Skype offered free Skype WiFi in airports around the U.S. from December 21 through December 27. Now, they’re expanding their holiday generosity to include New Year’s Eve – for those celebrating in NYC, that is. Skype is providing the service …

Skype announced it is offering free Skype WiFi in airports around the U.S. from December 21 through December 27. “Travelers passing through or delayed in over 50 airports across the country,” Skype’s Shadi Mahassel says, “will be able to access …

Now that the confetti from the “Verizon’s getting the iPhone” hubbub has died down, it’s time to talk turkey.  It’s not going to be cheap to use Verizon’s iPhone to begin with — unlimited data packages, anyone? — but now, information about the additional charges potential users will face are surfacing, and, suffice to say, the results are typical.

That is, you’re going to have to pay for pretty much every little capability the iPhone has, including using your phone as an Internet hotspot.

Google’s Street View cars could have recorded communications from some members of Congress, involved in national security issues, via unencrypted WiFi connections, according to an investigation by Consumer Watchdog’s InsideGoogle.

Rep. Jane Harman, D-CA, chair of the Intelligence Subcommittee of the Homeland Security Committee and former member of the Intelligence Committee has at least one wireless network in her Washington, D.C., home that could have been breached by Google.

Individuals who tend to both tote laptops and drink lots of coffee will have reason to think better of Starbucks and Yahoo in coming months.  Starbucks intends to provide free WiFi in all of its stores, and then a partnership with Yahoo should result in the creation of a unique "Starbucks Digital Network."

Google has been named in a new class action lawsuit filed by Carp Law Offices on behalf of Galaxy Internet Services and it WiFi users in Massachusetts.

The suit is focused on the collection and storage of WiFi information by Google’s Street View team. The suit alleges Google had covert packet sniffing WiFi receivers to help gather data on WiFi users. The suit says the practice is in violation of both federal privacy laws and Massachusetts’s new data privacy law.

However facepalm-worthy Google’s accidental collection of sensitive data sent over WiFi networks may have been, the search giant is at least wasting no time in remedying the situation.  At the request of the Irish Data Protection Authority, Google has already deleted the data it accumulated in Ireland, and the company appears set to dispose of the data it collected in the UK, as well.

Aircell, a company that provides wireless inflight Internet access to a number of major airlines in the U.S., has introduced a new monthly subscription plan for its Gogo service.

The Gogo Monthly Subscription is aimed at frequent fliers and is available for $34.95 each month. Aircell says the service automatically renews each month.

On January 27th Steve Jobs unveiled Apples latest “it” product, the iPad. Essentially the iPad “fills the gap” in between smartphones and laptops. One question remains to be answered, is there a need for a device to bridge the gap in between the two technologies? We’re not sure yet, but there is one thing we know, the iPad has some issues… below are 5 of the most glaring.

The Massachusetts Port Authority Board has voted to allow free WiFi for travelers at the Boston Logan International Airport.

"One of the most frequently asked questions from our customers is: ‘Why don’t you have free WiFi at Logan?’ said Thomas J. Kinton Jr., CEO & Executive Director of Massport. "Well, we are pleased to be able to now say ‘We do!’ "

Last night, Google announced that it filed a submission to the FCC, asking it to designate Google as one of potentially several administrators of a "white spaces" geolocation database. Back in November of 2008, the FCC approved the use of these White Spaces, or unused airwaves between broadcast TV channels, for public wireless broadband service.

On Google’s Public Policy Blog, Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel, writes:

AdMob, which is in the process of being acquired by Google (regulators are still eyeing the deal), has released its Novemeber Mobile Metrics report. The themes for this one are that the Launch of new devices drove Android growth and the rise of smartphones resulted in a sharp increase in WiFi usage.

Microsoft has plans to announce an advertising campaign with JiWire that will focus on enticing users to try out its search engine Bing in exchange for free WiFi where available.

The campaign is being supported by JiWire’s mobile advertising network, which reaches about 20 million unique users monthly. The Bing campaign will run across WiFi hotpsots in airports and hotels nationwide.

Virgin America has partnered with Google to offer free in-flight WiFi to all of its passengers during the holidays.

From November 10 to January 15, 2010, passengers on all Virgin America flights will be able to access email, shop online and visit social networks free of charge. In May Virgin became the first airline to offer Gogo Inflight Internet service on every flight.

Home based telephone providers should be quaking in their boots today. A rumor is floating around that Apple is quietly prepping the new iPod Touch, which comes with a built in camera and microphone.

GiiNii introduced a pretty cool mobile device at the Consumer Electronics Show called the Movit Mini. It looks like a great way to access the mobile Internet and social networks as well as any number of applications one decides to put on it.

A big story flew somewhat under the radar yesterday as the Election was at the forefront of minds not only all across the America, but around the world. The FCC has approved the use of the unused airwaves between broadcast TV channels, otherwise known as "white spaces" for public wireless broadband service.

Free speech issues weren’t enough to knock down FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s push-through of a free national wireless Internet initiative, but few were talking about those free speech issues anyway.  T-Mobile’s and Deutsche Telekom AG’s arguments about signal interference—which is the cry-wolf line of the wireless industry these days–weren’t either; after successful testing in Seattle, free wireless Internet is on the way.

Free, nationwide WiFi. Drooling yet, or do I need to say it again? Free, nationwide WiFi from Google. As we mentioned earlier, Google is lobbying the FCC for some of the wireless spectrum that will be freed next year when television will cease analog transmission. Google’s plan? “Wi-Fi on steroids.” (Without the ‘roid rage, I’m guessing.)

JetBlue Airways is set to launch free inflight email and instant-messaging services on one of its planes equipped with a wireless network beginning Tuesday.

An experiment by CBS enables people with Wi-Fi-capable devices to access the Internet for free, at 5Mbps speeds, as the network tries out a wireless initiative in the Big Apple.