Miniature humanoid robots are getting more impressive by the day: this video shows the Darmstadt Dribblers team in action in the recent 2008 Robocup. And if you notice, they're really playing like proper autonomous soccer teams. It's the first year that three on three playing action has happened, and thus required some nifty role negotiation and info exchange over wi-fi. That's in addition to avoiding obstacles, finding the ball visually and trying to score goals. Ok, so that opposing team needs a better goalie, but at least watching this robotic version of the beautiful game means you get to see less diving and hissy fits at the referee. Impressive stuff, no? [YouTube.—Thanks Stefan]

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Of all the talk of the iPhone 3G being THE new porn delivery device for on-the-go businessmen, there's been very little evidence of that actually being the case. Until now. A new site called iRoticNET.com offers a US$9.95 subscription for absolutely unlimited porn direct from their site, featuring over 200 titles at launch next week on July 22. Our hands-on verdict? It's wankalicious.

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It's been a saga of the on again, off again, on again, off again type, but it looks like AT&T's free Wi-Fi hotspot access is live at last. 17,000 sites across the US are available to iPhone users, including the fabled Starbucks sites. According to AT&T's website, which also offers a hotspot locator tool, AT&T knows "Wi-Fi is hot, and free Wi-Fi even hotter, which is why we are proud to offer iPhone customers free access to the nation's largest Wi-Fi hotspot network." Interesting... after all the shenanigans, it looks more like AT&T thinks Wi-Fi is just "lukewarm", or maybe "tepid." But at least it's finally come good. UPDATE: Well it looks like Wi-Fi isn't here quite yet. AT&T posted the info by accident and made a fail. [AT&T via MacRumors]

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Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Toshiba JVC, Kodak, Hitachi and a bunch more companies have today announced that they're forming the Transferjet consortium to develop an "interoperable wireless transfer technology." Sounding like a challenge to Bluetooth, Transferjet will apparently operate at a theoretical 560 Mbps rate. Plus it could allow pairing as simply as touching two devices together: your camera could display pics on TV simply by sitting it atop the screen. Sounds like a great consumer solution, but since the consortium has yet to define specs, it'll be a while until the project bears fruit. With big players like this aboard though, other wireless data systems must be feeling the pressure. Press release below.

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Here at the worldwide launch of the iPhone 3G in Auckland New Zealand, there was a slight problem - wireless internet. Considering the first 10 people lined up pretty much all have their laptops with them (some of them are coding applications for the App Store while they wait - talk about commitment), this was a major problem.

Fortunately for everybody, the guy sitting in number seven of the queue has connections. And we mean that quite literally - he's Steve Simms, CEO of Tomizone. After a couple of phone calls, he'd literally setup a wireless hotspot for everyone to get online through, and started handing out the free Wi-Fi vouchers. We have one word for you Steve: Champion!

But if you thought that was good - it gets even better:

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We were setting up our wireless router in this our new house when we made a startling realisation. Our wireless hotspot doesn't need to be limited to boring names like LinksysN or 2Wire1969, they can be messages to our neighbours that they see every time they connect to their router. Here are some that our crack team of jerks have come up with.

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There's apparently a new touchscreen handset from LG on the way, and early word is that it's slated to be the Korean phone maker's new flagship phone. So far known as the KC910, it appears to be more camera than phone, shooting at 8-megapixels with a real Xenon flash, face detection, image stabilisation, and a 480p camcorder function, which is worth noting. It also supposedly has an 800x480 resolution screen, which means it can show 16:9 movies with no cropping, all in a form factor a little over half an inch thick. If they can throw in a few other high-end features like Wi-Fi and a good browser then this handset could out-media the iPhone and be a real challenger, but we're holding our judgment till we've seen it in action. [Electronista, via DC Sources, via Ubergizmo]

New details have been leaked about Creative's answer to the iPod touch and Zune, a wireless music player with Wi-Fi media sharing capabilities called the Zen X-Fi. Pictures show the device sporting a chrome-and-black plastic look that's vaguely reminiscent of the iPhone, along with a nine-point directional pad. Besides certain Internet features, X-Fi will also come with an SD card slot and a built-in speaker.

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Chrysler hasn't exactly hidden their intentions on bringing Wi-Fi to their automobiles, but today they've come forth with all the fun details. If you're interested in the UConnect service, the wireless broadband router will cost US$449 plus another US$50 for installation. Then, if you'd actually like to browse the web on the device, that'll be another US$29 per month. While it certainly seems like the next logical step in shutting up your children in the backseat, who out there is willing to shell out another big pile of money on internet access just for the car? Until we have at least five more (legitimate) children, we'll be sticking to our overpriced handset plan that goes with us everywhere, thanks. [freep via Jalopnik]

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The Gadget: The Nokia E66, a slim but luxurious GSM slider smartphone running Symbian S60, with Wi-Fi, GPS, 3G and a 3.2MP camera, to name a few of its many features.

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