Open Garden launches invite to chat off the grid
(Phys.org) —What, use chat on a tablet or smartphone but without any Internet connection? No chat signing-in? No password? Yes to all, with Thursday's announcement from Open Garden to introduce its FireChat for iOS. The free app is available, in the App Store, for iPhones, iPads, and iPods running iOS 7. It's available in English, and other languages including Chinese and Japanese. The San Francisco based startup initially set out to break down the walls of connectivity, "dedicated to bringing Internet to every device, every person, and every location by sharing and crowdsourcing connectivity." Open Garden seamlessly interconnects nearby smartphones, computers, and tablets to form a mesh network. Their app was designed especially for Wi-Fi networks in public places that are protected yet intended to be open, such as those at conferences, parks and coffeeshops. "Today, we are excited to announce the launch of our very first iOS app,...