February 5, 2005
Phones to Use Wi-Fi Instead of Cellular Systems, or Both
Today people take laptops to wireless hot spots in coffee bars and airports to check their e-mail messages and to explore the Internet, reports The New York Times. Soon they may pack a new type of telephone and take it along, too, to make inexpensive calls using those wireless connections.
"Wi-Fi handsets will soon be common on the consumer market, Mr. Solis said. "Probably we will see dual-use handsets that are cellphones as well as voice over Wi-Fi."
Vonage, a company that offers VoIP service, will soon sell portable Wi-Fi handsets that people can use at public access points or on wireless networks in their homes and offices as an alternative to cordless phones.
Dual mode handsets, which can use voice over Wi-Fi and cellular services, are also appearing, Mr. Solis of ABI said. These phones are designed to work as cellular handsets when, for example, people are driving, and then switch to a local area network as people enter a building and transfer from the cellular network to Wi-Fi."
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