Google Wifi to Launch

Google will launch a wifi service in the near future. Details are slim, but the buzz is growing.

It looks like the basic concept is a secure VPN – you sacrifice having Google see everything you do to ensure that other people on whatever wifi network you are on cannot (wifi sniffing is easy and widespread, and many passwords are transmitted without hashing). Om Malik, GoogleRumors and Tris Hussey write about this.

Google has not publicly commented, but there are a number of links referring to the service on the Google website:

• wifi.google.com/faq.htm – refers to a product called “Google Secure Access,” which is designed to “establish a more secure connection while using Google WiFi.”
• wifi.google.com/faq.htm – offers a free download of Google Secure Access, carrying the headline: “Your wireless connection is almost ready to use.”

Is this web 2.0? Nope. But it’s interesting. And with all of Google’s recent product launches, the idea of Google Purge becomes, if possible, even funnier.

Additional Reading

John Paczkowski, RatcliffeBlog, Dana Blankenhorn, The Stalwart, ebiquity, Peter O’Kelly