THE WIRELESS WORLD

Boundless Baseball
BAY AREA, CALIF.
Population: 7 million
Why: The technology capital of the U.S.
Fact: All three regional airports offer Wi-Fi coverage, so road warriors can polish presentations

Here's another reason to envy San Francisco: along with beautiful vistas and relatively clement weather year-round, the Bay Area (S.F., Oakland and San Jose) was chosen this April as the most unwired "city" in America in Intel's second annual survey. Researcher Bert Sperling, who conducted the survey, says that "tons of interesting things are happening" in the country's technology capital. All three regional airports offer nearly ubiquitous Wi-Fi coverage. This spring, city officials in San Jose, the hub of Silicon Valley, launched a free service that covers three downtown public spaces (including the convention center). And at least 40 cafes in San Francisco and seven in Berkeley offer free Internet access, forgoing the Starbucks model of charging users for connectivity. Even the Giants' ballpark is a hotspot, giving fans the opportunity to pretend they're at the office when they're catching a game. They should probably turn off their laptops when Barry Bonds comes to bat, though.

Not Just Senators
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Population: 572,000
Why: Test city for a new technology
Fact: The nation's capital, though geographically small, already has 344 commercial hotspots

When you think of D.C., you envision lobbyists, limos and windy politicians--not a center of cutting-edge wireless technology. Washington is one of two cities (the other is San Diego) where Verizon is testing a new high-speed wireless network called EV-DO, the so-called third-generation wireless network. Users stick a PC card into their laptop (and, soon, into optimized mobile phones) to surf the Net anywhere in the city at about the same speed as a DSL connection. Verizon vice president Bill Stone says the service is targeted at business users who can do "everything on their laptops they normally do on their desktops, and they don't have to go hunting for a Wi-Fi hotspot." Washingtonians have other ways to cut the cord. Last month--with help from volunteers--private donations and equipment provided by Silicon Valley wireless firm Tropos brought free wireless Internet access to the eastern corner of the National Mall. Next: unwiring the entire two-mile-long Mall, Capitol Hill and all.

Don't Get Hung Up
TOKYO, JAPAN
Population: 12.4 million
Why: Many types of mobile technology
Fact: There are 82 million mobile phones in Japan, 20 percent on high-speed networks

Chika Matsumoto rarely puts her cell phone down, even when she's hanging out with friends at a hamburger shop or soaking in the bathtub. The 17-year-old high-school student is constantly e-mailing her friends. "I want to be aware of what's going on with my friends and not to be left out," she says. Her mother wonders: is this an addiction?