Google to help set up free WiFi blanket in NYC’s Southwest Chelsea neighborhood

While Google's offered free WiFi access in NYC subways from time to time, it's apparently now set to help get a permanent solution live in a Manhattan neighborhood. There are no details regarding a time-frame, but the company's linked up with the Chelsea Improvement Company to provide the access in Southwest Chelsea. Aside from the perks of pro bono interwebs for all, the initiative will serve to provide internet to likes of low-income and student housing in the locale -- though, it seems a natural undertaking given Google's office in the area. At the very least, it's another nice chip toward municipal WiFi in the Big Apple. Full presser after the break.

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Via: Yahoo! News, BGR

Virgin Media extends free tube WiFi for all until 2013

Virgin Media extends free tube WiFi for all until 2013

Tweeting about the obnoxious individuals you share a tube platform with was expected to be a one-time thing if you weren't a Virgin Media customer. The Branson-backed provider had said that, once the summer games had finished, it would make the service exclusive to its own broadband subscribers. Now, however, the company has reversed that decision, extending the free period through until the end of the year. The Telegraph is reporting that the turnaround is in part thanks to wholesale talks with other ISPs, who are keen to offer the service as part of their own packages. Given that we're unlikely to make it into the stratosphere or the bottom of the ocean any time soon, we'll settle for pretending we're a daring explorer of the Piccadilly line.

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Virgin Media extends free tube WiFi for all until 2013 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 04:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft backs free Boingo WiFi in NYC and San Francisco, hopes you’ll see Metro on the metro

New York City subway stop

Microsoft is about to launch a giant media blitz for Windows 8, and it wants to guarantee that even those of us heads-down in our laptops and smartphones take notice. It's sponsoring Boingo's WiFi, making it free at popular locations in New York City and San Francisco through the holidays to pitch both its new OS and the Windows Store. The San Francisco locations are already active and mostly cover signature locations such as Fisherman's Wharf and Union Square, but Microsoft is going all-out for the New York City campaign starting November 1st: the free WiFi will reach over 200 locations in Manhattan as well as the six NYC subway stations offering underground wireless. While some might not enjoy the hard sell on Windows 8 while they're checking into Foursquare, we'd say it's at least relevant that Microsoft pushes its urban sign UI in the city that was arguably the software's major inspiration.

[Image credit: pspyro2009, Flickr]

Continue reading Microsoft backs free Boingo WiFi in NYC and San Francisco, hopes you'll see Metro on the metro

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Microsoft backs free Boingo WiFi in NYC and San Francisco, hopes you'll see Metro on the metro originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 01:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GOWEX bringing free WiFi to French rail stations, starting with Marseille

GOWEX bringing free WiFi to French rail stations

We take free WiFi at our transportation hubs for granted here in the US. (Heck, we've even got it deep in the bowels of NYC.) In other countries, it's not a given that you'll have high-speed broadband at your disposal while waiting for a train or plane. France is working on it though, with GOWEX signing a deal with the National Society of French Rail (SNCF) to bring wireless internet to rail stations across the nation. The first part of the puzzle will be the bustling Marseille St. Charles in the south of France. At some point in 2013 (though, the company refused to specify when) the switch will be flipped and tourists in and around the Marseille station will be able to enjoy 512Kbps internet for free. For a few more details check out the PR after the break.

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GOWEX bringing free WiFi to French rail stations, starting with Marseille originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Oct 2012 00:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UK retailer Game promises free in-store WiFi, asks only that you visit

UK retailer Game promises free instore WiFi, asks only that you visitEver put a game back on the shelf because Metacritic took too long to load? Fortunately, the UK's largest (and wobbliest) games retailer is aware of the impediment and has decided to offer free Wi-Fi in all 341 of its premises before Christmas. The service will be part of BT WiFi's network of hotspots and aim to give gamers access to "all the information they need to buy there and then."

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UK retailer Game promises free in-store WiFi, asks only that you visit originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 09:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wall Street Journal to offer free WiFi hotspots in NYC and San Francisco during September

Wall Street Journal to offer free WiFi hotspots in NYC and San Francisco during September

Oh New Yorkers and their marvelous, no-cost WiFi access points. Only a few days after Google Offers and Boingo happily announced they'd brought gratis wireless connectivity to additional underground locations within the city, The Wall Street Journal is now let it be known it too will be kind enough to gift the NYC crowd with some WiFi hotspots of its own. The nice gesture will bring around 1,300 network units to areas such as SoHo, Greenwich Village, Union Square, Chelsea and, naturally, the renowned Times Square during the month of September -- all in hopes of giving "people the opportunity to sample The Wall Street Journal." Meanwhile, folks in San Francisco can also grab the internet-friendly freebies in a couple of different places, including Nob Hill and Fisherman's Wharf. And don't worry, there won't be any donkeys involved here.

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Wall Street Journal to offer free WiFi hotspots in NYC and San Francisco during September originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boingo snaps up Cloud Nine Media to expand its ad-sponsored WiFi network

Boingo snaps up Cloud Nine Media to expand its ad-sponsored WiFi network

Boingo tried its hand at free WiFi with Google earlier this summer, and now it's acquired Cloud Nine Media to help it claim a larger slice of the sponsored internet access pie. Though Boingo's 500,000 subscription-based access points vastly outnumber its acquisition's 6,000 ad-sponsored locations, it hopes to use the newly purchased company's hotspot sponsorship and ad-sales expertise to increase its free WiFi footprint. "This acquisition allows us to bring that capability in-house to better serve our growing need to deliver sponsored WiFi," Boingo CEO David Hagan told AllThingsD. Naturally, the firm's $9.95-a-month plan will live on, but it's good to know that Boingo will enable more folks to surf the web free of charge from here on out.

[Image credit: Charleston's TheDigitel, Flickr]

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Boingo snaps up Cloud Nine Media to expand its ad-sponsored WiFi network originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 07:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge  |  sourcePC World, AllThingsD  | Email this | Comments

NYC launches free public WiFi trial, links it to skeevy payphones

NYC launches free public WiFi trial, links it to skanky payphones

Free public WiFi may be the sort of thing you automatically associate with Starbucks, but starting today, you'll be able to add NYC payphones to that short list. The city's pilot program, just officially launched, aims to spread gratis wireless service to residents of the five boroughs and the ceaseless crush of tourists they love to hate. Currently, only ten kiosk locations are live across Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan -- a planned rollout to Staten Island and the Bronx is underway -- and, for any curious passersby, can be easily located by their very conspicuous signage (as seen above). So, if you're out and about the Big Apple and that 4G LTE connection's just not cutting the mustard, why not give King Mayor Bloomberg's city WiFi a try? Hit up the source below for the hotspot specifics.

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NYC launches free public WiFi trial, links it to skeevy payphones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 16:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tim Hortons bringing free WiFi to 90 percent of its locations by September

Tim Hortons bringing free WiFi to 90 percent of its locations by September

It's already toyed around with offering free WiFi at a few of its locations, but Tim Hortons has now finally committed to making the service available at most of its restaurants across Canada. That's being done through a partnership with Bell Canada, which Tim Hortons says was selected after a "rigorous six-month testing process," and it looks like the WiFi has already been turned on at quite a few of its locations (you can search for those near you using the store locator on its website). All told, the company expects to roll the service out to more than 90 percent of its restaurants (not including gas stations, kiosks, and the like), or over 2,000 locations, by this September -- a number that Tim Hortons says will make it the largest free WiFi network in Canada.

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Tim Hortons bringing free WiFi to 90 percent of its locations by September originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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