So Google paid for something so users can get it for free and they want to limit that to their own customers. If Apple did it I wouldn't really have a problem with it. I don't really see this as any different than the many, many apps that are only available to one platform or the other. Sure it is annoying when a company puts out only an iOS app but I just view that as a lost opportunity for them. But Google/Boingo aren't losing anyone here. So some people can't get something for free... but those people either would have paid anyway or they weren't going to use the service. Not giving it to them for free isn't really losing a customer.
So the offering is slated to last only a couple weeks and there's seemingly no way to identify which locations are included. Am I missing something, or is this really just a lot of hot air?
I don't think the hype this piece of news got was due to the way it works but mostly because its restricted towards Apple users. It's not newsworthy by itself but because it's part of the Apple/Google war, bloggers gave it far more importance than in should've got in the first place.
Hype aside, if Google & friends are making a marketing offering, it's just good sense to ensure that the details of what has been offered are very clear. Google vs. Apple aside, here we have a very official-looking press release about this supposed partnership and I don't know how or where to take advantage of it (and, see their advertisements, I might add).
FTA: Google Play is sponsoring free wifi. iOS users don't have access to Google Play.
Is this new? I have had no problem getting onto Boinge with my iOS device.
You can still get it on your iOS device(s). The difference is Google is offering it free.
Is that new? I mean I have had it for free on my iOS for at least a couple of months.
They are only excluding iOS? Macs are still allowed? What's the problem?
I don't think so. I remember reading on a blog that Mac & Windows users have to pay too.
> I don't think so. I remember reading on a blog that Mac & Windows users have to pay too.
From the article "Android phones and tablets and Windows and Macintosh laptops will be able to make use of this service"
...and I'm being downvoted because, apparently, TechCrunch is the only reliable news source online and saying something that might contradict it is wrong from the start. :)
From the official Boingo press release "Android phones and tablets, as well as Windows and Macintosh laptops, will be offered complimentary Wi-Fi"
In that case I guess I was wrong and so was the source I had. Thank you for proving me wrong. I guess I should start reading the Press Releases more often.
Is it time for Senate hearings about hotspot neutrality?
No.
I wouldn't worry too much about it. Faking an ID towards a wireless network is pretty easy to do. There will probably be apps that would fool the WiFi into thinking your iPhone is an Android device.