Microsoft to launch wi-fi hotspot finder

Microsoft is planning to launch a new service that allows users to automatically connect to free wi-fi public hotspots when out and about.

The company quietly set live a new website - microsoftwifi.com - earlier this week with some detail on the plans, but has since replaced it with a "coming soon" page.

Microsoft already offers access to around 2 million access points globally through its Skype wi-fi service.

According to screenshots of the site before it was altered, the new product will be called Microsoft wi-fi and offer access to 10 million hotspots.

The service will be available to Office 365 enterprise subscribers, Surface 2 owners and active Skype wi-fi users.

The new product appears only to be available initially in the US and UK. Microsoft has partnered with Boingo, Xfinity WiFi and Gowex in the US and BT and The Cloud in the UK.

Microsoft wi-fi will be able to run on Windows, Android, Mac and iOS platforms.

"Don’t waste time filling forms with personal information or managing different carriers to get connected. Sign in once and you are done: you will automatically be connected to a vast range of WiFi providers around the world," the Microsoft w-fi site stated before it was pulled down.