The search engine confirms the first tests

Sep 21, 2005 12:02 GMT  ·  By

Google announced it has begun testing the Google WiFi project, through which the online search engine plans to offer free wireless Internet.

The first official confirmation of the Google WiFi project appeared in July as one of Google employees' initiative. Google's policy states that each and every one of its employees has to spend 20% of their working time developing independent projects. Google News and Orkut are also the result of such initiatives.

Currently, Google offers Google WiFi in two locations near the company's headquarters in Mountain View and there's no additional information about it.

Google's officials only confirmed that indeed they are planning to offer this service to a small community, and that the feedback coming from the users will be very important.

Google has also launched a software application, Google Secure Access, whose task is to protect the WiFi connections from the hackers' attacks.

Google WiFi confirms that Google will expand beyond online searches and analysts speculate that if the service expands even more, the introduction of hot spots that offer free Internet access would be a veritable Internet revolution.

The WiFi technology is currently available in several public places in the US and in other countries, but the users have to pay a fee in order to use the connection.