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    Intel ultrabooks and tablets to get access to nearly eight million free, open Wi-Fi connections

    Intel ultrabooks and tablets to get access to nearly eight million free, open Wi-Fi connections

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    Intel-powered devices like ultrabooks and tablets will now be able to use Devicescape's connection manager technology to access the company's millions of open Wi-Fi hotspots.

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    samsung series 9 ultrabook
    samsung series 9 ultrabook

    The majority of laptops these days still aren't equipped with mobile internet connections, so most users need to rely on tethering, MiFi devices, or good old-fashioned Wi-Fi connections when on-the-go. Intel's hoping to make finding a Wi-Fi signal a little easier through a deal the company just inked with Devicescape — Intel-powered devices like ultrabooks and tablets will now be able to use Devicescape's connection manager technology to access the company's millions of open Wi-Fi hotspots. Devicescape's connection software will be included in future Intel devices, and should help users seamlessly find connections — in fact, the company is claiming that connections are completely automatic and near invisible to the end user. When a device is in range of a Devicescape hotpost, it can connect and begin updating content immediately — even if the computer in question is asleep.

    Devicescape refers to itself as a "curated virtual network" (CVN) — out of the approximately 100 million open Wi-FI connections in the world, about eight million are part of the Devicescape network. The company measures all potential candidates by quality, availability, speed, and reliability, and only adds fewer ten percent of the networks it measures into its CVN. While this new deal certainly won't guarantee that uses will easily find a wireless network, having more options for getting online quickly and cheaply while on-the-go can't be a bad thing.