Posts Tagged ‘wi-fi’

Google Maps with even smaller magical blue circles

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

Over at the Google Mobile blog, Adel and Arunesh have just updated us with some great info about a new feature added to Google Maps upcoming version. According to the entry, finding your location is going to be even more precise with the addition of the ‘My Location with Wi-Fi’ feature. 

This addition comes right after the location team released new optimizations that enhanced the abilities of Google Maps to calculate your location even more accurately. 

My Location with Wi-Fi works pretty much similar to how your location is calculated based on Cell tower information. In this, information transmitted by Wi-Fi access points is used to calculate your location. Theoretically, since the range of the routers are very small compared to that of a cell tower, the location info calculated is more accurate.

However, they go onto mention that even though WiFi based location is available in many of the major cities in the world, the coverage and accuracy may vary. 

Is this what Ewan needed?

Do you see this as a feature that’ll change how you use Google Maps?

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Posted in Google, Mobile Applications | Comments

Heathrow gets T-Mobile’s largest Wi-Fi hotspot

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

If you are one of those regular air-travelers who often frequent the Heathrow Airport in the UK, this might come as a good news to you. Next time, pray that you get to use the Terminal 5 of the airport, so that you get to use T-Mobile’s Wi-Fi.

Why’s that so interesting? Although technologically, the Wi-Fi at the Terminal 5 offers nothing out of the extraordinary, it gets the credit for being T-Mobile’s largest Wi-Fi hotspot in the UK. It is so big, that I had to walk whole 50 football pitches to compare it with. T-Mobile also offers its Wi-Fi services at the other terminals at the Heathrow airport.

To be able to use the services, given that you are NOT a customer, T-Mobile charges £5 for one hour’s access or yo can pay just £10 for a whole 24 hours. Regular users can purchase a monthly subscription at £20 per month. Yes, they take credit cards too.

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Posted in T-Mobile, WiFi | Comments

Alltel opens up its Wi-Fi service with Boingo

Friday, June 27th, 2008

Alltel Wireless has announced that it has signed a deal with Boingo Wireless that will allow anyone to access to its more than 25,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in the US.

The deal with Boingo means that you can sign in and pay for usage without having to have a contract with Alltel. The rates are $19.99 for a month and $3.99 for one day’s usage. Or if you are an Alltel customer you can subscribe to the Internet Anywhere Bundle for $69.98 per month which gives you Mobile Internet and access to the Wi-Fi hotspots.

Angela Rittgers, director of product marketing at Alltel described the Internet Anywhere Bundle as “a common-sense approach to network connectivity.”

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Posted in Mobile Data, Operators, WiFi | Comments

T-Mobile launches $10 @Home

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

After a number of trials, T-Mobile has finally properly unveiled its home phone service. From next week, all of those T-Mobile users who really can’t bear to part with their home phone can sign up for the @Homer service, which promises unlimited nationwide long-distance calling (and other features like voicemail and call forwarding) for $10 a month.

T-Mobile customers will need the landline phone they normally use, a broadband connection, and the T-Mobile @Home HiPort Wireless Router with Home Phone Connection, available from T-Mobile for $49.99 on a two year contract.

It looks like a nice add on for T-Mobile customers and chances are it’s going to end up cheaper than whatever home phone option they had before. But signing up for a two year contract seems a little bit of a big ask, especially when the likes of Skype aren’t so pushy and offer a similar service.

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Posted in T-Mobile | Comments

Truphone snaps up SIM4travel for £1.3m

Monday, April 14th, 2008

VoIP company Truphone has announced it has bought up the strategic assets of SIM4travel, which sells low cost roaming minutes and texts to European travellers, comprising its mobile virtual network enabler and its travel SIM capabilities. The acquisition cost Truphone £1.343 million in cash and £1.3 million in shares.

Truphone says it will start integrating SIM4travel’s GSM goodies with its own VoIP ones right away and reckons it will be several months before it’s done.

Truphone is better known for its wi-fi calling/texting service, so this acquisition will see them combining that with cheap GSM services. It’s going to be seriously interesting to see what the combined Truphone-SIM4Travel will look like - could we be witnessing the birth of Truphone as a fully-fledge MVNO?

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Posted in VOIP | Comments

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