Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone
The Cloud offers UK iPod touch users low cost Wi-Fi access
The Cloud, which is an awesomely named independent Wi-Fi network in Europe, today announced a special plan made just for iPod touches. The Cloud Unlimited Music gives iPod touch users unlimited access to the Clouds extensive network of Wi-Fi hotspots across the UK for £3.99 per month.You might wonder why this is exclusive to the iPod touch, why not let iPhone users in on the fun? That's because the iPhone contract with O2 in the UK includes access to the Cloud (which is very cool indeed, why can't AT&T include something like this in the iPhone data plan?).
Visit this website on Monday to register your iPod touch for the Cloud Unlimited Music plan (which includes internet access in addition to access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
blinkcowz182 said 3:10PM on 9-28-2007
All Apple had to do was go with T-Mobile which has just as good EDGE coverage and then throw in T-Mobile WiFi in the plan or the ability to add it on after the fact. T-Mobile would have been such a great carrier to partner with...
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Leonard Nimrod said 3:10PM on 9-28-2007
It would be cool if Apple's deal with T-Mobile in Germany and there deal with iTunes purchases at Starbucks--most of which use T-Mobile's HotSpots--would include free wifi with iPhones.
I'm just dreaming.
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Daniel said 3:32PM on 9-28-2007
Good point #1. It's too bad!
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Justin Eaton said 3:33PM on 9-28-2007
So is there any WiFi alternative for Touch users in the US?
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Ethan said 3:37PM on 9-28-2007
The US doesn't really have a national WiFi provider. I mean, major cities/regions are covered by certain providers, such as T-Mobile, but nothing like The Cloud.
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Seth Amott said 3:57PM on 9-28-2007
Also, if you think about it. Most of the WiFi providers in the US are competitors in another part of their business with AT&T. Is there anywhere online that has statistics about US WiFi providers and their coverage?
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Mo said 4:14PM on 9-28-2007
This is very very cool.
Shame nobody can get hold of iPod Touches just now :(
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Mabsey said 4:58PM on 9-28-2007
@ Mo
I know that they are still taking a time to fulfill the online orders, but my understanding is you can buy in the Apple Stores (at least the Regent Street one). Is that not correct?
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MS said 5:12PM on 9-28-2007
@Mabsey, not only were there none in stock in the Regent Street branch today, but the staff there were *utterly clueless* as to why, or when they'd be getting any more, or whether they'd just sold out or never had any stock in at all, or whether today was even the official launch date. It's the same story at all my local resellers as well. So thanks Apple, for hyping the s**t out of this thing and making it impossible to get one while simultaneously releasing just enough units early to frustriate the hell out of everyone else.
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pyoo said 5:16PM on 9-28-2007
AT&T offers low-cost or free access to their nationwide network of wifi hotspots to their DSL customers. It would have been nice if they had extended this offer to their wireless subscribers who pay for the unlimited data plan.
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Mabsey said 5:23PM on 9-28-2007
@ Mo
I know that they are still taking a time to fulfill the online orders, but my understanding is you can buy in the Apple Stores (at least the Regent Street one). Is that not correct?
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Mabsey said 5:26PM on 9-28-2007
@ MS
Sorry - bloody 1Passwd copying my old comment there!
What I meant to say was yet again it looks like the UK is the US' poor cousin but at least the US market was able to be the beta tester for you and the dark screen issue has been resolved!
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Tony said 5:53PM on 9-28-2007
@5 - 'the cloud' is not a national provider they are a bitplayer in this market. They mostly cover pubs/clubs (and precious few of them)... the big boys are T-mobile and BT Openzone (who also share each others hotspots).
Importantly they do *not* cover starbucks, costa coffee, etc. Each of their hotspots covers a single building (pub, cafe, etc.). I live a mile from a cloud 'hotzone' - one that they made a great noise about covering 'the entire city'. To date I have *never* seen a working cloud hotspot.
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lazygamer said 6:31PM on 9-28-2007
The Cloud is technically a National Provider, but you have to remember that most hotspots between BT Openzone, The Cloud and T-Mobile are Roaming Wireless hostpots, e.g. if you have a Cloud account, you can use a BT Openzone hotspot and vice-versa.
Not sure if it applies for the iPod Touch/iPhone packages, as T-Mobile charge over £3.99 an HOUR for their hotspots.
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lazygamer said 6:37PM on 9-28-2007
Also, The Cloud are setting up Wifi access across whole city centres (Birmingham, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham and Oxford, along with the London boroughs of Kensington, Chelsea, Camden and Islington) by adding wireless kit to BT phone boxes.
BT and The Cloud offer free wireless for the Nintendo DS too :)
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Mr Lizard said 7:03PM on 9-28-2007
Re out of stock iPod touches
I picked mine up a couple of weeks ago in the Regent Street store, how come they are all gone?!
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Dave said 2:59AM on 9-29-2007
Just some extra Cloud info. BT use The Cloud network instead of their own now at McDonalds chain of restaurants. You will still see BTOpenzone as availabl, but this is only where the old kit was not turned off.
Also, if you have BT Broadband, most levels come with 250 minutes per month of free WiFi access, which includes using The Cloud via a direct link to BT as one of their partners.
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Stuart Bell said 6:03AM on 9-29-2007
Good news! Full price access at £6.99 was tempting; at the price it's VERY tempting. Hot Spot networks will grow and grow.
Stuart
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Mo said 7:15AM on 9-29-2007
The Apple Store Buchanan Street had iPod Touches in this morning, but told me when I bought mine that they were nearly out of stock, and that demand for them was pretty immense.
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Tony said 7:40AM on 9-29-2007
"The Cloud are setting up Wifi access across whole city centres"
As I mentioned, I live right near one of those city centres and it's simply marketing bunk. The phone boxes have a range of about 50 yards... and at last count they'd enabled about 8 of them in a city of about 3 miles square. I regularly work where you can *see* one of those things out of the window and there is no wireless signal from it even at that distance.
I believe in the US they have true citywide wireless (if comments on other forums are to be believed) but not here, except possibly parts of London, which I haven't been to in the last year so couldn't check.
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