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First Posted: 4/3/2014 SAN FRANCISCO &#8212; A new mobile messaging application called FireChat is empowering nearby smartphone users to stay in touch even when there&#8217;s no cellular service or Internet connection.
In just two weeks since its release on the iPhone, FireChat already has provided a flicker of hope for people pining for more effective, secure and affordable ways to communicate. That&#8217;s because the free messaging app harnesses a technology called wireless mesh networking, which might someday allow myriad devices to connect like links in a chain.
The technique might someday be used to tie together thousands of devices with built-in radios and make it possible to be online without having to pay for the access. It could also enable online communications in remote areas or disaster zones without Wi-Fi or cellular signals. Furthermore, the conversations in these so-called &#8220;off-the-grid&#8221; networks can&#8217;t be easily hacked into by spies and mischief makers or shut down by governments trying to stifle free speech.
&#8220;We trying to create networks built by the people for the people,&#8221; said Micha Benoliel, CEO of Open Garden, maker of the FireChat app.
Open Garden, a San Francisco startup with just 10 employees, is taking another step toward its ambitious goal with Thursday&#8217;s release of a FireChat app for Android phones.
FireChat could be an even hotter commodity on Android given the demographic differences between that platform&#8217;s user base and the typical iPhone owner. The app already has been installed on more than 1 million iOS devices.
Many smartphones running on Google Inc.&#8217;s free Android software are cheaper than Apple Inc.&#8217;s iPhone. That has made Android phones the top-selling mobile devices in less affluent countries, including in regions where Internet access is inadequate or expensive.
Google is among the big Internet companies intrigued with mesh networking&#8217;s potential to bring more of the world online.
FireChat&#8217;s reach so far is limited. When connecting off the grid, iPhone app users have only been able to send text and photos to other FireChat users within a range of 30 to 100 feet.
Later this year, Open Garden plans to upgrade FireChat&#8217;s iPhone app so off-the-grid users will be able to hopscotch through a daisy chain of devices to extend the reach of a local network.

FireChat takes phones off the grid