Boingo, Broadcom partner to include Boingo software in Wi-Fi VoIP phones: Boingo received another shot of confidence in its method of aggregating access to tens of thousands of hotspots worldwide for a flat fee with Broadcom incorporating the Boingo software toolkit in its Wi-Fi phone chipset platform. Reducing coding effort vastly increases the likelihood that a manufacturer would partner with Boingo to provide access for its subscribers, or that a reseller or service provider would wind up working with Boingo because the phone already had the capability to tap into the Boingo network. Boingo charges $8 per month for unlimited access for mobile devices with Wi-Fi, including handsets and devices with browsers. The iPhone, alas, is not yet in the supported devices list given its closed platform approach--until next month when a software developer's toolkit is released by Apple.

Eye-Fi signs deal with memory-card maker Lexar for their embedded technology: The details are pretty vague right now, but it likely means better and wider integration of Eye-Fi's features with camera memory cards, among other possibilities. I don't think we'll see every memory card have Wi-Fi inside, but Lexar's market position makes it possible for them, in turn, to work with camera makers to incorporate special features that a Lexar Wi-Fi card would have access to. Eye-Fi also runs the back-end of the system, and while there are no details available about whether the company gets a cut of customer purchases for uploaded photos, one expects there's money on the back end, too. Separately, Eye-Fi announced new partnerships with Microsoft and Costco. Eye-Fi users can upload photos starting Jan. 11 to Windows Live, Windows Live Photo Gallery, and Costco's Photo Center.

Tropos has new CEO: The metro-scale Wi-Fi equipment maker, notable for providing gear to EarthLink Networks for the quiescent municipal division, has a new chief executive and president, Tom Ayers. Ayers's background is in networked security. Ron Sege is stepping down after four years, riding the rollercoaster of not-quite-early-stage startup to what is still not-quite-late-stage startup even as market conditions changed dramatically. Tropos began its life as a clever mesh firm looking to target the high cost of campus-wide enterprise networking with a cheaper approach. The firm rode the wave of hype in the metro-scale Wi-Fi market. With less growth in that field--but still a predicted hundreds of millions of dollars to be spent in 2008 in the U.S. alone on city Wi-Fi--it's a time of change and new strategies. With the loss of many thousands of nodes for projected EarthLink projects, the company has to develop harder markets.

Canary Wireless updates Digital Hotspotter detector: I thought Canary Wireless's first-generation product was the best of breed when introduced way back in Dec. 2004. The new model, the HS20, will go on sale for $60 sometime in the first quarter of 2008. Features seem much the same, with easier controls for scrolling among multiple networks detected. The device shows the network name, signal strength, and encryption type (if any). There's a place for Wi-Fi detectors only if they provide all this info. Otherwise, it's just a toy.

Latest ferry run powered by Wi-Fi in Washington State: Parsons has turned on Wi-Fi in the long Bremerton-to-Seattle ferry route after long delays in securing locations to mount equipment. In the end, they placed 10 shoreline access points due to siting issues and the curving path the ferry takes. It was known during the production tests of this service that this would be the hardest route to unwire. Bremerton is a blue-collar town that's much more affordable than any other bedroom-by-ferry communities. Washington State Ferries carries 50 percent of all U.S. ferry trips (by passenger numbers), and now has its most popular routes equipped with Wi-Fi. Roaming deals with Boingo, iPass, and others allow business commuters and others to have ferry-Fi access at no charge above their existing monthly fees. While the press release says this is the largest "commercial, over-the-water Wi-Fi system in the world," I would say that's too narrow: it's almost certainly serves the largest audience of commuters of any Wi-Fi system.