ALSO NOTED: Verizon upgrades network; A WiFi Skype phone; and much more...

> Verizon will upgrade its wireless network infrastructure to EV-DO Revision A which will boost the (theoretical) upload speeds to 1.8 Mbps and download speeds to 3.1 Mbps. Report

> Skype has teamed with several hardware vendors--Belkin, Edge-Core, Netgear, and SMC--to bring a WiFi Skype phone to its customers. Report

> Toronto had an ambitious muni-WiFi plan, but it keeps running into problems, some anticipated, some not. Report

> Microsoft is getting ready to unveil its response to the iPod: The Zune. The details will be given in this week's Billboard, but you can catch a glimpse here.

> Not to be outdone, Apple is setting to unveil a WiFi-capable iPod Nano at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on August 7. Rumor

> Take a BlackBerry, remove all of its cellular radios, voice-calling capabilities and PIM software and replace them with the ability to make use of WiFi hotspots. What do you get? MobileMag says: A high-tech fuse box for kids. Report

> Palm will add WiFi to its new line of Treos. Report

> The market for WiFi phones would reach $3.7 billion by 2009. Research firm Infonetics says that worldwide WiFi phone market increased 116 percent from 2004 to 2005 to reach $125.5 million. Report

And Finally... What will they think of next? Let's see: There are WiFi phones, WiFi PDAs, WiFi PlayStations--and now there is a WiFi pen. Costing $19, the pen detects wireless web signals in a 50-foot radius and features red, yellow and green lights indicating signal strength. You can also use it for writing. Details.