Devicescape adds buddies for your own networks: Devicescape has added a feature that lets you securely share encryption keys to your Wi-Fi networks among friends and colleagues who also use Devicescape's free software. "When you've got any of your personal networks up on our Web site, you can share them," said CEO Dave Fraser. Users control the access buddies have to which networks, and can revoke permission for a buddy's access. The centralized management through a no-fee Devicescape Web account also means that a user can change their Wi-Fi gateway's encryption key, enter that new key on Devicescape's site, and have that updated information distributed to their buddies.
Devicescape's plan is to have their lightweight software client preinstalled on gadgets like phones, cameras, and gaming systems. For now, their client can be used under Mac OS X, Windows, Windows Mobile, and a handful of handhelds, including the Nokia N800. The company said that announcements of other device support would be coming.
Buddy lists will make it simpler for a host of scenarios, including gaming parties, in which kids and/or adults gather with Wi-Fi-enabled systems. Right now, each person has to enter a key manually (something that Wi-Fi Protected Setup also hopes to obviate), adding friction. If Devicescape's client were embedded, buddies would simply connect.
The buddy system requires that a buddy connect to an Internet connection after being granted access to someone's network or networks, or after any key change by the network owner, to have Devicescape's servers push the new information to their client software.
Devicescape has focused until now on easing access to hotspot networks, by allowing an account holder to enter the credentials for every network they use. Devicescape has been compiling a portfolio of authentication information which allows their client software to navigate through gateway pages and other processes transparently to the user. "We've got to the point now where most of the world's hotspots are in the system," said CEO Fraser.