Free hotspots at the shops

Shop 'til you drop ... on your laptop.

Sydney CBD laptop toters rejoice -- you can now latch on to free Wi-Fi during your lunch break.

myKP, a community based promotions company, is unfurling a fistful of hotspots in the city with the Galeries Victoria and Broadway Shopping Centre the first locations to go live. Those north of the bridge aren't missing out either -- Greenwood Plaza in North Sydney has also been hotspotted.

According to myKP, an additional 30 CBD hotspots will be rolled out by the end of September, in locations such as Hyde Park, Pitt Street and George Street.

To use the service, users need to create a free account and log in at each location. The network is supported by advertising, but myKP CEO Grahame Miles assured in a release that it is "subtle".

"We are not spammers, we don't sell our databases and there isn't a maze of advertising to cipher through. It's easy, simple, effective and non intrusive," he said.

City dwellers weren't the first to reap the free wireless Internet action, however. Last week the company announced it had partnered with community group Lane Cove Alive to launch a hotspot in the northern suburb's Village retail centre. The venture, according to a joint statement, is part of "efforts to revitalise and enhance the Village and attract more visitors to the area".

Free Internet, shoppers! Come on down!