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EE strikes deal with Virgin Media to give its customers free tube WiFi in 2013 (update: Vodafone, too)
Londoners enjoyed not only "the greatest show on earth" this summer, but also free tube WiFi courtesy of Virgin Media. It's due to remain complimentary for what's left of the year, but if you're with EE, you'll be able to continue updating your status from subterranean platforms in 2013. The UK's first 4G provider has struck a deal to hook its customers up to Virgin's underground WiFi infrastructure, although the announcement seems to have gone out a little earlier than planned. EE tweeted the news then swiftly retracted it, but has since replied to Mr. Miles at Pocket-lint confirming the partnership, at least for however long that message stays... yep, it's gone. If you're not on EE, don't get your sad face on just yet, as there are rumors circulating that other carriers will be piggybacking on Virgin's hotspots, too -- they just haven't accidentally announced it yet. Update: It's now officially official, and Vodafone's on board as well. Next year, tube WiFi will stay free for those signed with either EE or Voda, and Virgin will be offering pay-as-you-go options for those that aren't: daily, weekly or monthly access from £2 per day (roughly $3.20). Virgin is also hooking up another 48 stations, with 20 due to be switched on this December and 28 in early 2013. If you're wondering whether your local station is one of the score being hooked up this month, they're all listed in the PR below.
Virgin Media extends free tube WiFi for all until 2013
Tweeting about the obnoxious individuals you share a tube platform with was expected to be a one-time thing if you weren't a Virgin Media customer. The Branson-backed provider had said that, once the summer games had finished, it would make the service exclusive to its own broadband subscribers. Now, however, the company has reversed that decision, extending the free period through until the end of the year. The Telegraph is reporting that the turnaround is in part thanks to wholesale talks with other ISPs, who are keen to offer the service as part of their own packages. Given that we're unlikely to make it into the stratosphere or the bottom of the ocean any time soon, we'll settle for pretending we're a daring explorer of the Piccadilly line.
Visualized: London Underground circuit map is also a radio
London has a rich history of underground radio stations, but what if we flipped that, and turned London's Underground into a radio? Well it'd look like this. The circuit-board radio project is a collaboration between Yuri Suzuki and Masahiko Shindo, and uses Harry Beck's iconic tube map design. Note the choice of BBC's White City for the tuner, and Hyde Park's Speaker's Corner for volume control -- plus a few other famous names changed for geeky in-joke fun. We love the attention to detail, we just hope it's not permanently tuned to Capital FM.
Virgin Media WiFi in London goes deeper underground, 41 stations now hooked up
While it's been in the pipes for a while, and some lucky stations got an early arrival, Virgin Media has confirmed that 41 stations in total are now lapping from the bowl of sweet, sweet free WiFi. Considering that a million tweets, Facebook updates, and emails were delivered in the first week, and over 100,000 commuters have logged on in the last four, appetite for the service is high. While use is free at the moment, and TFL travel info will remain without charge, non Virgin Media customers will have to start paying up, once the Olympic Games are over. By then the full expected 120 stations should be plugged-in and switched on. For the current list of connected stations, head past the break.
Virgin Media activates more tube WiFi hotspots, minds the gaps in its coverage
Virgin Media has flicked the switch and coated Kings Cross and Warren Street tube stations in gloriously free WiFi. The pair will be joined tomorrow by Oxford Circus and Green Park, while Victoria and Euston will do the same on the 9th. In order to use the service, which is free during the Olympics, users need to hop onto the network and register their email address. Once the summer is over, Virgin Media customers will get preferential treatment on the network, with everyone else buying pay-as-you-go minutes so they can tweet about how long we're stuck at Edgware Road... again.
Virgin Media names the first 80 tube stations to get WiFi hotspots
Transport for London and Virgin Media have announced the first 80 London Underground stations that'll receive free WiFi in time for the Olympics. By the end of July, users will be able to surf from the train platform, ticket offices and escalators -- ideal for a few extra rush-hour injuries. The partnership will offer the internet free during the games season before switching to a pay-as-you-go model, with plans to swell the network to 120 by the end of the year. If you'd like to know if your morning commute is about to get some extra connectivity then head past the break for the full list.
Huawei offers to build out London Underground cellular coverage for free
No such thing as a free lunch, is there? China's Huawei has generously offered to pick up the roughly £50 million ($81 million) tab for equipment to line London's sprawling subway system with mobile phone reception, a package it says it's extending as a gift from Olympic host nation to another (London will host the 2012 Summer Olympics, and it has said in the past that it'd like the Tube wired in time). The official line is that Huawei would make its money back over time through maintenance contracts, but some politicians are raising red flags over the Chinese firm's potential control over a critical piece of London's wireless infrastructure -- a sentiment that seemed to help kill a potential Huawei deal with Sprint in the States. Of course, the over-connected nerd in us is tempted to brush off espionage concerns if it means we can stay on email all the way from the West End to the Docklands.
Live map of the London Underground tells you where the trains are, aren't
Those red pins above may not look much like trains, but trust us when we say that they totally are. That screenshot was taken from the Live train map for the London Underground, a project of Matthew Somerville and part of London's Science Hack Day. In just a few hours Somerville whipped up this Javascript parser of the Greater London Authority's Train Predictions Service, a stream of every Underground train's location and destination. That info is laid atop Google Maps along with static locations of stations and, huzzah, instant, real-time Tube map! If you're reading this while waiting patiently for your own, non-trackable unit of public transportation to arrive, know that we share the sense of envy burning down deep within you. [Thanks, Andrew]
London Underground to trial wireless availability
If you're ready for that precious uninterrupted cellular service while traveling under the ground on the London Underground mass transit service, your day may be coming. The Underground has announced a six-month trial starting in 2008 that will determine if it is economically and technically feasible to bring wireless service to all underground portions of the railway, which does not currently feature wireless service in the underground sections; first to get the treatment will be the trial in the Waterloo and City lines.[Via Slashgear]
Undersound, a way to trade music on the London Underground
Just in case waiting for a train in the London Underground while listening to your iPod has already become passé, a group of techie art types are putting together a new musical installation in the Tube network based on Bluetooth, which they call "Undersound." From the group's site: "In the same way that Londoners leave and retrieve newspapers as a kind of common good, so too will they with music. Unlike newspapers though, which are of unknown origin, each track in Undersound will have a birth-place, giving added meaning." The idea for Undersound is that people can transfer songs via Bluetooth (using public domain, non-copyrighted, royalty-free or creative commons-friendly music, of course) to a "transfer point" at a particular station. Then others can come along with their own mobile phones and pick up some new tunes as well, leaving a trail of metadata behind them, begging to be analyzed -- in a good way. We hope. We're not sure if there's going to be a huge difference from the tracks dropped off at Waterloo Station versus the ones at King's Cross, but we'll find out once the researchers get their gear up and running. [Via BoingBoing]Update (Oct. 24): We just got an email from Peter MacLennan, a spokesperson for the Transport for London office saying: "We have no plans to introduce this service on the Tube and have not received any approach from the organisation who are indicating that this will be reality."
