Any article discussing some fun new tech in Japan is liable to be instantly out of date, because those guys have everything. Voice synthesizers, Olympic robots, eco-friendly Christmas lights – whatever. But this is new, and probably practical enough to port overseas: vending machines that sell Wi-Fi accessible within a 50m radius.

The machines, which offer drinks as well as Wi-Fi signals, were announced by Tokyo-based beverage company Asahi Soft Drinks on Tuesday.

The technology itself isn’t that fancy – the new iPhone can generate Wi-Fi networks too. What is nice, though, is that the Wi-Fi can be accessed with multiple devices, without registration, and without customers being made to bu Asahi drinks before being able to go online. Which means that these vending machines are offering better Wi-Fi access than the majority of urban cafes with cutesy Wi-Fi deals.

Folk purchasing Wi-Fi will be able to access it within a 50m radius of the vending machines, for a period of 30 minutes – although they will have the option to reconnect.

1 000 vending machine models are due to roll out in Japan over the next year; there’s no word on when anything equivalent can be expected overseas.

[Source: Asahi Drinks]