If you are a AT&T DSL subscriber like me with a 3 mbps or higher speed connection, you can get free wi-fi access to over 10,000 hotspots in US. For lower speed subscribers it costs $1.99 for unlimited access which isn’t bad if you travel a lot.

This is especially good news for people who just bought an Apple iPhone with AT&T and already have AT&T DSL. AT&T’s EDGE network crashed earlier this week and when it works it is just a tad faster than dialup. With iPhone’s Wi-Fi capability, it just becomes easier for AT&T DSL subscribers to get free Wi-Fi access when they are on the move.

Good move by AT&T and they might as well make it free to all their DSL subscribers regardless of their subscription tier. GigaOM suggests that AT&T should provide free Wi-Fi to all iPhone customers which might ease the load on their EDGE network.

Hello newcomer, did I say welcome to ShanKri-la yet? Before you move on, just wanted to thank you for visiting and we hope you come back and see us again!

Google has acquired GrandCentral, the ‘one number for life’ service that we have featured here before.

GrandCentral (in beta but aren’t they all?) is an innovative web-based voice communications service that promises one single number for life and gives you the ability to manage all your phones from one single web interface. I have gotten a number from GrandCentral and have used this service for a while and I like it a lot. Features like one place to check all your voicemail is priceless.

Google announced this in their blog last night with an apt title ‘All Aboard’. In their words,

We think GrandCentral’s technology fits well into Google’s efforts to provide services that enhance the collaborative exchange of information between our users.

I think with Google’s resources GrandCentral is poised to go to the next level and I wouldn’t mind to have my GrandCentral Inbox appear as a part of my GMail.

GrandCentral is giving out a few betas and are in process of moving stuff over to Google, so you might have to wait to get an account to try it out. Hop over to my earlier post about GrandCentral, if you’d like learn more about it.

Google made their foray into voice communications with their experimental Free 411 service they offer to everyone and the acquisition of GrandCentral in fact has been rumored in the past few weeks. Garry Conn has a nice post about the free 411 service if you haven’t heard about it.

Free 411 Service tip: Now after you dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411), if you are calling from your cell phone, if you say map it, you’ll get a text message with the details of you search and a link to a map of your results!! Sweet.

Wow. I can’t remember when a cell phone launch has created such a buzz like Apple’s iPhone has! It sure is set to turn out to be a huge moneymaker for Apple, a $10 Billion business by a Business Week estimate!

If you haven’t seen an iPhone ad yet, here are some TV ads at Apple. Here are some of the features that everyone is excited about..

• Multi-touch screen display touted as the next best innovation afterthe mouse.
• Widescreen iPod
• A phone with a lot of new features
• Wifi & EDGE enabled internet capabilities

Apple has set the bar for high for any cell phone manufacturer and if iPhone really takes off as it is expected to, I can only imgine the ushering of a new era of cell phones by other followers. It will be just like when iPod was introduced, the market got flooded with iPod alikes, in fact some that were really comparable to an iPod like the Sansa line of mp3 players. Wi-fi enabled handheld devices would probably be available in a couple of years for cheap with a cell phone contract.

In fact, if you think Apple is the first one to make this revolutionary touch screen interface in a phone, you would be surprised to see some others in the wild already and some in concept. Atleast I was. Samsung’s F700 is creating a lot of buzz these days.

iPhone is set to launch with AT&T (formerly Cingular) as the network provider on June 29. Although I am with Cingular (or AT&T ) right now, I am happy with my Sony Ericsson W810i as a phone/multimedia device and not ready to shell out the roughly $500 with a 2-year contract with Cingular.

Would I buy it if it was affordable? Yes. But, the current pricing is targeted at the early adopters and Apple fans like any other major launch. By the time I wear out my Sony Ericsson, may be the iPhone will be at a more reasonable price and will have the bugs worked out. Heck, there may even be a better competitor by then when the touchscreen displays become the norm for cell phones.

So, are you buying an iPhone when it launches on June 29? What do you think about the price?

We wrote about GrandCentral a while back and it has been one of our most popular articles as you might have noticed in the sidebar!

If you haven’t read our earlier article, Grand Central is a free service that offers you one phone number for life!  Here is a glimpse of my post before you head over there..

•  How would you like one phone number for life?
• When someone calls you, all your phones would ring. So no matter where you are, you are always available! (I wouldn’t actually like that but wait there’s more..)
• It’s free for 2 numbers and your voicemails would be stored for 30 days.

I have used that service now for about a month and really like it. Now, I found out through TechCrunch that they have released a mobile version of their site which is pretty cool. Here’s what they say about the new addition to their offering..

Like Gmail’s mobile site, GrandCentral Mobile is a lightweight version of your normal account and the primary use of it will be to review and administer voicemails. All of the normal functionality is included (view and play messages, reply, forward, flag, delete, etc.) You can also access your address book and make basic ringing and greeting account changes. Voicemails are in MP3 format, so your phone will need to be able to play MP3s if you want to listen to them.

I tried this interface out in my cellphone and really liked it. My commute to work is about 12 minutes and I have access to a computer pretty much rest of the time except when I am travelling. So, this feature is not going to be useful on a day to day basis but defintely a great add-on for people on the road.