Microsoft has installed a free Wi-Fi hotspot into a magazine advert.
The adverts, which will feature in select issues of Forbes Magazine, feature a small router with a rechargeable battery, allowing readers to connect to the web for 15 days.
The promotion is a unique method of promoting their new Office 365 product, which utilises cloud computing technology more than any other Microsoft software. It’s certainly not a cheap marketing ploy, but it is one that shows how web connectivity can be achieved almost anywhere in the current age.
According to theverge.com, the hotspot can provide about three hours of web browsing on a typical smartphone, before the battery needs recharging. The magazine comes with a handy USB cable so it’s easy enough to recharge the router. The free Wi-Fi is being provided by T-Mobile. Up to five devices can connect to the hotspot. at any one time.
In an interview with mashable.com, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that there were only a few magazines that had the Wi-Fi capability.
“The custom 4-page insert with Wi-Fi Hotspot capabilities ran in the May 6 2013 issue of Forbes and was sent to a limited number of technology and business professionals,” they said.
