Android gets iPass enterprise hotspot app

Wi-Fi hotspot aggregation company iPass has released a client for Android phones.

Open Mobile for Android, which the company unveiled on Thursday, runs as a background application on Android phones running version 2.1 or higher of the mobile operating system. It notifies mobile workers when they are in range of a hotspot in the iPass network and lets them connect without having to enter credentials each time.

"We are seeing growing enterprise demand to provide a client for Android devices," iPass product management chief Steven Wastie said in a statement. "Enterprises want assurance that Android is enterprise-ready. They require enterprise mobility services that not only provide seamless and high-performing connectivity, but also provide management and reporting capabilities like service quality metrics, 3G data usage offloading and cost controls."

Open Mobile for Android lets IT managers track and log the activity of their companies' employees, who are able to use the platform to log on to 20,000 free OpenAccess hotspots, paid-for hotspots, corporate networks and personal networks.

Such systems tend to be used either because Wi-Fi tends to be faster than 3G, or because Wi-Fi hotspots in foreign countries are frequently much cheaper than data roaming.