Please remember that this isn't a phone/text/data service. This is ONLY internet. If you have Skype/Google Voice/Lync/etc then you can place phone calls with an internet (IP) phone or computer or device. Likewise for text messages.

You could keep this on your person, and just be a walking mobile hotspot.

I do this already: I use VoIP for talk and Google Voice for messaging on my Nexus 4. I don't have a minute plan, and only use data.

What's your VoIP set up? I messed with sip sorcery and sipgate paired with google voice back in the day right after gizmo5 went dark, but it was a nightmare to set up and the lag made it difficult to use.

GV still has multi second delay

Did somebody say hobo hotspot?

You actually can't name your hotspot currently. It automatically names itself [name]'s Karma, pulled from your facebook info.

Their reasoning - https://yourkarma.com/help/5-why-can-t-i-change-the-name-of-...

This makes me want to create an network of access point named "x Karma" that installs viruses and malware. "Viral marketing," I'll call it.

Exactly. The SSID proves precisely nothing. It is sad to see them to claim it "keeps people honest."

This "Karma FirstName" scheme is going to alienate some potential customers. Also, I suspect the added advertising boost from letting your users be clever would offset losses. But that is a simple empirical question. It wouldn't be hard at all. How many new signups per hotspot do you get from hotspots with custom SSIDs versus stock SSIDs?

Looking forward to seeing what security measures they do have in place to prevent someone from spoofing. At an abstract level, the device is going to need to contain some public-key (or something similar) that it sends somewhere on the Internet which is then verified with a private key. Then it's got to tell the user whether or not it's a real Karma hotspot or there's trouble.

There will always be a risk. But it could at least be managed to the point where it is one of the lesser Internet risks.

Remember this isn't really a new security hole for users of public wifi. Just setting up your own Starbuck's access point (dlink) and loading it with malware and snooping would do the same thing.

I don't really know how SSL works over a compromised access point. So maybe there are safeguards. But I tend to assume if the access point is compromised, all my base are belong to them. Or at least the data I send.

Looks to me like they give you 1GB free when you purchase the device. Sneaky...

100MB is the bonus you get whenever someone new connects to your device (seems like a referral bonus); 1GB is how much your account is pre-loaded with when you buy one of these things.