Got a Sony mylo Wi-Fi equipped handheld but aren't sure where to use it? We can tell you one network that's open: T-Mobile.

From the moment you first connect with a mylo at a T-Mobile Hotspot (found in Starbucks, Borders, FedEx Kinko's and elsewhere), you get 12 months of complimentary access (but you have to connect sometime in the next 15 months, before December 31, 2007). The connection will require a download of special T-Mobile Hotspot software to the mylo, which should be available soon.

As for Mylo itself, which is built on Trolltech's Qtopia Linux platform, a user can send instant messages via Google Talk, Skype or Yahoo! Messenger accounts - all free, no monthly fees involved. It omits the most popular IM client of all, AIM from AOL, as well as MSN, however.

The handheld can handle voice-over IP calls using Skype as well - and Skype is allowing calls from the SkypeOut service to any phone in the U.S. or Canada for free (usually it's only free from Skype user to Skype user), at least for a while, after which you just pay for SkypeOut minutes.

There's a 2.4-inch color screen for browsing JPEG photos, reading e-mails and Web surfing, or watching movies in MPEG-4 format. It's an MP3/WMA player (via a built in speaker or headphones), and will playback ATRAC audio files. There's 1 GB of flash memory and a MemoryStick slot to add up to 5 GB more.

Mylo's QWERTY thumb-keyboard is revealed when the top of the handhelds slides upward. Put it close to another mylo and they seek each other out for an ad-hoc Wi-Fi connection so you can IM or share music and photos.

    

The battery is said to last for 45 hours of music playback, seven hours when online, or three hours when talking with Skype. Microphone, headphones, USB cable and a neoprene case are all included in the package. There's no camera.

Mylo, which comes in black or white, sells for $350.