A few folks noted the rumor mill churning over 3G iPhones coming soon. Apparently they might be going into production as early as May, and announced somewhere in the 2nd quarter. Hopefully they manage to stick a GPS and another 16 gigs of memory in this one.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

iPass has just announced a new service targeted at individuals that provides mobile Web access via both WiFi hotspots and 3G wireless networks. The service, called iPassConnect, claims to be the world’s largest wireless data network, providing Web access via both hotspots at more than 95,000 locations including Starbucks, McDonalds, and Borders, and via 3G wireless networks when no WiFi connection is available.

Traditionally, iPass has offered access to its network through enterprise plans (such as iPass Mobile Office), targeting companies who buy access for their employees in bulk. The new service aims to provide smaller outfits and independent professionals with high speed wireless Internet for a fixed monthly fee starting at $29.95/mo for access to the WiFi network and $69.95/mo for the WiFi/3G combo. This compares to the daily rates or hourly fees that one often encounters at hotels or coffee shops, respectively.

iPass is touting several statistics about the access their network offers:

* Hotspots in more than 500 airports, including 83 of the world’s 100 busiest
* Hotspots in more than 20,000 hotels such as Hyatt, Hilton and Marriot
* Hotspots in more than 70,000 retail locations such as Starbucks and McDonald’s

You can look up specific hotspot locations on the iPass web site.

iPass has had a rough go of it on Wall Street since opening north of $25/share in late 2003. It currently sits around $3/share, following revenue of $191M and a net loss of $34M in 2007. Since iPassConnect leverages the same network that the company already markets to enterprise customers, it seems like a logical move that should add to both the top and bottom line, though there is some stiff competition.

The company will now go up against the likes of Verizon’s BroadBand Access in targeting individual business consumers with high speed wireless access.

ShareThis