where you had an Internet connection.

What’s new in this version is integrated WiFi.  Now you can place the Plogoplug with in range of your home’s wireless router and setup and access the device sans wires.

Pogoplug also recently added wireless printing for any USB based printer thanks to a firmware update.

The Pogoplug Pro is on sale exclusively at Best Buy and online at Pogoplug.com for $99.

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Borders is going head to head with Amazon in the e-reader segment without making any excuses. The new version of its Kobo e-reader is priced exactly as much as Amazon’s Wi-fi-only Kindle – $140, and just like the entry-level Kindle, it has been blessed with Wi-Fi.

The original Kobo could handle 8,000 page turns per battery charge, the Kobo Wireless gets 10,000 and it turns them faster too, thanks to a faster processor. File support is there for the ePub, PDF and Adobe DRM formats, with internal storage of 1GB and an external slot for SD cards up to 4GBs.

The device will be a little thicker than the Kindle Wi-Fi, 0.4 in versus 0.36 in, and will weight less than 8 ounces when it starts shipping late October.

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Lacie, which we’ve largely criticized in recent time for minor product iterations, has just blown us away with the LaCie Wireless Space.  Yes, it’s another hard drive that comes in 1TB and 2TB capacities, but what makes this sucker different is the built-in WiFi.

Much like Apple’s Time Capsule, which is a wireless hard drive, the LaCie Wireless Space is fully compatible with Apple’s Time Machine backup system.  That means no more snaking cords or dragging your hard drive to your computer(s) to back up its contents.

Got content to share? No problem, because the Lacie Wireless Space is UPnP/DLNA compatible and syncs with iTunes.  That means you can play music, movie and photos on any computer in the home or office. 

The Wireless Space can also serve as a Gigabit router, a WiFi Extender (you’ll already need a wireless router) and access point for printers, meaning you can put just about make everything wireless.

The LaCie Wireless Space arrives this October and will start at $229.99.

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We reported it, and its finally here. Starbucks is now offering free one-click wireless internet access at all U.S. and Canada locations. Go forth, and use the coffee giant’s wireless with indiscretion. Go buy a latte and FaceTime about it, for all I care. It’s a free country.