Verizon Wireless yesterday introduced the $150 Verizon Wireless USB1000 Global Modem, which supports data connectivity worldwide. GlobalAccess Monthly Data Plans are available at $130 for up to 100 MB or $220 for up to 200 MB. Pay Per Use Plans are also available.

"Designed by Novatel Wireless, the USB1000 combines - get this - CDMA EVDO Rev A on 850/1900 MHz, HSDPA/HSUPA on 850/1900/2100 MHz, and GSM/EDGE on 850/900/1800/1900 MHz," writes Gearlog's Sascha Segan. "In English, that means it can access high-speed networks here and abroad; it comes with a special SIM built in for when travelers leave the US. All that network switching comes thanks to a Qualcomm MDM 1000 Gobi chipset."

"Verizon is partly owned by Vodafone and is leveraging this relationship to provide mobile broadband access across the globe," notes InformationWeek's Marin Perez.

More here from FierceWireless ... more here from Electronista ... more here from Gizmodo ... and the press release is here.

Aircell has received full FAA certification for its new ATG 4000 High Speed Internet system for the business aviation market, with shipments now commencing three months ahead of schedule — the first installation was completed by Midcoast Aviation on a Bombardier Challenger 605.

"We're very pleased to debut the Aircell High Speed Internet system in the business aviation market," says company vice president and general manager John Wade. "By providing a true high-speed connection, it greatly transforms the travel experience and allows everyone aboard the aircraft to be more productive."

"In addition to a high-speed Internet system for the continental USA, Aircell is offering its satellite-based SwiftBroadband product for global service, which will be available in July," notes Flightglobal's Mary Kirby. "Aircell's SwiftBroadband product is powered by Thrane & Thrane."

More here from techrockies.com ... and the press release is here.

Virgin Mobile USA today introduced Broadband2Go, a prepaid wireless data plan with no annual contract, monthly subscription, or activation fee. All you need is a $150 Novatel Wireless MC760 USB data card and a $10 to $60 deposit (which gets you between 100MB and 1GB), and you're good to go.

"Unlike mobile broadband plans from AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint, Virgin Mobile does not have overage fees, as the service redirects to a purchase page when a user hits their limit," notes InformationWeek's Marin Perez.

"For a light data-user — someone who, say, only wants wireless data on vacation or while on a once-a-year business trip — the Virgin data card is perfect," writes GigaOM's Jordan Golson. "Why waste hundreds of dollars on a two-year contract when the card is going to sit unused most of the time? The occasional data user can buy the data card, toss it in their laptop bag, and buy data on their credit card whenever the need arises — without getting hit with nasty overage charges. The card simply shuts off when you run out of data."

More here from jkOnTheRun ... more here from eWeek ... and the press release is here.

At Barron's, Eric Savitz reports that Bernstein Research analysts Craig Moffett and Toni Sacconaghi are suggesting that bringing the iPhone to Verizon Wireless would double sales of the device, but "would likely result in a cut in revenue per phone of $100 to $200."

"The analysts note that for AT&T, the iPhone provides both a customer acquisition tool and a customer retention tool," Savitz writes. "A non-exclusive deal, they say, would reduce the value of the phone to AT&T and likely result in a reduction in the subsidy per phone from an estimated $450 to around $250-$350. They add that the fact that Verizon operates on the CDMA standard is not a major technical barrier, and that the issue will become less relevant in the years ahead as VZ migrates to LTE."

"Verizon Wireless now boasts a larger subscriber base than AT&T (86.6 million compared to 78.2 million, as of the first quarter of 2009), enabling Apple to exponentially increase its addressable market — Moffett and Sacconaghi also note that while more than 10 percent of AT&T's postpaid customers are already iPhone owners, the Verizon subscriber population remains untapped," writes FierceMobileContent's Jason Ankeny.

More here from AllThingsD ... and more here from InformationWeek.

Virgin America today announced that it's the first airline to offer Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi access on every flight and every airplane in its fleet.

"The airline beat out several other contenders, including Delta, Alaska, and AirTran, which have all pledged to soon wire themselves up so you can surf the Internet from 30,000 feet," writes Daily Traveler's Barbara S. Peterson. "(American is also moving swiftly to add Wi-Fi to some 300 planes by next year.)"

The service costs $12.95 for flights of over three hours, $9.95 for flights of less than three hours, $5.95 for red-eye flights, and $7.95 for handheld devices.

More here from Crave ... more here from Engadget ... more here from Ubergizmo ... more here from SmarterTravel ... and the press release is here.

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I published an article today at Wi-Fi Planet looking at how companies are clarifying their telework policies in the face of growing concern about swine flu.

Wi-Fi Alliance executive director Edgar Figueroa notes that the advent of 802.11n now makes it possible for a home wireless network to deliver enterprise-level performance, "making it very simple and very comfortable for the telecommuter to work at home very effectively with Wi-Fi." The Wi-Fi Alliance offers a series of tips on securing your wireless network here.

A new report from WorldatWork entitled Telework Trendlines 2009 [PDF file] states that the number of U.S. teleworkers grew by 39 percent over the past two years. The report credits the increase to three key factors: rising fuel and commuting costs, employers' growing awareness of the importance of work-life balance, and "the proliferation of high-speed and wireless Internet access (which has made it both less expensive and more productive to work remotely)."

The full article is here.

On May 17th, Verizon Wireless will release the $99 MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot, developed by Novatel Wireless. The device connects to Verizon's 3G network and creates a personal Wi-Fi network on the go.

"The travel-friendly MiFi measures 3.5 by 2.3 by 0.4 inches and weighs just 2.05 ounces," writes eWeek's Michelle Maisto. "Combined inside are integrated internal CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and Wi-Fi antennas, and security and authentication technologies."

As InformationWeek's Ed Hansberry notes, battery life could be an issue. "It is strictly meant for occasional use, not all day," he writes. "The battery is expected to last 4 hours when used or up to 40 hours on stand-by, so when traveling, you'll need to keep the charger handy."

"Two service plans are available," writes Crave's Kent German. "A $40 monthly subscription gets you 250MB of data; if you go over you'll pay 10 cents per megabyte. For $60 you can use 5GB and pay 5 cents per megabyte for any additional use."

More here from Wired ... more here from Gearlog ... more here from Engadget ... more here from Electronista ... more here from Gizmodo ... more here from WirelessWeek ... and the press release is here.

Engadget's Joshua Topolsky today broke the news that Palm is planning to launch a webOS-based follow-up to the Centro on AT&T's network — which, for those of us who love Palm but aren't all that excited about Sprint, is very good news indeed...

"The device is a bar-style phone similar to a BlackBerry," writes InformationWeek's Eric Zeman. "It has a full QWERTY keyboard, trackball for navigation, and measures a mere 10.6mm thick. Unlike the Pre, this will be a GSM phone, and information points to a release via AT&T. It has quad-band GSM/EDGE radios, as well as 850/1900 HSDPA for AT&T's 3G network."

"The only downside that we can see is that to fit it all in such a tiny package, Palm had to make a compromise somewhere," writes PreCentral's Dieter Bohn. "That compromise: the screen. The Eos' screen is 2.63 inches diagonally, compared to the Pre's 3.1 inch screen and the iPhone's 3.5 incher. Palm also had to cut some pixels, the Eos is purported to be 320x400 instead of 320x480. The good news on that front is that we are more than confident that the webOS has the flexibility to handle pretty much any screen size you can throw at it because so much of it is based on web technologies..."

More here from BGR ... more here from Gadget Venue ... more here from MobileCrunch ... more here from Wired ... more here from Gizmodo ... and more here from SlashGear.

Photo above is from Engadget.

The video-sharing mobile service Zannel today launched its $2.99 Dane Cook Global app on the App Store, following similar releases from bands like The Fray - it's an interesting new angle for mobile multimedia...

"The app lets me share what it's really like to go on tour, from standing in front of 20,000 screaming fans to playing video games backstage after a long day," Cook says. "This tour is going to take me to some wild places, and I am pumped to supercharge my fan interaction by using the Apple App Store."

Dane Cook Global gives users access to an interactive map of the tour, the ability to purchase tickets and merchandise, and view video, photo and text updates.

More here from the iPhone Download Blog ... more here from Softpedia ... and more here from App Shopper.

T-Mobile today introduced the new 3G T-Mobile Sidekick LX — which would seem to indicate that the event planned for next Tuesday heralds the introduction of the T-Mobile G2...

"The Sidekick LX... includes a 1GB microSD memory card, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP — which supports stereo Bluetooth and Bluetooth file transfer to other Bluetooth devices (including photo printers) — and a battery life offering 3 hours of talk time and 6 days of standby time," writes eWeek's Nathan Eddy. "On the 2G network, talk time rises to 5.5 hours and standby time improves to eight days."

"Besides improvements in hardware, the new Sidekick LX features a slew of cool social-networking features that aren't yet widely available in the U.S.," notes BusinessWeek's Olga Kharif. "The phone will pop up Facebook, MySpace and Twitter status updates and notifications directly into an application a user is in. They will appear as screen overlays. You'll be able to see the full text of a tweet, for instance. Companies like INQ are already integrating social-networking features into phones in Europe. But such deep integration is still new to the U.S. It will be interesting to see whether the feature attracts lots of user attention."

More here from infoSync ... more here from Crave ... more here from IntoMobile ... more here from SlipperyBrick ... more here from Electronista ... more here from Betanews ... more here from Gearlog ... and the press release is here.