Finding out that wifi would be offered on board my flight today from LaGuardia to Atlanta will probably be the highlight of my day. I was still under the impression, however, that because wifi on flights is still in a bit of a testing phase that it would be free 0r discounted. $10 for two hours of wifi seemed like a little much but I felt I would be doing myself a disservice by not trying it out. So here I am.

The service is provided by Gogo Inflight Internet and the sign-up process was quick and painless.

So far all pages have loaded at very decent speed. Instant Message chats are working just fine with no glitches. The real test comes in streaming music and sound. Grooveshark loaded in about 15 seconds and the song played flawlessly without having to stop and buffer. Video streaming only started to hiccup toward the end of “I’m on a Boat” on Hulu but righted itself quickly. Multiple tabs and TweetDeck run just fine too.  I wanted to try and Skype with someone to really stretch its legs but didn’t get the chance.

Overall, at least if they are charging $10, you aren’t getting half-ass slow connections. If you really have trouble going a few hours being disconnected and have some disposable income, check it out next time you fly Delta. (This is not an advertisement.)

Related:

• A good overview of each airline’s wireless offerings.
• Great post this week from Wallet Pop on expanding inflight wifi service as of late.

It happened Friday.  Apple’s long-awaited release of the new iPhone 3G.  Lines got long, things got ugly and Apple fanboys around the country revelled in iPhone glory. Lucky me.  I was fortunate enough to have my BlackJack II pickpocketed from me in Amsterdam (someone saw me using it to send a text, way to go me, trying to stay connected).

I couldn’t wait a whole month until the 3G iPhones were released to get a new one, so I went with what I knew and stayed loyal to my BlackJack.  And now, I’m jealous.  Kinda wish I waited it out.  But alas, those of us who can’t afford it/it isn’t feasible for can still have kick-ass phones.  Walk with me through my BlackJack pimping process.

Apps

On the one hand, they are expensive.  After paying close to $90 a month just for my service plan, which includes unlimited Web surfing, 550 anytime minutes and 1500 text messages per month, paying $15 to $30 a pop for apps can get a little pricey.  Why are the Apple apps so much cheaper? But my philosophy is this: Why even bother having a super-capable SmartPhone if you’re just sending texts and answering calls? Might as well be an obnoxious teenager with a Sidekick.  So I guess if I gotta pay, so be it.  We might not have a convenient store nestled right into our iTunes, but here’s a list of places to buy apps for your Windows Mobile phone:

• Handango – The link is to the site’s Beta version, which is much sleaker for browsing what they offer.
• PocketGear – It’s overwhelming all the stuff they have.  I was intrigued by the Bartender’s Bible app, and the WorldMate travel tools app, which would have been a godsend during our backpacking trip in Europe! Of course there are plenty of games

Flat broke? Here are some lists of essential FREE apps:

• Six Must-have apps for Windows Mobile from ReadWriteWeb
• Seven fantastic free Windows Mobile apps from CIO.com

Web Surfing

If you thought you hated IE on a computer, you already know I have to multiply my hatred by about 100 to express the distaste I have with using it on my BlackJack.  After some Googling I found that while the folks at Mozilla are busy building all kinds of add-ons to your computer’s browser, they are also working on a soon-to-be-released mobile browser, codenamed Fennec for now. Here’s what you can expect.

I’ve also heard lots and lots of good things about Skyfire, a mobile browser that “brings rich Web media real fast.”  That means clean, quick video and music streams and neatly accessible social networking.  You have to sign-up to be alerted when Beta 2 is released, which they distribute progressively.  I already signed up and I’m looking forward to the download.  I’ll post my critique once I get it.

Facebook addicts (ok, so basically everyone?) without the coveted iPhone can now add the FriendMobilizer app to Windows Mobile phones so they can skip the step of opening the browser and loading the FB page to get your notifications.   You can set your status really easily too.  I gave FriendMobilizer a try and I like it because I have always had trouble signing in on FB on my phone’s IE browser.  It never remembered my login info and the “log in” button was never clickable, it was just an image.  I don’t know if it was just Facebook’s mobile style sheet or what but this new app made it a cinch.  Props to FaceofMobile for developing it.

So there you have it.  When your iPhone touting friends start gathering and swooning over each other’s shiny new app-filled toys, find yourself a nice cozy corner and relish in your capabilities to pimp your own phone.  Please send more links and apps and WindowsMobile goodness!