Tomizone makes hotspots available for iPhone/iPod

With the iPhone set to launch in a few short days on the 11 July, Tomizone has built iPhone and iPod Touch capability into all of its 600-plus Wi-Fi hotspots in Australasia and is offering three-months free usage of its Internet service, said Tomizone’s CEO Steve Simms.

“Wi-Fi is the fastest internet connection available on these devices”, he said, “The iPhone is the hottest new product on the market and Apple has predicted iPhone sales of about 10 million this year. Tomizone is supporting Apple’s innovation by making our Wi-Fi network available for free, and also encouraging more people to become Tomizone Hotspot owners.”

The Tomizone Hotspot works with any iPhone or iPod Touch, irrespective of the telco (Telstra, Optus or Vodafone) network provider. There is no need to sign up for long-term or exclusive Wi-Fi access agreements with a telco, claimed Simms.

In addition to emailing and web surfing, the Tomizone Hotspot allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to download music from the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, something users can’t do over the conventional 3G network.

Simms claims its telco-independent Wi-Fi access service for iPhone and iPod Touch will be an incentive for businesses such as hotels, cafes and coffee shops to install Tomizone Hotspots as a means of attracting new customers. “The Tomizone Hotspot owner can also generate income from users who pay a very low fee to access the Internet,” he said.

After the three-month / 500 Mb introductory free usage period, Tomizone iPhone and iPod Touch users can choose a variety of low cost options: an hourly rate (A$3/NZ$3) for 60MB of data downloads; a day pass (A$4/NZ$4.50) with 160MB; or a seven-day pass (A$20/NZ$22.50) with 1.2GB, said Simms.