When I wrote the top ten list of the geekiest sneakers, I knew there'd come a day when there'd be a Wi-Fi-enabled pair. Designer Stefan Dukaczewski developed a prototype based on Nike Dunk shoes, with an 802.11 detector under the flap on the left shoe and a discrete three-LED display system, according to Gizmodo. The prototype is cleverly named, "A Step in the Right Direction," or ASRD.

The idea is that as you're walking, the pressure sensor in the heel is activated, and the Wi-Fi detector is capable of finding a hotspot within 150 feet. Of course, you may be walking around all day until you find a connection, but at least you're getting the exercise, right?

No word yet on whether these wearable Wi-Fi detectors will be in a store near you.

Earlier this week, I dissed AT&T for not giving its iPhone subscribers free access at all its Wi-Fi hotspots--soon to include all U.S.-based Starbucks. Apparently they were listening (and I'm happy to take all the credit). Wi-Fi Networking News and Ars Technica are reporting rumors that iPhone users with AT&T phone accounts in good standing can get free, unfettered access to all the Wi-Fi they can handle. So far this has show up at some Starbucks (not all of which are even switched from T-Mobile to AT&T yet). Hopefully it will be true at other chains with AT&T hotspots, including Barnes & Noble, UPS Stores, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, to name a few, as well as extend to McDonald's eventually--Wayport runs those hotspots, and also manages all AT&T hotspots. Even just at Starbucks, this is a step in the right direction.

MacRumors says that since the iPhone User Agent to required to log in, which can be faked on laptops (at least on Mac OS laptops with Safari), iPhone users who prefer to surf hotspots with their laptop could also take advantage.

[Open on a black and white shot of bored children lethargically clicking on mice.]

Announcer: Hey, kids! Are you tired of your boring old router? Would you rather poke your eyes out with a dull USB key than keep looking at that router?
Children: [In unison] Yeah!
Announcer: Well, have no fear! Skinit for routers is here!!

[Sweet-ass guitar riff plays as a new skinned router emerges from a plume of smoke. Now in living colorization, the children are surfing the Web with newfound flair. High fives ensue.]

Announcer: [Quickly] Results may vary. Not to be taken internally.

Four years after picking Wayport to unwire its U.S.-based restaurants, McDonald's now has approximately 10,300 domestic locations with Wi-Fi to go with your fries. That makes McDonald's Wireless Connectivity (the service's official moniker) the biggest network of hotspots available state-side.

A few months after announcing that AT&T would be replacing T-Mobile as its wireless provider, the nation's largest wireless network is finally starting to roll out out connectivity in Starbucks locations. Those visiting the coffee shop in AT&T's hometown of San Antonio have become the first to be affected by the transition.

Patrons in the Texas city can now use their AT&T account number to log into free Wi-Fi. AT&T will be rolling out service to the rest of Starbucks' American locations beginning May 1st.

Your geek cachet can only increase if you've got a satellite dish attached to your laptop. It helps if the dish in question is actually useful--for instance, when it's an antenna to help you get a signal even when you're a few thousand feet from the nearest Wi-Fi.

Hawking Technologies knows this and has offered a Hi-Gain USB-based Wireless-G Dish Antennas for a couple of years. Now, the 802.11n version has arrived to provide faster speed and more distance, and equal geekiness.

AT&T is the latest spectrum winner to provide details on how it will utilize its winnings.

"In the future, AT&T's 700 MHz spectrum holdings will provide the foundation for deployment of next-generation wireless broadband platforms such as HSPA+ and LTE," AT&T said in a statement. "While standards for emerging technologies such as LTE are still being developed, these technologies could enable peak broadband speeds of 100 Mbps or more."

The FCC recently auctioned off more than 1,000 700 MHz spectrum licenses. AT&T spent $6.6 billion on 227 licenses in the B-block.

AT&T will use spectrum it acquired from Aloha Partners to help it move toward 4G service. "Results of the auction bidding demonstrate the B-block was the most attractive, most valuable spectrum available, and it was the best investment for AT&T and our customers," Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T's wireless unit, said in a statement.

Verizon Wireless snapped up a good portion of available spectrum during the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) recent 700 MHz auction, including several licenses in the open-access C-block.

Bidders have been limited in what they could say about the auction due to FCC-imposed guidlines, but those rules lifted Thursday night at 6pm EST. Google has already weighed in on why it didn't place any winning bids, and now it's Verizon turn.

Verizon chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam and Verizon CFO Doreen Toben will be on hand for an 8am conference call about the auction results.

More details after the jump ...

Google on Thursday admitted that its ultimate goal in the recent 700 MHz spectrum auction was to drive up the price of the c-block, but denied that it had no intention of placing serious bids.

"Google's top priority heading into the auction was to make sure that bidding on the so-called C-Block reached the $4.6 billion reserve price that would trigger the important 'open applications' and 'open handsets' license conditions," Richard Whitt, Washington telecom and media counsel and Joseph Faber, corporate counsel, wrote in a blog post.

But Google was prepared to purchase C-block licenses "at a price somewhat higher than the reserve price," they wrote. "In fact, for many days during the early course of the auction, we were the high bidder."

Verizon Wireless, however, was "ultimately was motivated to bid higher, and had far more financial incentive to gain the licenses."

Unfortunately for Skype, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's CTIA keynote was not an April Fool's joke.

Because wireless has been a good little industry and embraced openness, Martin said Tuesday that he would recommend that his fellow commissioners dismiss Skype's request to apply the Carterfone principles to the wireless industry.

"In light of the [wireless] industry's embrace of a more open wireless platform, it would be premature to adopt any other requirements across the industry," Martin told a receptive crowd at the annual CTIA Wireless Conference. "Thus, today I will circulate to my fellow commissioners an order dismissing a petition for declaratory ruling filed by Skype."

Carterfone dates back to 1968, when the FCC opened up the Bell network to devices not produced by the AT&T wireline network, paving the way for devices like answering machines, fax machines, computer modems, and early dial-up Internet.

Skype argued in a February 2007 petition to the FCC that the same principles should apply to the wireless industry, citing what it considers is a lack of wireless competition and an unwillingness to allow certain applications - like Skype - on U.S. cell phones.

The wireless industry was having none of that.

iPass aggregates Wi-Fi hotspot networks (among other types of Internet access). That is to say, it has partnerships with a ton of Wi-Fi hotspot providers such as T-Mobile, AT&T, and Wayport, and many more overseas. With a single iPass account, a person can access all the hotspots run by iPass partners, plus get dial-up access and Internet access on some hotel Ethernet networks with no extra charges. Last year, iPass started reselling 3G access too, using Sprint and Verizon's EV-DO Rev.A networks.

Google didn't place any winning bids in the 700 MHz spectrum auction, but it has set its sights on "white spaces," or unregulated spectrum between digital channels known to the outside world as static.

The search engine giant on Monday submitted a proposal to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that it claims should satisfy detractors like the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).

Google denied that the plans mean it is eyeing entry into the wireless market.

"We do not intend to support opening up the white spaces just so Google can become a wireless carrier or build a wireless network," Rick Whitt, Google's Washington telecom and media counsel, said during a conference call with reporters.

The plan could, however, mesh well with Google's Android open-source mobile platform partnership, Whitt said. "Android-powered handsets should begin appearing commercially later this year, and would be an excellent match for the TV white space."

But what are they actually arguing over?

Though Google made a big fuss about participating in the 700 MHz spectrum auction, Verizon and AT&T were the big winners, according to results released Thursday.

Verizon shelled out $9.4 billion for 109 licenses in the A, B and C blocks. Its c-block purchases are most noteworthy since that spectrum must be open to all applications and devices. That doesn't seem to be a problem for Verizon, which hosted an open development conference in Manhattan on Tuesday.

AT&T, meanwhile, spent $6.6 billion for 227 licenses in the b-block.

Though Google pushed hard for the c-block open access requirements, analysts did not believe the search engine giant was actually going to buy anything due to costly build-out requirements. They were correct, as Google placed a $4.7 billion bid for the c-block--which met the reserve price and triggered open access--but stopped bidding after that, allowing Verizon to come in a scoop up the spectrum.

The Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) much-hyped 700-MHz spectrum auction closed Tuesday, after nearly eight weeks of continuous bidding, with $19.6 billion bids. Every block but the ill-fated public safety d-block reached their reserve prices, calling into question the future of the public safety spectrum.

The c-block, which must be open to all applications and devices after reaching its reserve price of $4.6 billion, was sold for $6.5 billion. The d-block, which was supposed to provide public safety access if its $1.3 billion reserve price was met, failed to attract any bids beyond a $472 million opening bid.

In order to prevent anti-competitive behavior, the FCC said it would not reveal who placed bids on what until the auction was complete, and winning bidders have not yet been revealed. Stifel Nicolaus analysts Blair Levin and Rebecca Arbogast wrote in a March 7 note to clients that they expect the anti-collusion rules to lift by late March or early April.

Major players like Google, AT&T and Verizon, however, were all approved to participate.

Congress to telecommunications companies: See you in court.

The House gave President Bush a nice little weekend present Friday afternoon when it approved a version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that denies telecom companies retroactive immunity for their participation in the government's warrantless surveillance program.

Members narrowly approved H.R. 3773 with a vote of 213 to 197 after several hours of contentious debate.

After the September 11 attacks, the government stepped up its eavesdropping on suspected terrorists, and enlisted the help of telecom companies that provided the National Security Agency access to their networks without court approval.

The Senate passed a FISA bill recently that would grant telecommunications companies retroactive immunity for participating in the program, but the House version would requires those companies to face the music in the courtroom.