Dell's Latitude Has WiFi, Dude

ROUND ROCK, Texas -- Accessing the Internet from airports, hotels and other wireless "hotspots" just got easier with Dell(tm) (Nasdaq:DELL) today announcing that two products in its Latitude(tm) notebook family are now shipping with Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) capability as a standard feature. Based on customer feedback and the boom in the use of wireless technology, Dell's Latitude C400 and X200 ultra portable notebooks begin shipping today in the United States, and will begin shipping next month in Europe and Japan, with the ability to tap the Internet from any location enabled with high-speed Wi-Fi(R) (802.11b) wireless access. The standard feature will allow users to get up to 11Mbps access to the Web on private networks at home and at work and in public locations through a wireless Internet service provider. (Range and speed will vary according to environmental and other factors.) Through its Truemobile(tm) wireless products, Dell offers a complete suite of wireless solutions for home or office. To help further drive awareness of public Wi-Fi locations, Dell has coordinated with Wayport, a leading provider of high-speed Wi-Fi wireless and wired Internet access in more than 475 hotels and 10 airports, to offer Dell's U.S. customers discounted memberships and a limited-time offer of 30 days access at no charge(a). The offer is available from Wayport (www.wayport.net) for customers using Dell Latitude and Inspiron(tm) notebooks with WLAN capability. "Our ultra-portable notebook customers are using their systems in a wider variety of environments, taking advantage of high-speed Internet access wherever they can. Wireless LANs and hotspots are growing at a phenomenal rate worldwide, and through our partnership with Wayport, we are helping notebook users increase their productivity and efficiency," Anthony Bonadero, director of Dell portables marketing, said. "We expect to see wireless LAN capability as a standard feature on virtually all Dell Latitude notebooks in the near future." Dell Computer Corp. Wayport Inc.