From Michael Robertson's blog: "In the US 52% of homes now have Wi-Fi blanketing their neighborhood with waves (surpassing the 50% of homes who have traditional Ethernet).

"Until now Wi-Fi has been used almost exclusively as a way to connect your PC to the internet with no wires, but that's about to change as new portable and home devices also gain Wi-Fi capability. By the end of the year the chips to add Wi-Fi functionality to any electronic equipment are projected to be less than $2 for the largest manufacturers. Imagine a world where every electrical device in your house and every phone/PDA have a net connection via Wi-Fi. We'll be there sooner than you think.

"The best early example of this trend is the brilliantly designed Nokia 770 Internet Tablet.  I'm not sure 'tablet' is the most accurate name because it's size is closer to a small pamphlet (5 inches by 3 inches) weighing just 8 ounces. It connects to the net via Wi-Fi and has a touch screen with industry leading battery life of a couple days on standby...

"I thought the 770 could be an ideal music machine streaming music right from an online locker because it has a high quality headphone jack...

"We worked with Nokia to transform the 770 into the first net walkman by designing touch screen software which plays your music from your locker. The software has big buttons which can be clicked with your finger to give you instant access to your artists, albums and playlists streaming over Wi-Fi... Because the music is streamed there are no storage limitations. You can manage your music on any computer via the web interface and then use the 770 to access that same music and any playlists you created via the web.

"Today the Nokia 770 is a technological marvel with its large touch screen, impressive battery life, Wi-Fi access and infinitely customizable Linux operating system. But a  few years from now, it will be commonplace for many of the devices in your home, in your car or that you carry around to have Wi-Fi capability. We're working closely with many different hardware manufacturers of phone handsets, PDAs, set top boxes, internet alarm clocks and other unique devices to make this a reality and Wi-Fi is making it happen."

Read the entire post at Michael Robertson's blog here.

From the Wall Street Journal: "Parceling out news, traffic, sports and shows like 'The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly' made Westwood One  Inc. into a radio kingpin providing syndicated entertainment and information to more than 5,000 stations around the country.

"But the New York company, which is 18%-owned by CBS Corp., is struggling amid a general slowdown in radio advertising and competition from new players that sell programming at reduced rates...

"Many of these problems are hitting big syndication networks... That puts a spotlight on Westwood, the only big independent radio network. Westwood's stock price has dropped 60% this year, after a 40% fall last year... Trying to reverse Westwood's spiral is Chief Executive Peter Kosann...

"Mr. Kosann's challenges include competition from newer networks... that are cutting into Westwood's bread-and-butter programming business by offering lower prices. Another major business, traffic information, is under pressure from Clear Channel as well as from traffic.com, an independent Web site.

"Mr. Kosann has cut around 100 jobs, recruited new executives and introduced initiatives to get Westwood onto new platforms, such as iPods and mobile phones...

"Mr. Kosann sees opportunities in the big changes affecting radio. In part to compete with satellite radio and digital audio players like iPods, radio  companies are embracing digital. The technology lets them cram far more stations into the same space on the dial, creating potential new sales opportunities.

"Pushing to reach new listeners through wireless-linked personal data assistants, mobile phones, and in-car navigation devices, the company has cut deals to get its real-time traffic information onto Yahoo Maps and the in-car navigation screens made by companies like Navteq Corp. Mr. Kosann sees room for more growth, boosting the percentage of sales represented by those outlets into the double digits from 8%.

"One such area: charging consumers a fee to download live traffic information tailored to their routes home onto their mobile phones. Currently, residents in some cities can get tailored information via select radio station Web sites, such as CBS's KFWB in Los Angeles, which charges 50 cents per traffic message. In the future, Westwood potentially could sell such information directly to mobile-phone providers, bypassing radio stations."

Subscribers can read the entire article at the Wall Street Journal online.