Eager to live in the fantastical future it has prophesied, NTT DoCoMo went to CEATEC and demoed an upcoming addition to its Pocket U service: MH2H (Mobile Home to Home), which gives you the ability use your cellphone to stream content from your computer at home to a friend's TV. The phone connects to your friend's WiFi network and sends his or her DLNA-compliant receiver the IP address of your also-DLNA-compliant server, then tells said server to accept the connection and start streaming any videos, songs, or photos you feel like sharing. When you leave, the connection ends and every one goes back to partying on their own isolated media islands like it's 2006.

[Image courtesy of Tech-On!]

Currently, over 400,000 unlocked iPhones are roaming around China. Now that China Mobile is about to officially launch Apple's latest handset in the world's most populous country, we can only imagine that figure going up. In a bizarre twist of trying to keep a homegrown 3G standard (TD-SCDMA) alive, the carrier has announced that it is intending to launch the mobile with WiFi and 3G disabled -- a move that would make it less appealing to those who may be considering buying one, unlocking it and using it on the expected W-CDMA network from China Telecom. Uncool, China Mobile. Very uncool.

[Via mocoNews]

There's an old saying in the wireless industry: "As AT&T goes, so goes Rogers." Actually, that's not a saying, we just made it up -- and it's not terribly accurate, either. But in the case of RIM's BlackBerry Curve 8320, there's at least a little bit of truth to it. New documents floating around indicate that Rogers intends to add the WiFi-packin' version of the Curve to its Talkspot lineup, giving users yet another smartphone option after the 8120 launched earlier this year. It'll apparently be offered in "Sapphire Blue" for $149.99 CAD (about $140) with a launch expected before the month's out.

TapRoot system's WalkingHotSpot seems to deliver the cure for what ails many would-be tetherers by get the job done in a snap. For just $24.99 a year -- we do miss the free JoikuSpot days -- your Symbian S60 or UIQ phone, and Windows Mobile 6 device can be setup to act as a WiFi hotspot for you or anybody around you. Start the software, connect your laptop of what have you via WiFi -- which authenticates against the TapRoot servers -- and you are free to surf. Why the yearly fee and authentication via the WalkingHotSpot servers, you ask? Well, likely because they can, it helps curb piracy, or simply because it seems the software's original home was going to be carrier-based, and the infrastructure was planned that way. Not surprisingly, CEO Sean O'Leary was quoted as saying "Their first impression is cautiousness," of the carriers, as tethering has always been a bit of a gray -- and at times black -- area. They do offer a six day demo, so if you're curious, give it a whirl.

If the 6301 from Nokia ain't your cup of tea, Fido has now added a second handset compatible with its Uno WiFi calling service. The new model is none other than Moto's Z6w slider, which continues the interesting choice of making Fido's WiFi lineup completely different than parent Rogers', which offers the BlackBerry Pearl and Nokia 6086 on its Talkspot service. When you're not around home, the Z6w offers quadband EDGE coverage, and the microSD slot plus Windows Media support and 2 megapixel camera should be enough to keep you at least mildly entertained. Grab the package now for $60 (about $57) CAD on a three-year deal.

[Via MobileSyrup]

Rogers' in-home WiFi calling service -- think T-Mobile's HotSpot @Home but with more polar bears, poutine, and curling -- never had the most elegant name. "Home Calling Zone" just doesn't roll off the tongue in the way that any marketing department-friendly brand should (not to suggest that "HotSpot @Home" does), and Rogers has acted swiftly to rectify its faux pas by rebranding the service simply "Talkspot." The features and pricing remain the same, as does the two-strong lineup of the BlackBerry Pearl and Nokia 6086, but at least customers will now enjoy a slightly less-awkward experience trying to describe the service to their friends and family.

[Via MobileSyrup]

Despite AT&T's best attempts at completely failing its free WiFi promises eternally, iPhone owners can finally fire up Mobile Safari in their local Starbucks, or, um, that one other place we heard about with AT&T WiFi, and get browsing. Of course, that's not to say the service won't crash horribly in the next 10 minutes, but at least AT&T stuck by its word, and can now move on to more pressing issues.

Update: Yeah, turns out this isn't true, and AT&T has pulled the page. Free WiFi? That's just silly.

The 3G handset selection is still tres weak down on America's number four, but it's not all gloom and doom -- things are looking considerably brighter on the WiFi end of T-Mob's tech spectrum. The carrier has announced today that it is adding the Samsung t339 flip and Nokia's stainless steel 6301 candybar (unbranded version shown) in support of its HotSpot @Home UMA calling action, and while neither device comes as a surprise, the 6301 should end up generating at least a little buzz as the first candybar dumbphone on T-Mob to pony up the 802.11 sauce. Notably, it also features a QVGA display, reasonably decent 2 megapixel cam, and integrated FM radio -- all told, a far cry from the HotSpot @Home lineup's humble roots in the Nokia 6086 and Samsung t409. Both new models are available starting today.

Far from being the first dual-mode handset we've seen (heck, it's not even the first WiMAX-friendly dualie), Qsida's recently showcased slider is still quite intriguing. The currently unnamed cellphone supports both 802.16e WiMAX as well as GSM / GPRS / EDGE networks, and just in case you're hankering for another way to get connected, there's a built-in WiFi module too. Reportedly, the smartphone is a test device used in the M-Taiwan initiative to promote WiMAX, and aside from handling voice calls via (almost) any flavor of wireless protocol, you'll also find Windows Mobile 6.1 running the show. Granted, this particular unit wasn't down with 3G, but a spokesperson was adamant that such a handset would be added to its portfolio eventually.

Well, this certainly looks familiar, doesn't it? Yep, this had been rumored to go down for a couple weeks now, which dovetails nicely with the launch of Rogers' Home Calling Zone service, offering up unlimited long-distance Canadian calls via WiFi for $20 CAD a month. The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 comes in sporting the 2 megapixel camera, 3.5mm headphone jack, SureType keyboard, and all the other spoils we've become accustomed to from the phone's other launches for $149.99 CAD (about $148) on a three-year agreement.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Look out, Bluetooth -- Ozmo Devices has its eyes set squarely on you. Okay, so maybe this whole thing isn't as adversarial as advertised, but there's no denying that the aforesaid company's latest initiative will target the exact same devices that BT is embedded within now. Ozmo has announced a partnership with Intel at Computex that will extend the latter company's Cliffside WiFi Personal Area Network (PAN) technology to "low-power devices." Essentially, WiFi radios that suck less juice nowadays would take on dual roles -- accessing WLAN networks and doing the duties typically reserved for Bluetooth -- which would enable devices to have one less component stuffed within bulking things up. As of now, there's been no takers on the design, but word on the street has Belkin already testing the approach out for kicks and giggles (or maybe something way more serious).

[Via DailyWireless]

Read - Ozmo Devices' press release
Read - WiFI PAN explained

As always, Apple is busy at the patent office this week, with two recently uncovered filings to make life just a little bit easier for Mr. Joe Person Man. The first of these is a system to track how far away you are from a cell tower, and to warn you via your phone when you're about to drop your call -- with similar applications for GPS and WiFi devices. The other patent is a Bluetooth-based system to track down lost objects like keys or your Bluetooth headset via the age old method of "you're getting hotter" and you're getting colder." Sure, Apple's version might have a fancy readout on the phone display, but it's the same basic principle -- no triangulation going on here. Of course, Apple patents all sorts of crazy stuff that never makes it to market, but at least these two have a semblance of possibility.

[Thanks, Mark]

We're still kinda weirded out by that figure of six-frickin'-teen new handsets for T-Mob between now and August, but details on five of those alleged sixteen is a solid start. Boy Genius Report has scored internal release information on three Nokias and two well-known Samsungs, the t229 and t339. Starting with the Sammies, the t229 will be launching in red (and red only) to shore up the low end with what seems to be a VGA camera, Bluetooth, and not much else, while the t339 will offer WiFi for HotSpot@Home compatibility and a 1.3 megapixel cam; both will be available in June. On the Nokia side, the XpressMusic 5610 slider (which we've seen in T-Mobile trim courtesy of the FCC) will be joining the just-announced 5310, though the carrier has yet to determine a launch window for this one. The forgettable 2760 clam launches on June 16 -- nothing more to be said about that one -- and finally, the 6301 with WiFi gets real on June 23. We're holding out for the new Shadows, but yeah, it seems like a fun time to be a T-Mobile customer -- particularly if you're into the UMA stuff.

According to the Boy Genius, it's not just iPhone users that will be getting / not getting the telco's WiFi on the house -- the company has plans to offer use of its hotspots for free to Laptop Connect and smartphone users. An internal memo from the provider appears to state that effective May 20th, anyone with a $60 or higher Laptop Connect plan will be able to take a ride on AT&T's networks in 17,000 locations, and the service will be extended to smartphone users later in the year. Of course, the company hasn't exactly wowed us with its rollout of this service for iPhone customers, so don't be surprised if nothing goes the way it's planned.

Hey, do you guys want to hear our AT&T impression? It's pretty awesome. Okay, okay, here it goes: "Great news, we're offering free WiFi to iPhone users! Wait, no we're not. Yes we are! Oh, no, wait, cancel that." Pretty spot-on, right? Sadly, it looks like we might need something else to rag on shortly, since an AT&T spokesman started clearing the air with the New York Times late last week. The bottom line -- for the moment, anyway -- is that AT&T has "long planned" to offer up its WiFi hotspots as a free value-add for the iPhone and all of the other WiFi-equipped devices in its arsenal, but that the brief enabling of the feature thus far and the mention on AT&T's site were results of human error, and the company isn't prepared at this point to commit to an actual launch date or details on how the service will work. Hey, at least we know we're not just suffering from some brutal hallucinations now.

[Via TUAW]