Looks like a major Wiltshire town is buzzing with excitement as they are about to become the first in the UK to be able to enjoy free public wireless internet access. Swindon Borough Council plans for all 186,000 citizens to soon be swaddled under a blanket “Wi-Fi mesh” by April 2010.

With no connection charge while line rentals are free. The service will be called Signal, but here’s the catch. You will have limited access unless you pay for 20Mb upgrades. The fee is said to be “significantly less” than current broadband suppliers.

Google has unveiled Maps Navigation (beta), an upgraded version of the current Maps software that will be free and apparently available on all Android 2.0 devices. You get all of the usual Maps features, along with being able to search by the name of a business and it will even suggest the closest matches and traffic data.

There’s also turn-by-turn navigation with a female robotic voice and integration with satellite and street view. Street view will be able to show you what lane you need to be in when exiting the highway, for instance. It will also now search along the route when you’re looking for gas stations or fast food. Some addresses can be added to the Android home screen as icons too.

There’s a select group of people living among us that make no sense at all. Like this guy, who is willing to endure a painful and permanent tattoo in order to win a Palm Pre. Hell, just buy the phone. It’s not nearly as painful and in a few years you’ll be on to the next big phone.

Obviously the dude wanted his fifteen minutes of fame. It looks more like 15 minutes of lame. This guy and the Zune guy need to get together and talk about their next project. They would make quite a team.

We’re used to seeing free DVD or Blu-ray players with an HDTV purchase, but Mitsubishi is trying a new approach. Beginning July 16th, authorized retailers will give you a free Vudu box and $50 service credit with every Mitsubishi TV.

The box is only a $150 value, but then again Vudu is the only player out there offering 1080p HDX video rentals right now, plus it supports Pandora, Flickr, YouTube and local streaming, so bundling the TV with the box is an easy way for Mitsubishi to jump into the connected TV market without having to work very hard.

Millions around the world are grieving the sudden and unexpected loss of the King of Pop. If you’re one of millions of fans in mourning, here’s something for your BlackBerry.

It’s a free theme for the BlackBerry 9000 created by a fan. It features the king of pop in classic poses. Why not spruce up your BlackBerry 9000 with the original Moonwalker? He was a great dancer, a great singer and an accomplished weirdo.

On May 5th, general users will have access to Windows 7 for one full year. It is already available for download for MSDN and TechNet subscribers. This is only the Release Candidate version and will expire on June 1, 2010. The Release Candidate is basically the near finished product and the final stage in testing.

Supposedly it will have all the features of the final version. We still don’t know when the final version will be released but according to rumors it’ll be late 2009 or early 2010. Windows 7 features a bunch of new features including a new taskbar, libraries, jump lists, and more. Windows 7 will also come packaged with the newest Internet Explorer (IE8).

As you may or may not know Japan is prone to many an earthquake. Japan’s major cities have an extended underground transportation system. So when a quake happens, people could be potentially trapped for long periods of time and suffer from dehydration.

That’s where these updated vending machines come into play. During an emergency, they’ll give out free drinks. But…Won’t people just turn into A-holes and start fighting over the drinks?

Want to ditch your overpriced cable TV service and get the same thing? For free? That’s what ZillionTV is all about. It’s a new service that offers ad-supported HDTV shows and pay on demand. See? Just like what you have now. The “Z-bar” is a compact set-top box that gets its video direct from your broadband connection. That’s where the magic happens. It will cost you a $50 installation fee, then you’re all set to stick it to the man.

The service is in beta right now, but when it’s available later in the year, you will have a few options. You can view shows for free with advertising attached, or buy them to watch ad-free shows. And yes, some big names are attached, like NBC Universal, Disney, 20th Century Fox Television, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. Sounds awesome.

Comcast giving something away for free? They’re thinking about it, performing Wi-Fi hot spot trials near NJ Transit rail stations to grant subscribers access to the Internet on their mobile devices. This, according to a DSLReports post. The service in the Wi-Fi Hot Zones requires that subscribers sign in using their Comcast.net usernames and passwords.

Comcast confirmed the trials, and says it is gauging user interest. They may offer it as an added-value service to high-speed Internet customers. No word on when or if Comcast will launch the hot-spot service, but the trial is reportedly running until December. Judging by the length of the trial, some think Comcast is gearing up for a much larger hot-spot service.

Several people are getting SMS messages from AT&T reminding them of the long-awaited “free wireless at Starbucks” plan. It was first announced in February with a target launch spring 2008, the service has been quietly running on and off since April, including two hours of daily access at any Starbucks store or AT&T hotspot.

T-Mobile users with existing hotspot accounts are supposed to have ongoing access to the network in Starbucks stores. The service has been available on a spotty basis, but this is an official “yes it’s working” announcement that has been a while in coming. Hopefully we can put an end to this chapter and the service stays on at long last.

Denver International Airport is the biggest airport in the world to offer free Wi-Fi. Problem is, now a Denver newspaper reports that the connection is being censored. The airport is blocking certain blogs like BoingBoing.net, perezhilton.com and other “potentially racy sites.” The airport’s position is that they would rather deal with complaints about censorship, than complaints about people viewing objectionable content on their laptops. What now? Why not censor radio broadcasts while you’re at it?

The Seattle Times quite correctly points out that Denver International Airport stores sell hard-core porn magazines, but they block the Sports Illustrated swimsuit site online. Word is they have also blocked the Vanity Fair magazine web site.

Here’s a freeloader you’ll be happy to have living with you. It won’t eat your food, hog the remote, or even sit around smoking weed like a slacker, while your at work. No, this is the kind of freeloader we like. Apparently, they have been working on this for awhile, and now you can finally have your own region-free enabler for the Wii for only $19.99. Wii FreeLoader allows you to play any GameCube or Wii game from any region on your Wii. Just stick the FreeLoader disc into the Wii, let it do it’s thing, eject the disc and stick in the title you want to play.

Do you carry an Umbrella when it rains? Many people don’t bother, because they know they will get just as wet whether they carry one or not. There’s just no point to it. That’s where the Nubrella comes in. It wants to protect you from the rain the way an umbrella should, protecting your head from all sides. It’s like your own personal transparent pod.

Another plus is that this umbrella doesn’t require any hands, which is good, because you usually have your hands full. There is a downside: This sort of thing is socially unacceptable and you will be mocked. But hey, you can be mocked, I don’t mind. It will pave the way for the rest of us to use it one day. You can pick one up for $60.