iPhone/iPod touch Get Free Wi-Fi Access at Hotspots

Tuesday January 15, 2008

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JiWire Ads for Access Finally, wireless hotspot access to the Internet is just like pre-DVR-era television--watch the ads to get what you want for free.

Well, not exactly, but JiWire is getting there.

At Macworld Expo this morning, JiWire announced that users of the iPhone and iPod touch can get free Wi-Fi access at 100,000 hotspots --or, at least at "select Wi-Fi hotspots located in airports, hotels, cafes, and other desirable locations" -- which are members of the JiWire "Ads for Access" network. That means when you whip out your iPhone/iPod touch and sign on with the Wi-Fi network, if the site is using Ads for Access, you can watch a full video advertisement--an interactive "Ultramercial"--to log on for free. (Or you can still pay, like a sucker.)

Of course, this isn't limited to iPhone; anyone with a laptop using hotspots on the JiWire ad network should be redirected to see the ad as well. But the ads may be different. Advertisers are targeting iPhone users specifically, at least to start, are HBO and Charles Schwab.

JiWire launched in 2003 to create a searchable directory of every Wi-Fi hotspot on planet Earth. It's had the directory search optimized for iPhone since its launch in 2007. But JiWire spent the bulk of last year retooling to concentrate on its advertising network. Except for an announcement last summer with Microsoft, which planned to use JiWire to display ads on municipal Wi-Fi networks (many of which are dying on the vine), this is the first big announcement about the network.

Among the 100,000 hotspots on the Ads for Access network are airports singled out for iPhone free access: JFK and LaGuardia in New York, O'Hare in Chicago, and Atlanta-Hartsfield. But JiWire doesn't specify which terminals or network providers use Ads for Access. Not even JiWire's own directory listings tell you. Expect finding the ad-supported free access to be hit-or-miss, at best.

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Posted By: Eric Griffith

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