Wireless broadband. Verizon Communications, the largest of the U.S. Baby Bell telephone companies, announced on 28 August that it has extended the coverage of its broadband wireless network to the 60 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, making it the first U.S. company to offer nationwide high-speed wireless Internet service. Built on top of the company's cellular network, the service, which comes in one version for laptops and another for cellphones, will allow users to surf the Web at speeds close to 1 megabyte per second.

Stripped-Down Desktops. On 23 August, Intel Corp. unveiled a prototype PC [photo] optimized for use in developing countries. Called the Community Computer, it will be rugged enough to withstand desert temperatures, bugs, and dust, capable of drawing power from an ordinary car battery, and able to connect to the Internet via built-in WiMAX wireless broadband technology. No word on when it will be commercially available.

Waste Not. Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, in Singapore, have created a credit card­size battery powered by urine. The prototype, described in the September issue of the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, comprises a solution of copper chloride sandwiched between strips of magnesium and copper, which is then laminated between sheets of plastic. Adding a drop of urine creates a chemical reaction that yields about 1.5 volts, the same as a standard AA battery.

—Willie D. Jones