Monday, March 10, 2008
Panasonic FON-enabled Skype WiFi Phone
FON and Panasonic have teamed up to FON-enable the Panasonic Skype WiFi phone! It's now easier then ever for users to connect to any FON Spot and call for free to other Skype users. Skype also has very low rates for calls to non-Skype members.
The phone is on sale in Japan and comes with a WiFi router for use at home. When your not at home the Skype WiFi phone automatically connects to any FON Spot when one is detected. During the initial set up you enter your FON login and password and phone stores them and connects automatically in the future.
This is a great option for our Foneros living in Tokyo where we've reached 80% coverage! I use Skype regularly and recommend it!
Posted by Steve Ross on Gadgets
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Friday, January 11, 2008
LOVE IS IN THE AIR WITH A FREE WiFi FRAME!
Love is in the air and we have a great way to showcase your WiFi love. We're giving away 50 free eStarling WiFi picture frames amongst Foneros who share their WiFi with the Community.
The eStarling WiFi picture frame allows you to:
1. Link the frame to your favourite online photo album to automatically display your pictures (Flickr, Picasa and others).
2. Set up groups to instantly receive pictures from your friends and family's email accounts and cell phones.
3. Create your own picture playlists.
4. Create a email address dedicated to sending pictures directly to your picture Frame, even from your cell phone!
Keep your La Fonera online, and on Valentine's Day, you'll be eligible to win one of the 50 WiFi Frames. We'll give them away to those who show their love by sharing their WiFi! Details and official rules here.
Don't forget to check your La Fonera status! There's still time to keep your La Fonera online and get your free WiFi picture frame!
Get your WiFi heartbeat pumping and sharing the love!
Details and official rules here (PDF).
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Wednesday, November 28, 2007
New Skype Phone Firmware
We've updated our firmware for the SMC Skype WiFi phone. You can download the latest version here.
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Thursday, October 18, 2007
Nokia N810
All I can say is wow! I liked the N770. When the N800 came out I thought it was great but needed a full qwerty keyboard. Today Nokia surprised us with N810! Of course it has wifi and lots of other goodies including GPS, Bluetooth, VGA Camera, Skype and a full slide out qwerty keyboard! I want one! Now to convince the wife we need one! Let me know if you have actually put your hands on one!
Posted by Steve Ross on Gadgets
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Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Give 1 Get 1
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has just announced the Give 1 Get 1 promotion. Beginning November 12th you can purchase the XO Laptop! Actually, you're purchasing two, one for yourself and one for a child in a developing nation! The promotion will only run for a limited time and your $399.00 will insure you and a needy child will get one. Yes, the XO Laptop has wifi!
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Thursday, July 5, 2007
La Fonera+ Now Available
La Fonera+ is the latest edition of the router developed by FON and designed especially for Foneros. Now with two ports it is much easier to install and gives you the chance to connect wired devices to it. Maintaining the original design of La Fonera, this time it comes with an even easier configuration totally intuitive, which will make your Fonero experience as fun and easy as possible.
After the success of La Fonera, we have reloaded our device with a new port. Now you can keep doing all the amazing things that La Fonera allowed you plus connecting a wired device to keep your network exactly as it was. FON’s new Social Router will let you connect all your WiFi-ready devices (desktop and laptop computers, PDAs, etc.) to your broadband connection. Use La Fonera+ to allow other Foneros to connect to your signal. If you place it strategically (for example, next to a window), you could catch a great number of Aliens and make your Piggy Bank grow. You can also buy a Fontenna to have an even wider coverage.
La Fonera+ hides inside a powerful router that is run by a brand new firmware developed keeping in mind the suggestions made by all Foneros. It provides two wireless networks you can connect to (one public, one private) while maintaining a high level of security to keep your connection protected at all times.
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Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Going, Going, Gone....
I took a major step in my ongoing conversion away from Microsoft, I'm using a Macbook. Wow, it felt a bit like cheating on my wife at first but in the last week I've become very comfortable with it. Actually, my wife likes it too! Everything works very smoothly and I was shocked at how clear the Skype video was. It always seemed fine before because I had nothing to compare it to. Now I'm wondering what was wrong with my PC. There have been a few of the inevitable stupid user errors but I expected that, nothing I couldn't overcome. It came with the free test drive of Microsoft's Word for Mac and I'd like to find an alternative. I'm looking at OpenOffice, any suggestions?
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Thursday, May 10, 2007
La Fonera Evolution
Here is a quick video on La Fonera and where we're going with it. (think 802.11n)
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Monday, March 26, 2007
Fontenna Update
As promised here are more details on La Fontenna. It's a weatherproof indoor/outdoor wall or window mountable antenna that will help direct the signal into your home or business and towards the street. This is the first in a series of Fontenna's designed to give our FON spots more visibility.
Specifications:
Frequency Range: 2400Mhz to 2500Mhz
Antenna gain: 7~8dBi
VSWR: 2.0 : 1 MAX
Polarization: Linear, vertical
Impedance: 50 ohms
Temperature: -10 to +55 Celsius
Connector: R/P SMA PLUG
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Tuesday, March 20, 2007
The Fontenna
Many people have asked for ways to extend the range of La Fonera. Next month we're launching the Fontenna designed specifically for this purpose. It's an 8 dBi antenna suitable for mounting outside! We're going to make it free for Foneros with the busiest hotspots! Check back for more details soon.
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Thursday, February 22, 2007
Symbian Client for Nokia
We've released our first symbian client for Nokia handsets that makes it easier for Nokia WiFi phones to connect to FON. You can find it here.
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Saturday, January 13, 2007
FON & Zing team up!
I’ve been waiting for this announcement! I’m a big fan of the Sansa and now Zing and Sandisk have teamed up to bring us the Sansa Connect (I can’t wait to get my hands on one – it’s on display at CES!). You may be wondering why I’m posting this on the FON Blog. The answer is FON and Zing have teamed up. A FON & Zing bundle will be available bringing Zing users into the Fonero community. More Foneros, more wifi, more music. This rocks!
Posted by Steve Ross on Gadgets
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Thursday, November 16, 2006
FON and Skype Launch WiFi Phone!
FON, Skype, and SMC owners Accton have jointly launched the first WiFi phone capable of roaming the world for free. The phone connects for free at all FON hotspot hotspots around the world. You can pick one up for $159, €139, or £99.
Update - at this time the phone will not connect to other La Foneras. We will release a patch to correct this soon!
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Saturday, July 29, 2006
FON Router with Skype Handset!
Here’s a picture of what’s in the works. It's expected to sell for about $150.00 USD and should be available in October. If you don’t get the NY Times you can read the article here!
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Tuesday, June 13, 2006
La Fonera
Here are a couple pictures of the new router. This is an engineering model only!
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Router - update
The previously announced FON router will be released in September!
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
One Laptop Per Child
If you haven’t heard about the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project today’s your day. The goal is to build a $100.00 laptop computer (with wifi) that can be used by children in developing nations. OLPC aims to outfit children with these because “Laptops are both a window and a tool: a window into the world and a tool with which to think. They are a wonderful way for all children to learn learning through independent interaction and exploration.” Pictures of the first working model have just been released. If you’ve seen earlier prototypes you’ll notice the hand crank (I was rather fond of it) has disappeared.
Posted by Steve Ross on Gadgets
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Friday, May 19, 2006
WiFi Umbrella
Engadget had the scoop on a gift for that special someone who has everything. From the makers of such products as the Cubby and the Progeny comes the Forecast Umbrella. How does it work you wonder? The handle of this WiFi enabled device glows blue to warn of impending showers. No word on price or battery life yet. Eat your heart out Mary Poppins.
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FON Social Router!
Here's the new FON router!
FON founder Martin Varsavsky says,
"Our router is a social router in the sense that it is both a wifi router and a social platform. Everyone talks about web 2.0 web sites. Fon is starting the first web 2.0 gadgets, and there will be many. I believe that most gadgets that we now know will go social. iPods will go social, gaming consoles will go socials, digital cameras will go social."
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Wednesday, May 17, 2006
New Sony Micro PC
I’d like to get my hands on one of these! Sony’s new VAIO UX180P Micro PC packs an Intel® Core™ Solo Processor U1400 and a 4.5 inch wide touch screen into a 5.91”(W) x 3.74”(H) package. It runs Windows XP Professional and has a 30 gig hard drive. All that plus built in wifi and a qwerty keyboard. Of course you get what you pay for, and with a price around $1,800.00 it’s unlikely I’ll be getting one for Fathers day! Sony claims a battery life of 2.5 to 4.5 hours. I’m anxious to hear how it performs. At first glance it appears to be more functional than the new “umpc” style devices hitting the market. But it’s also more expensive.
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Solar Range Extender
Popular Science has a “how to” piece on building a solar powered wifi range extender. It’s a quick read and simple build utilizing the Linksys wifi range expander. I’ve found the range on my FON router exceeds the 300+ foot mark and extends well beyond my yard so range isn't an issue for me. I live on top of hill with relatively few obstructions so it gives me a bit of an advantage. If anyone needs this type of solution and is adventurous enough to try this let me know how it turns out!
Posted by Steve Ross on Gadgets
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Thursday, May 4, 2006
iPAQ rx1955
I’ve been playing with an iPAQ rx1955 pocket pc I purchased refurbished for $199.00 from Overstock.com. I’m going to take it with me this summer since laptops are banned from our family vacations. This is a great little device when used for its intended purpose. It’s not going to replace your laptop, but it’s fine for checking e-mail and some surfing of the web. It connects easily through FON easily and detects more SSID’s than my laptop. The screen is clear but hard to see in direct sunlight, not uncommon. Battery life is good if you keep the backlight down. It ran over 4 hours with the backlight set very low. That included time streaming videos and playing music. It’s just shy of the minimum requirements for Skype but I’ve heard it will run. It’s not robust enough for me on the job but It’s great for on the go with the family. With a RhinoSkin cover it fits perfectly in the tool pocket of Carhartt pants.
Now for the bugs; anytime I remove the SD card I have to reboot the iPAQ for it to turn on. This isn’t a major issue but more of an inconvenience. It also seems to be draining the battery faster with the SD card in, but that may be my imagination. The iPAQ rotates the screen with a quick push of the button to allow better viewing of websites. This works fine unless you’re attempting to change screens or close an application at the same time. When this is tried the iPAQ will hang for some time as it struggles to comply.
Posted by Steve Ross on Gadgets
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Tuesday, May 2, 2006
Free WiFi Routers - EU only
FON is giving away free routers in the European Union! If you live on a busy street and would like to become a Fonero send FON an e-mail with the view from your front window before May 12th. The offer is valid for up to 100 winners.
Take a look here for last months winners!
Posted by Steve Ross on Gadgets
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Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Gadget of the week
I just came across an cool review of yet another killer device for FON: the tiny Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. This baby gives you wireless broadband access, media players, an email client and a bunch of other features, all in a sleek 230g tablet. Apparently noteworthy are its mind blowing screen and near-instant WiFi connectivity.
Source: Fontastic
Posted by William on Gadgets
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Tuesday, December 20, 2005
More WiFi gadgets?
Who said Foneros would only be able to enjoy FON's roaming with a laptop a PDA or a WiFiFON?
Our top two gadget picks this week are the WiFi digital camera and the WiFi MP3 player:
Shoot and send: Imagine a digital camera where you don't have to constantly worry about having enough space on your memory card. The Kodak-Easyshare-ONE Zoom makes this a reality, being the first WIFI digital camera where you can send your pictures over the internet. Clearly, there are some limitations, namely, access to the internet is limited to email and to the Kodak Easyshare Gallery, but stil, no more "Full Memory" surprises.
I like that track!: MusicGremlin just announced that it will launch its WIFI MP3 player as well as its online music shop in time for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that will be held in Las Vegas next January. Imagine, you're in a coffee shop, you hear a catchy song over the radio and you want to download it onto your WiFi MP3 player. What do you do? Just connect to the internet via WiFi, access MusicGremlin's online portal and start downloading the song. Considering the portal will offer more than 2 million, there's enough to suit everyone's taste.
Posted by William on Gadgets
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Sunday, November 20, 2005
First PSP connected to FON
At SIMO we successfully connected the first PSP (Play Station Portable) to FON. Gadgets like these are those who are really going to drive the WiFi revolution: any type of cool device that can connect to the internet anywhere.
Posted by William on Gadgets
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Saturday, November 12, 2005
FON: not only bad news for mobile operators
After studiying the issue of coverage for FON's soon-to-be-released Wififons, we concluded that although the advantage of Wififon over GSM in terms of calling costs is incredible, the disadvantage in terms of coverage is also quite important. For this reason, we’re thinking of creating DUAL wififons that would combine WiFi and GSM. In other words, FON would also sell a wififon model where you could insert a SIM card and mobile operators would make money.This way, foners would be able to call for free if there’s Wifi and pay if there isn’t. Either way foneros would always stay connected.
Posted by William on Gadgets
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Friday, November 11, 2005
FON on the go
Some Linuses have been wondering if they will be able to connect to access points in other countries? The answer is YES. One of the most incomprehensible policies of major operators like Vodafone, Orange and T Mobile is precisely their roaming policy. In an open border Europe and a global internet without borders, these operators over-charge you as soon as you step out of your country. Our plan is to have FON in as many countries as possible and enable FON members to connect wherever they are.
Imagine you live in Spain and you go for the weekend to Paris and receive calls to your Spanish landline number on your WiFiFon. Well, the person calling you will pay what he/she pays for a call to a landline number in Spain (or nothing if the person uses a flat fee calling plan) and you don't pay any roaming charge when receiving that call in Paris. But there's more: all your calls to other WiFiFONS are free and all other calls are at very competitive rates similar to Skype rates.
Posted by William on Gadgets
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