Today, our graphic designers sent a nice surprise our way - a set of wallpapers for our computers. We think they are pretty cool, and so we are making them available for you to download.

There are two designs, the Smiley and the Wink - pick your favorite in three different resolutions.

	Click the link below to download for your screen resolution: 1024×768 JPG 1440×960 JPG 1680×1050 JPG
	Click the link below to download for your screen resolution: 1024×768 JPG 1440×960 JPG 1680×1050 JPG

We are very proud to have been selected as one of the finalists in CNET’s Webware 100 awards, under the Mobile Communications category. Voting is now open, so click on the image on the right, or visit this link, to cast your vote!

The Webware 100 Awards recognizes the best Web 2.0 sites, services, and applications that are leading the next wave of innovation. Voting is open to the public from May 23 through June 11, where the top 25 finalists in each category will be listed.

Since we launched Whisher, the forums have been active with users posting their comments and views, suggestions and bug reports. To improve the performance and features of our community forums, we have moved them to a vBulletin-based server. Amongst other things, the new forums will allow us the following:

• Use thread ratings and user reputations, as well as user titles.
• Quickly moderate and manage threads and posts.
• Add hacks and modifications, for example, to allow users to show their hotspot status.
• Have private forums for beta testers.
• Control automated spam.

We want our forums to become an open place for discussion, without censorship or regulation on what users can or cannot say about Whisher. We take user feedback, suggestions and criticisms very seriously, and use them to improve and move forward.

User accounts, threads and posts have been imported from the old forums, which now redirects to the new forums, found at http://forums.whisher.com. Please update your bookmarks, and enjoy!

We are honored to have been picked as one of the ten Tech Startups to Watch by Laptop Magazine, the leading publication related to mobile computing and connectivity. Quoting the article on Laptop’s website:

Whether they’re creating new products or redefining the technologies we already use, these ten companies are working on improving the way we learn, compute, and communicate. Their names probably won’t ring a bell, but we guarantee that what they’re doing will get you excited about the future of technology. We’ll introduce you to a company that wants to make quid pro quo Wi-Fi sharing the norm, a company that will deliver your voicemail as text messages, and a company that wants to sync and update all of your gadgets simultaneously. Read now and remember their names: We’re sure this isn’t the last you’ll be hearing from them.

This year will be very exciting, with plenty of movement, ideas and announcements in the WiFi space, so stay tuned!

Finally, after some weeks of fixing additional issues and adapting part of the code to particularities found in Linux, we are proud to announce the release of the Linux version of Whisher. It is available from our download page, and is a self-installing package (.sh), which just has to be run under non-root privileges.

One difference we could not avoid in respect to the Windows and Mac versions is that key security cannot be guaranteed, as some WiFi drivers will report the currently applied encryption key in cleartext, thus making enforcement of buddies-only or private sharing modes difficult, if the user is mainly sharing in public mode. Thus, with the Linux client, you will only be able to synchronize the keys of your buddies, not keys from those sharing in public mode. We realize this can be a limitation, but we have to guarantee the safety of all users on all platforms.

This is a first release, and thus has not been so extensively tested as its counterparts, so we will appreciate feedback and suggestions from the community, via this blog, or even better, on our forums, where topics can be organized and followed up on easier. Enjoy!

WPBFAQ (Will Probably Be Frequently Asked Questions)

Q. Why is Whisher not open source?

A. We chose not to release in open source for a number of reasons, but mainly it is to keep the consistency of the client, as it will be tightly integrated into the Whisher platform and web services, to protect a number of code libraries we have licensed, and to avoid as much as possible the chance of having ‘rogue’ clients that could compromise the security of our users. We do welcome all suggestions, bug reports and criticism you can throw at us though!

Q. Why an installer?

A. We realize there are many hard-core command-line users out there, but we chose to make it easier to install for Linux newcomers on mainstream distributions.

Q. What privileges does Whisher run under?

A. It has to be run under normal user privileges, not as root.

Q. Does it have any dependencies?

A. Yes, you may need to install Network Manager if you find the WiFi part of Whisher is not working. Some if not most main distributions already package this, so you probably won’t have to worry. If you need to download it, the version that has been tested to work with Whisher can be found here [FTP].

People often ask about the three sharing modes that Whisher offers - unlike other initiatives, we are not about all or nothing, share or not share, have access or be left outside. Our approach is to let people decide how, when and with whom they want to share, and not be bound by their choice in a way that it affects their ability to interact with the rest of the community.

With this in mind, we created three sharing modes: public, buddies-only, and private.

Public sharing mode

Public mode basically means that anyone with a Whisher client and a registered account can access your WiFi. When you register your WiFi, the credentials needed to access it (WEP or WPA key) are distributed to the rest of the Whisher clients out there in a secure way, so that whilst they can connect, they will never see your key. Whisher keeps logs of connections to your WiFi, and these will be available soon in a private account page at whisher.com for you to review.

Buddies-only sharing mode

If you are not ready to share with the rest of the community, but would rather start with your friends and relatives, or maybe you want to setup a small community WiFi network with your neighbors, then this mode is for you. The credentials to access your WiFi are distributed only to those Whisher users you have added to your buddy list, so controlling your sharing becomes as easy as managing buddies - don’t want to allow someone to connect any longer? Remove them from your buddy list. Someone coming to visit and you don’t want to go through the hassle of giving them the key to your WiFi? Add them to your buddy list, and when they arrive, they will be able to connect transparently.

Private sharing mode

If you are downloading important stuff, you probably want to enjoy the full speed your broadband connection offers. Simply enable private mode, and even those in your buddy list will be denied access - saving those users who you have added as VIP.

VIP you say?

When you enable private mode, you may want to keep some Whisher users connected, such as your family members or close friends, thus, all you have to do is add them to your VIP list. This is very simple, just select them on the local WiFi users list, right-click, and choose the ‘Add as VIP’ option from the popup menu. You will see a star next to their name, meaning they are now VIPs. To remove a VIP, you can either right-click on the user again and reverse the process, or you can open the WiFi profile window, where you will see all the VIP users you have added.

As you can see, sharing your WiFi with Whisher is safe, fun and hassle-free. You don’t have to wait for things to happen, fight unfamiliar hardware and settings, or install extra equipment - if your existing WiFi works, you can share it!

This is the first in a series of mini-tutorials that aim at getting you aquainted with Whisher and the functionality we offer through our client. Today, we will see how easy it is to share your WiFi network with others, and we will answer a few frequently asked questions at the end.

Whisher allows you to share your WiFi without having to purchase new hardware or even reconfigure your existing equipment. Before we start, one common question: Why should I share my WiFi? Well, you don’t have to, but we love to share because we make the world better. It’s fine to have broadband at home, but it’s even better if you enjoy free access elsewhere. If we all give a little, we can gain a lot.

The process is extremely simple:

1. Connect to your protected Wi-Fi using Whisher. If you have an open hotspot, the process is the same, but it will be tagged (more on this later).
2. Click on the “Register as my access point” link, which is right below the signal name (SSID) in the main window of Whisher.
3. Fill in the form: nickname and welcome message, which is what visitors will see when passing by your Wi-Fi, and the location where your Wi-Fi is, so that others can find it.

Your Wi-Fi is now shared!

Can you decide with whom and when to share? Sure! In the second tab of Whisher, you have 3 buttons on the top toolbar: Public, Buddies Only and Private. You can switch between them at any time to control access to your Wi-Fi. Remember that private mode won’t allow anyone to access your network except you and your VIP users.

VIP users you say? Even if you enable private mode, those closest to you (family members for example) should still be able to get connected. You just have to right-click on the local users and add them to the VIP list.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q. Is it really that simple? How does it work?

A. Yes it is! What Whisher does in the background is distribute the credentials to your WiFi in a secure manner, to those who you have authorized. If you are sharing in buddies-only mode, only those in your buddy list will get the key to your WiFi, and even then, in an secure format.

Q. Do I have to leave my PC running all the time connected to my WiFi?

A. Not at all. All the information and configuration regarding how you share your WiFi is handled by the Whisher backend systems. Once you have registered your WiFi and chosen a sharing mode, you can turn off your laptop and go on holiday, everyone using Whisher will follow your settings. Of course, if you want to see the action on your WiFi in real time, you need to be connected to it - we are working on a remote feature that will allow you to see what is going on in your WiFi from anywhere!

Q. Is WiFi sharing safe?

A. Is crossing the road safe? Just kidding! Sharing one’s WiFi is a matter of choice, some people would never share anything (not even an icecream!), while others would leave their house door open so people could come in for a coffee at will. This is why at Whisher we give you choice - share with everyone, with just your trusted buddies, or with your closest relatives. Unlike other initiatives, we don’t believe in an all-or-nothing approach, so you decide. We of course always recommend running a personal firewall and antivirus, even if you are not using Whisher at all.

Q. But my ISP’s contract says sharing is “illegal”.

A. First, we have to make a clear distinction - one thing is sharing WiFi as a gesture of goodwill to others, and a completely different thing is reselling the access. Simply sharing your WiFi, and more so if it is in a controlled way, is tolerated by most ISPs, despite what their contracts say. When we talk to ISPs they admit that it would not make sense to go after their own users for simply sharing without profit. On the other hand, to resell access without an operator license (like ISPs are forced to have) is actually illegal in some countries, and not tolerated by most ISPs - the end user is becoming a mini-ISP in effect.

Q. I have an open (unencrypted) hotspot, can I still register it?

A. Yes, but you will not benefit from the control mechanisms that Whisher offers, such as the sharing modes. Since your signal is open, anyone can connect, even non-Whisher users. Right now you can tag an open WiFi, and give it a welcome message, but you do not become its owner. We are working on ways to enable open-hotspot owners to be able to register and manage them, which will make their way into future releases of Whisher.

Q. I have further questions.

A. No problem! Feel free to join us on the Whisher Forums, or drop us an email.

It has taken a few days longer than expected, but we wanted to iron out some last-minute bugs that had been reported, and release a more solid version. We don’t think most people enjoy updating their software every two days!

This is the list of fixes and changes in the 2007-02-19 release:

• Fixed problems with presence at local group in chat window.
• Blinking tab in taskbar when new message arives.
• Special characters in chat messages are now allowed.
• The server connection is now kept alive every 10 minutes, preventing random logouts.
• Presence problem in chat groups when an previous member reenters has been fixed.
• Fixed automatic connection (with auto-login checked) to an AP in private mode.
• Login process speed has been improved.
• Various minor revisions and changes in the GUI.
• Fixed transient non-Whisher status for registered or tagged APs, between no
• connection and internet available instances.
• Non blocker search buddy mechanism + limitation of result number when searching for all.
• WPA has been tested on a variety of access points and routers, and found to work.
• Access points with SSID length greater than 30 characters can now be registered.
• Fixed “deny friendship” message on destination buddy logout.
• Fixed regular expressions in chat messages, URLs are now always recognized and clickable.
• Copy/paste text from/into chat window has been implemented.
• Maximize button for all resizable windows has been added (thanks AustinTX for the suggestion).
• Fixed local storage update after unregistering/untagging an AP.
• AP connection process now uses the keys in the right order and does not retry with the same stored keys upon failure.
• Fixed problem with commenter’s identity in guestbook comments.
• Offline messages timestamp changed to GMT (server time), this will be adapted to the client timezone in a future release.
• Email address is no longer diplayed in user profiles.
• Enabling wireless adapters method has been improved.
• The installer now copies the required files specific for Windows 2000 (thanks to those who reported this and helped identify a fix).
• Various Online Maps improvements and Javascript errors solved.

Since we use Qt to keep versions across operating systems synchronized, the fixes that affect the common code base will be applied also the Mac and Linux (soon to be released) versions. The reason we are not releasing a Mac update is that we are waiting for a set of APIs from Apple which will allow us to make WPA much more stable. We’d like to sincerely thank Apple for the support they are offering us in this project!

To update Whisher, simply download it again, run the installer, which will uninstall the previous version and install the updated one.

Many things have happened since we made Whisher public a few days ago. We’ve had many good reviews and comments, some bad ones, which are probably explained by this, and generally, a lot of attention from the media. We consider our launch a success, as we managed to be on the #8 spot in Technorati searches, and we are having a healthy rhythm of downloads and registered users.

Of course, not everything can be perfect, and we screwed up the forum and blog. Our idea was to provide a seamless integration between the accounts created through the Whisher client, and the login details in the forum and blog, so our users would not have to re-register each time. The backend mechanism worked, but the propagation of the accounts did not, resulting in a lot of confusion, and people not able to login to the forums and comment on our blog. We have now solved this, by setting up a forum and a blog separately from the main site, which you can still access using the links on whisher.com. For now, users will have to register again, while we apply the account propagation mechanism - this should happen early next week.

On the software side, we have received many comments and some bug reports, and we will be changing many things over the next days and weeks - so expect to see frequent updates. For example, the whole login / online / offline / connectivity issues will be merged, so you will not have to login after getting connected, the client will do everything for you with the minimum disturbance. Our development teams will also be very very busy fixing other bugs, and increasing the stability of the client, so stay tuned for news! When a release happens it will be announced on the main site, in this blog and in the forums, plus you may get a warning when you start the client (which can be turned off).

That is all for now, ahead of us we have 20 hours traveling back to Barcelona, after which we will be at full speed again.

Thank you all for your great support, and see you at the LIFT conference in Geneva, and at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona!

Whisher has launched!

Maybe you saw us at DEMO. Maybe you read about us on a blog, and maybe you have followed our below-the-radar signature for the last few months. So, you will be asking yourself, what is Whisher? Whisher was born out of two premises: one, that WiFi will (and should!) become salt & pepper, free for everyone, and ubiquitous; second, that WiFi, until now, was really boring. There were the early times of wardriving, when we used to enjoy toying with equipment, and chasing new WiFi networks, but over time, WiFi has become yet another access technology, with no personality, and lacking fun.

Whisher will let you do too many things to explain - it is better to download it, and check it out by yourself. We will dedicate the next few posts to explain the various features and possibilities Whisher offers.

One of the main highlights is that Whisher allows you to share your existing WiFi with others, without having to reconfigure your router, reflash it, or purchase additional equipment. If you have a WiFi router or access point, no matter what brand or model, you can share it with Whisher. Sharing can also be precisely controlled - with the whole world, or with just a group of buddies, creating community networks within the network.

2006 was a really hectic year, with development taking place in five countries across three continents, the coordination of which became a really complex task. It all came through, and we are very proud of our team, and what we have achieved over such a short period of time. So, welcome to the new era of WiFi, enjoy the ride!