Reports coming from the Mobile World Congress indicate that Boingo is already developing a mobile client for the iPhone to launch shortly after the SDK is released. Boingo's system utilizes a proprietary software client that connects subscribers to more than 100,000 for-pay Wi-Fi hotspots across the globe. The "Boingo Mobile" plan costs a slim $7.95 per month for hanheld users. Surf the Internet at true broadband speeds, enjoy global WiFi roaming and VoIP for one low fee. [the crowd cheers!]
"Our goal is to get [the iPhone client] out as quickly as possible, because it does represent a significant percentage of the devices touching our network," said Christian Gunning, Boingo's director of marketing.
According to Gunning, 19 percent of the people who try to connect to Boingo's WiFi networks in airports are on Mac OS X, and 6 percent use the iPod Touch or iPhone. Expect iPhone and iPod Touch versions of Boingo's connection client software to show up in the second half of the year. Nice!
[via PC Magazine.com]
Boingo won't sell you the $7.95 account for the iPhone/Touch until they have client software written for it. Definitely not before June.
They will only sell you the $40 monthly account, which is a little steep for a handheld device.
Posted by: macbot3000 | March 10, 2008 at 02:48 PM
Your readers may like to know that they can already use the excellent Boingo Mobile plan with their iPhone and iPod touch by means of the Devicescape service. Our iPhone/iPod client is available in the Networking section of the Installer.app (on jailbroken iPhones/iPods).
Posted by: John | February 12, 2008 at 05:47 PM