New BlackBerry taps local nets

BlackBerry fans can now own a handset that also does WiFi. But you will find, as with other hybrids, that switching between cellular and WiFi service is hardly seamless.

Where your service provider's data service is unavailable, WiFi can come in handy for getting access to e-mail and the Web.

The BlackBerry 8820 (about $300, with a two-year contract at wireless.att.com) adds WiFi service to the business tools, Bluetooth connectivity, full keyboard, and illuminated trackball you will find on other BlackBerry models. It also has a media player and a microSD expandable memory slot.

Setting up a WiFi connection on the 8820 is easy enough. I manually added my home wireless network, which is not discoverable, to the 8820. I was also able to locate other open and password-protected WiFi servers. (The BlackBerry's WiFi setup wizard walks you through the login processes for WEP-protected networks.)

But the 8820 requires that you have a valid SIM card to access WiFi networks. So much for making this gadget into a WiFi-only smartphone.

ipod docking
Some new perches for your music player

If you have not yet found a place to dock your iPod, MacAlly (at macally.com) and mStation Corp. (at mstationaudio.com) have some cute options for your dorm or bedroom. MStation's 30-watt Orb iPod dock has a built-in subwoofer and a 10-key remote control to fine-tune bass and treble. Its perfect roundness makes the Orb a good fit for any pad already furnished with beanbags and exercise balls. The Orb (about $130) is also available in a number of colors to match your iPod, if that's important to you.

I'm not a big fan of MacAlly's Mac keyboards, but I have enjoyed using the company's TunePro iPod in the bedroom: Its sound output (via speakers hidden behind a reflective membrane) is truly impressive, for what otherwise strikes me as little more than a cheap plastic clock radio. The TunePro (also about $130) also displays the time on the upper right corner of its mirrored face.

There are several drawbacks to the TunePro, however. Its time-setting buttons are small, black-on-black, and in inconvenient spots on the front and back of the device. And its mirrored surface means your morning face is the first one you'll see as you reach for the snooze button.

ubicomp
Ambient' s Market Maven is part of trend to put data in your face 24/7

Even during the dot-com bubble, it seemed preposterous that ad men might bombard us with personalized messages from embedded displays or beam them to our hand-helds from local servers. I figured that consumers, eager to watch people rather than PCs on their lunch breaks, would reject the ads as too obnoxious.

But the data we used to get from one source, the PC, are becoming fragmented through ubiquitous computing. Already, thanks to Ambient Devices of Cambridge, you can own an umbrella with a handle that glows when rain is forecast. The company's color-changing Orb also charts trends in the stock markets. Some Californians even use the Orb to receive warnings of power shortages from PG&E. With Ambient's Datacasting Developer Kit, any toaster or potted plant could conceivably hit you with information from Ambient's Infocast Network.

It seems inevitable that ads will be piggybacked onto these streams, to devices that can display text. (Ambient says that none of its current products will ever display advertising, but future products may do so.)

Ambient's new Market Maven charts the S&P 500 and other indexes, with updates every 15 minutes from Infocast, a free service. The Market Maven is wireless and battery-operated. Its white-framed 3x3-inch LCD screen resembles that of Ambient's Weather Watcher. It shows the time. (You use a button on the side of the device.)

TECH LAB Watch Mark Baard demonstrate some of the technology he reviews at boston.com/business.