Adding Hotspot Locations To Location Based Services
It appears that all the various hotspot directory offerings are battling it out, each with a somewhat different business plan. While the article linked above focuses on JiWire and WiFinder, it looks like Jupitermedia is going a slightly different route. They've licensed their hotspot list, called Wi-FiHotSpotList.com (which we still don't understand why they've changed their name from the slightly more memorable HotSpotList.com), to MapInfo, so that they can offer the list in various location based service offerings. This makes a lot of sense, and I'd be surprised if the other directories weren't targeting similar deals as well. Wouldn't it be nice, on your in-car navigation system (for those of you lucky enough to have one) to not only have it point out the nearest Burger King or gas station, but also the closest hotspots - and how much they cost (if anything)? Disclaimer: I write one of JiWire's weekly blogs, but have no other insight into what they're actually planning on doing.
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