Google, the company behind a great deal of speculation as it unveils citywide Wi-Fi in San Francisco, recently announced plans to connect seven African cities with Wi-Fi networks, including Abuja, Nigeria. While some people wonder if Google is testing its large-scale Wi-Fi capabilities before unleashing them on the U.S., Google denies this claim. Last year the company created a foundation focused on “giving on world poverty and the environment,” and it says this African project falls within the foundation’s goal. Google also contributed $2 million to MIT’s One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program, an effort to distribute inexpensive laptops to millions of children in emerging markets. To see the $100 laptop created for the OLPC program and read more about this initiative, visit laptop.com.

In another effort to bring Internet access to developing countries, non-profit organization Green Wi-Fi hopes to enlighten students using Wi-Fi fueled by solar power. Two former Sun employees, Bruce Baikie and Marc Pomerlea, recently left behind the corporate world to start Green Wi-Fi, and they received seed money from the One Laptop Per Child initiative to begin development. The technical specifics are as follows: “Each node in the network consists of a battery-powered router and a solar panel to charge the battery. The nodes are mounted on rooftops, and the network's Wi-Fi signals are transferred over a grid using a wireless network standard known as 802.11b/g.” Green Wi-Fi, in cooperation with a Canadian aid agency, will test the system this fall in three schools in Uttar Pradesh, Northern India. To read more about the product, including technical challenges during development, check out the article here.

Sony recently unveiled a new gadget designed for instant messaging and other Internet-based communications. The Sony mylo, weighing just 5 ounces, conveniently fits in the pockets of users, whom Sony expects will be mostly 18 to 22 year olds. The mylo will be available in September and retail for about $350. Users can instant message, check and send e-mail, make Internet phone calls wherever there’s Wi-Fi using the matching headphones and microphone, surf the web, and store and play music, photos, and video. The mylo comes with 1 GB of memory, but for an extra $170 users can increase the memory to 5 GB.

If you fell for those robotic dogs a few years ago, perhaps your newest electronic pet will be the Nabaztag Rabbit. Sold by French-based company Violet, this new device comes enabled with Wi-Fi and, according to Violet, has been designed to show “emotions.” The Nabaztag can connect to the Internet without a computer. After you purchase a Rabbit, you’re supposed to register online and set up preferences, which will allow you to make the Rabbit light up, play music, talk, sing, and wiggle its ears. How will this electronic buddy make your life better? Well, according to Violet you can use it to issues alerts about weather or traffic forecasts, have it read your e-mail aloud, or even save yourself the trouble of announcing bedtime to your children. If you think this product sounds a big strange, you’re not the only one; however, it certainly does have fans. Since its debut last year, more than 50,000 Nabaztag Rabbits have been sold in France, Britain, Belgium, and Switzerland. Violet plans to push this quirky product in the U.S. just in time for the holiday shopping season.