Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Nokia announce skype phone, I-phone due this week, BT announce 12 'wireless cities' plan

It's all kicking off for mobile operators. Free calls on your mobile is right here and right now.
Over on Forum Oxford, Tomi Ahonen revealed that Skype and Nokia are collaborating to develop a new mobile Skype experience on the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, introduced on January 8.
This is different from Skype on your mobile via your 3G internet connection (though that's possible, too, just as it is on the N73 in 3's X-Series deal.) This is making use of the N800's effective wi-fi connectivity to give you really fast skyping - so video calls should be as easy as voice.
And that's inspired a flurry of speculation that the long-awaited I-Phone from Apple (though I don't expect it to be called that, someone else registered the name long ago...) will be announced this week too (the CES conference is on in Las Vegas this week where such things occur, I am reliably informed).
And, Stef Coetzee tells us, BT has announced its Fusion phone is now going on sale in Phones4U stores and that they are rolling out 12 'wireless' cities where by March next year there will be consistent wireless coverage in city centres. BT offers calls on this wireless network at the rate of four mins for the price of one of their ordinary ones. It's hoping the growth of wifi handsets will inspire lift off.
So not only do we now have free-at-the-point-of-use internet access on 3G (X-series on 3), we're going to get wi-fi coverage (at least in cities) which should offer really fast access in double quick time.
Surely it's now just a matter of time before an operator offers a fixed charge for it all - mobile web, calls, text, wi-fi.
It's one more reason why your mobile will become not only your primary communications device but also your primary point of access to the internet. And it's happening faster by the day.
Plan for this, design for it too.

1 comment:

  1. Cheap, or free, mobile wireless access would certainly mean I'd make a lot more use of my mobile.
    I can see the use of a mobile for browsing news and tech sites on the train, novels/radio/short TV clips for travelling, and directions/restaurants/taxis etc when you are out.
    But it'll be for those times when I'm without a PC, as I'd rather surf and watch TV on a decent sized screen. Indeed, a streaming media PC will be my next plan for the living room, combined with my Xbox...

    ReplyDelete

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