Create An Instant Wireless Network With Apple’s AirPort Express

by Willy Volk on

If you travel with a laptop, you can kiss goodbye getting down on your knees to hunt for the always-too-short in-room Internet cables. Apple’s AirPort Express is a sweet 7-ounce unit that looks similar to an Apple Laptop power supply cord. However, instead of plugging directly into your computer, it has three small ports on the back. Simply find an outlet, plug the hotel’s ethernet cable into the back of the AirPort, and create an instant wireless network. Take that, you damnable wireless-less hotel! With the in-unit USB port, you can also charge your iPod as you work.

When you’re not traveling, you can use the unit at home to boost your wireless signal, or you can connect your stereo system to the audio cable that’s included in the (optional) AirPort Express Stereo Connection Kit, letting you shuffle through all those Def Leppard songs in your iTunes collection.

Don’t have an Apple? Don’t worry: the device is PC-compatible. You can get one for $80-90 on Amazon.

[Via Travel Gear Blog]

HotelChatter’s Best WiFi Hotels for 2007

by Justin Glow on

HotelChatter has released the 2007 findings in their annual search for the best wifi hotels. They boldly claim that the “hotel WiFi landscape has reached an impasse.” No longer is the list made up of hotels that simply offer free wireless, but instead hotel chains like Omni make the cut because they have fewer restrictions. “For instance, you can get free WiFi in the lobby, but in-rooms it’s ethernet and it starts at $9.95. Or you can get free WiFi in your rooms but you need to belong to a hotel’s loyalty program or be assigned a code with a special password.”

Topping the list is Marriot, whose Residence Inns, SpringHill Suites, and Courtyard “all have strong, free, fast, working wireless in the rooms and the lobbies.” The only thing keeping them from a perfect score is a lack of property-wide access — some Marriots are good, some are bad.

For the full report, head over to HotelChatter.

[via boingboing]

Wireless Headphones

by Erik Olsen on

Like millions of other Americans and, well, sentient beings with enough disposable income, I love my iPod. I carry it virtually everywhere I go. Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Charlie Rose and This American Life, all part of my subscription to Audible.com, a service I have more or less found indispensable.  The iPod is great, but lately, I’ve also found that the experience of listening to my lovely little white device is severely diminished by a poor choice of headphones. The other day I went out for a paddle on the Hudson River and brought along my iPod, but forgot my headphones. So I skipped by the local Rite-Aid and got a cheap pair. This resulted in a miserable listening experience. The voice and music was tinny and muffled. Lousy quality audio, lousy quality experience.

Headphones are key. And the newest thing in headphones is wireless. No dangling cords from your ears to your player. Nice. So perhaps YOU are in search of good headphones? If so, I offer you this link to a series of reviews over at Outside Magazine that should take some of the head scratching out of knowing which pair of wireless headphones to buy. The one thing about wireless is they ain’t cheap, so keep in mind they’re likely to come down in cost in the near future. But if you absolutely MUST have a pair now, well, this piece will get you started.