It’s been a busy few weeks here at Devicescape and we haven’t had the chance to write until now. On October 20th we announced our own hotspot network called, simply, the Easy WiFi Network. We launched a brand new web portal at easywifi.com to eventually replace my.devicescape.com and released a new version of the iPhone OS app via Apple’s App Store. This week we followed up with upgraded apps for Nokia devices via Ovi, and a brand new platform – Android – on the Android Marketplace. And, we produced new versions of the PC app for Windows 7 and a new version of the Mac app for Snow Leopard. Whew!
This new version is a HUGE change for Devicescape. For the last two years we’ve built a loyal following of users who use Easy WiFi to connect to their hotspot accounts. We now support over 1200 different hotspot providers, ranging from commercial providers like AT&T to university campuses (go AirBears!) Right now we’re managing around 400,000 connections per day with our little utility. Pretty cool. But, of course, we’re always thinking of ways to improve our products, so we decided to take it to the next level by going beyond connecting to helping people find WiFi and give them a hotspot network to connect to!
The Easy WiFi Network is the culmination of this planning. On easywifi.com you can see a map of our network (the pins in blue are locations you can access) and you can search around to see the coverage. The downloadable apps do the same thing while you’re mobile, plus they will connect you automatically (semi-automatically on iPhone) when you’re in range of one of the Easy WiFi Network locations. And if you have an additional hotspot provider, their locations will show up on the map and you will be connected automatically there too.
We’ve really turned Easy WiFi on its head. Before, it was only useful if you had a hotspot provider. Now, we give users free access to a large hotspot network, and if you have an additional provider we extend your coverage. It’s completely personalized, just the way WiFi should be.
We’ll be blogging a lot more about the Network now that we have some time to regroup. It’s going to get very large: right now it’s at 160,000 locations worldwide and growing fast. Read more about it at easywifi.com.