Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Receive the latest technology news and information.
Mobile/Wireless Computing
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
Cloud Computing
View all newsletters




Privacy Policy
 

Elgan: Your cell phone wants to be a Wi-Fi hot spot

Will Wi-Fi or mobile broadband dominate the future of wireless? (The answer is yes!)

March 28, 2008 12:00 PM ET

Active Comments
Seth H Weintraub says: But the software won't let it. Good thing there is a thing called TinyProxy that let's my iPhone be my...
Chris says: You can already use a wm phone as a wifi router. It's called a program named wmwifirouter. Works great for...


Computerworld - For years, "Wi-Fi" has been synonymous with "wireless" for the majority of laptop users looking to connect on the go.

Recently, mobile broadband -- the kind of wireless you use for surfing the Internet and doing e-mail on your cell phone -- has been growing fast. For example, a study from comScore found that mobile broadband use rose by 154% in 2007.

Some observers, most recently LM Ericsson Chief Marketing Officer Johan Bergendahl, predicted that Wi-Fi will go the way of the analog modem and be replaced by mobile broadband. Others disagree.

Will mobile broadband kill Wi-Fi and replace it? The answer is no. An exciting new wireless model is suddenly emerging that combines mobile broadband and Wi-Fi to get the advantages of both.

Mobile broadband gives you far more places where you can connect, enabling Internet access just about anywhere your cell phone can make calls. Wi-Fi, on the other hand, is often easier and connects to a larger number of devices.

Wi-Fi is traditionally used to enable nearby users to connect to a home DSL or cable Internet connection, a business T1 line, or another cabled, nonwireless connection via the company network. But a new generation of products is hanging that Wi-Fi access point on the end of a mobile broadband connection.

Who's combining mobile broadband with Wi-Fi?

Chrysler announced this week that it will add in-car Wi-Fi as a standard feature on some models. Car owners will need a mobile broadband connection (for which they'll be billed separately), and electronics in the car radios will open that connection to other devices in and near the car via Wi-Fi.

New software called WalkingHotspot, unveiled this week by TapRoot Systems, enables owners of Symbian S60 or Windows Mobile smart phones to share their 3G connections with nearby devices via Wi-Fi.

A line of products that iBox2Go launched in January provides mobile broadband connectivity to the Internet, plus a Wi-Fi router that enables up to 10 users to share the connection.

The CradlePoint PHS300 Personal Hotspot is a little box that you connect to your phone to create your own Wi-Fi network. A new software update issued this week extends support to include EV-DO and HSDPA devices.

A new wireless model is emerging that combines mobile broadband and Wi-Fi to get the advantages of both.

All these products are new, and all involve the use of Wi-Fi to share a mobile broadband connection. A trend? Absolutely, and one that points to a new way to use your cell phone.

The coming wave of 'hot-spot phones'

Two obvious trends -- Wi-Fi access-point electronics are getting smaller, and mobile broadband is getting faster -- will result in another inevitable outcome: the use of cell phones as Wi-Fi hot spots. Call them "hot-spot phones."



Jump to comments

wi-fi

Additional Resources

WHITE PAPER
Approximately 60 percent of data migration projects overrun time or budget, while some fail completely. Download this white paper, "Enhancing Your Chance for Successful Data Migration," to learn the critical steps you need to take to execute a data migration project with minimum cost and risk to your business.
WHITE PAPER
Read the Gartner research note to learn why the TCO of a server-based computing deployment used to deliver all applications to users is around 50% lower than that of an unmanaged desktop deployment.
WHITE PAPER
Economic downturns have a tendency to accelerate emerging technologies, boost the adoption of effective solutions, and punish solutions that are not cost competitive or that are out of synch with industry trends. This IDC White Paper presents the results of an IDC survey of 330 companies in Western Europe, Asia/Pacific and the Americas that measures the receptiveness to Linux and takes into consideration changing views driven by the disruptive economic environment that businesses face today.

What People Are Saying

White Papers & Webcasts

WAN Application Delivery for Executives
Learn how to simplify server and application administration without creating performance problems for distributed users.  

Accelerating Your Mobile Workers: Controlling the Uncontrollable
Today's workforce is truly mobile. Unlike the managed environment of the office LAN, remote users face many challenges to being productive while out...

Improving Customer Retention and Satisfaction
Download this White Paper Now!  

5 Architecture Issues that Impact BES performance
Register to attend this LIVE Webinar to learn 5 Architecture Issues that Impact BES performance!