Nary a week after JetBlue expanded its in-flight internet services on BetaBlue comes news that the airline's LiveTV unit will be picking up Verizon's Airfone network. As you can glean, the purchase is being made in order to further "develop in-flight email and internet services," and while no purchase price was disclosed by either outfit, we are told that LiveTV will receive "100 air-to-ground US communications towers and Airfone's corporate and government aviation clients on January 1st." That's nice and all, but can't we get something out of this sooner?

During our time on JetBlue's BetaBlue aircraft, we came away mildly impressed with what was available. Thankfully, the airline isn't resting on its laurels, and has today announced expanded services for those lucky enough to secure a seat on the connected Airbus A320. By utilizing LiveTV's Kiteline platform, patrons can now check their Gmail, AOL Mail, Hotmail and Windows Live Mail from the comfort of their seat, and just in case you get bored with that, a "customized in-flight version of Amazon.com" will also be accessible. Yeah, we're talking really minor updates here, but at least the whole gamut of what's available is still totally free. Gratis and airlines just don't go together these days, so it's certainly a welcome change.

[Via Jaunted]

Gmail does IMAP, story at eleven -- or, well, close to two in the morning Eastern. Anyway, more over at Engadget Mobile, although desktop IMAP enthusiasts will probably also want to revel in the news.

Man, is there a Steve Jobs keynote today or something? Oh, right, the WWDC hype machine is in town. As such, we've got another tasty rumor to tide you over until things kick off later today. MacScoop has it that Apple's .Mac is about to get a helpful hand from Silicon Valley buds, Google. According to their sources, Apple's neglected .Mac service is set for a Google infrastructure overhaul which includes updated pricing, more services, and an increase in storage. The revamped offering is expected to offer free Google services bundled with traditional .Mac offerings at variable pricing schemes but similar levels of integration with OS X. Of course, it's only a rumor but it certainly seems plausible. After all, Google's cloud offerings have rapidly matured since Apple's .Mac launch in 2002. More telling perhaps, is Jobs' response at All Things D to a question about .Mac's shortcomings: "I couldn't agree with you more and we will make up for lost time in the very near future." That was less than 2 weeks ago. The possibilities are certainly tantalizing... push-Gmail to the iPhone anyone?

Man, this one is feeding right into some fanboy's sick fantasy: when asked at a conference on Monday about a potential Google + Apple tablet device, Google CEO Eric Schmidt did confirm that the two companies are working together on "many more" new projects and left it at that. It's tempting to want to read a lot into that, too bad that "working together" doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot. Especially since "working together" could mean anything from the Google Maps app that comes pre-installed on the iPhone (which also happens to be already available for lots of other phones as well) to more deeply integrating Google into Safari, with some sort of hardware device being a longshot. Besides, isn't Google working on a phone of its own?

[Thanks, Will Arnold]

Like your Gmail account? Consider it a sacred place which must be protected from spammers at all cost? Yeah, us too. Well, we hate to break the bad news at the dawn of the new year but there's a weakness in Gmail which exposes your email address to any web site capable of exploiting the bug. As reported on Digg, the exploit takes advantage of the fact that Google puts your details into a JS file. As a result, if you're logged into Gmail and browsing the web, any rogue website can declare the function "google" and then parse all your contacts. The only way to safeguard yourself is to disable Javascript in your browser (or enabled it for trusted sites only) or simply climb into a hole and not browse while logged into Google services like Gmail, Blogger, Orkut, Reader, Calendar, etc. -- you know, the sites you typically have open all day long. For obvious reasons, we will not link directly to the site which demonstrates the exploit on your personal account due to the risk of running possibly malicious code. However, we tested it and found our most precious account -- and those of our contacts -- correctly identified and ready for harvest. But hey, even though Gmail has been out since 2004, it is still "beta"... right?

Update 1: There are reports that Google has fixed the issue. Their "fix" is related and with any luck should be applicable. However, it's no fix. Don't believe us? Login to your fave Google service and give this non-malicious link a click.

Update 2: Google seems to have now patched the vulnerability.

Contrary to previous beliefs, it looks like neither Orange nor HTC will have a part in producing the first "Googlephone," and instead it seems that Samsung is slipping in the back door to steal the limelight. When the Ultra Edition 13.8 (formerly known as the Z720) got official a few days back, we noticed the relatively unexpected suite of Google apps swarming the mobile's innards, and aside from the handset not exactly abiding by the Opera agreement that is supposedly falling into place, it seems a good fit for the first Google-infused mobile. Of course, the programs that come loaded are all available as free downloads on supported handsets, but it seems the European-bound 13.8 will be numero uno in what's likely to be quite a lengthy list of Googled mobiles.

We promised an all listener-voicemail Engadget Podcast, and that's exactly what you're gonna get this Friday, January 20th. Today's listener questions run the gamut of topics from BitTorrent and movie piracy to CableCard and (HD)TV on your computer, and we do our best to answer 'em with our usual brand of gadgety back-n-forth. If you haven't already blown us up at 1-888-ENGADGET to leave a voicemail, why not start now? Who knows, you may make it on next week's regular Podcast, or if we have enough callers we can always work another voicemail episode of the show. What's that number again? 1-888-ENGADGET.

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Hosts
Peter Rojas and Ryan Block

Producer
Randall Bennett

Music
J J J - ‘Suits’ in Japan

Format
46:48, 21.4 MB, MP3

Program
01:23 What's the best way to use GMail Mobile?
05:20 Internet Downloads and sweet home theaters ruining theaters?
17:25 Do computer monitors support HD input?
20:56 Will Apple release another PDA?
27:10 Will they ever announce the Motorola Q?
31:58 Does the Nokia 770 support stereo Bluetooth profiles?
33:00 What's up with CableCard?
40:15 Why do cellphones interfere with so many electronic devices?

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Call up the Podcast at: 1-888-ENGADGET