Blogs

Wi-Fi everywhere is becoming more than a slogan. As is evident from the infographic, cities continue to add public Wi-Fi options, giving residents and visitors access to free Internet access through smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Cities often place these public Wi-Fi networks in areas where a lot of people tend…

Is ignorance bliss? Or would better understanding of technology alleviate our privacy concerns? Are we over-sharing our data? Facebook’s study about emotional contagion in June of this year raised questions about privacy, consent and how much data we’re sharing online without even knowing. The data scientists behind the study deliberately manipulated the…

Some big news from Apple recently was the announcement that with iOS 8 they would be randomizing MAC addresses of devices when scanning for WiFi. We were all expecting this change as part of the iOS 8 release. HOWEVER Early testing by Purple WiFi and others has revealed that random…

WiFi in a franchised world A franchise is the practice of leasing the right to use a firm’s successful business model and brand. When you are running a franchised business model, the key to success is consistency. Whether it’s a hotel, restaurant or any other type of franchise, when I walk…

Access to the internet has huge potential to improve the healthcare experience for patients, from appointment reminders to increasing connection to the outside world during hospital stays. WiFi in healthcare settings enhances communication with friends and family, provides entertainment, permits access to the workplace and generally reduces a feeling of…

The Huffington Post recently gave us 50 technology statistics including some stats from our own Purple WiFi survey! Amazingly 90% of all smartphones are equipped with WiFi capabilities and we have picked some of the other interesting WiFi stats: 1) WiFi makes shoppers happy We know from the Future Stores…

Everybody loves a good deal! Many of us will admit to carrying several loyalty cards around with us to make sure we get access to some of the best deals. But in today’s society we are used to getting everything fast – it’s a world of instant gratification. Point collecting…

Life before the Internet Despite the fact that many of us experienced life before WiFi, it has become virtually impossible to imagine our personal and working lives without it. Being connected to the internet means we can achieve things far quicker and more efficiently than in the past: handwritten letters…

I love my mobile phone! An interesting social media article by David Murton posed the question – Is WiFi making us less sociable? David says: “We now live in a culture in which someone on your screen is actually physically closer to you, two dimensionally anyway, than the three dimensional people…

Bring your own device, or BYOD, is a phenomenon allowing personal laptops, tablets and smartphones into the workplace to gain online access and view company information. Initially met with trepidation, it is now firmly entrenched into the corporate world. Whether employers like it or not, it’s happening! So should you…

Internet searches and brain patterns It is widely thought that mental stimulation might improve the brain’s ability to function. In a study, Researcher’s Small 2009 and colleagues suggested that simply carrying out internet searches might increase brain functioning too. The researchers looked at a small sample (24 participants) of middle…

WiFi Presence Analytics bridges the gap between Google Analytics and the real world, offering real-time data and reporting using WiFi technology. It’s similar to how cookies track user browsing online. This information gives our venues an unprecedented level of insight into consumer behavior and opportunities to engage customers directly.

How do you tell if the public WiFi on offer is secure or not secure? Open WiFi Access – what is it and why is it bad? Currently there are many businesses out there (over 90% according to our survey) which have open WiFi access. This is not secure. WiFi…

Although the story of Ella Birchenough is quite an amusing one, it’s a slightly worrying indication of what we might risk to save our smartphones from any harm. Ella Birchenough was so desperate not to be without her mobile phone that after dropping it down a drain she jumped straight…

The recent large scale study ‘The Future Stores 2014 State of Brick and Mortar Report’ has looked into the in-store retail experience and technology standards currently in place at over 110 of America’s top companies. The survey’s aim was to investigate the trends and current use of technology to enhance…