Smartphones with WiFi - pros and cons
Smartphones with WiFi are hot items. With few exceptions the latest smartphones are all WiFi enabled. The catalyst was the iPhone 3G. It set the benchmark for ease of automatically switching between 3G and WiFi networks and the competition responded: RIM Blackberry: Bold, Curve, Pearl ... , Palm: Treo Pro, Treo 800w ..., HTC: Touch HD, Touch Pro, Dream ..., Sony Ericsson: Xperia, Nokia: N99, N96, N80, E71, N78, N63 ...
The best smartphones are in big demand, often selling at a premium on eBay when first released. Smartphone comparison has become an industry as prospective owners research the top smartphones.
Sales of dual mode WiFi cell phones are surging. By one estimate sales are growing at a compound rate approaching 200 percent per annum.
Smartphones with WiFi Pros and Cons
WiFi Smartphone Pros
- Downloading PowerPoints, music, movies and large documents over 3G rapidly consumes download allocations. Subsequent megabytes are typically charged at penalty rates. WiFi presents the option of downloading large files either at no cost or at worst a lower cost per megabyte.
- WiFi smart phones have all the features of regular phones, but in addition they can also be used to make cheap or even free VoWiFi and VoIP phone calls. There are dozens of ways in which a WiFi cell phone can be used to make voice over IP calls.
- They include: Truphone, Vopium, TalkPlus, Rebtel, DeFi Mobile, fring, Mobivox, EQO Communications, iSkoot, Nimbuzz, Tello, Gizmo Project, Raketu, Skype ...
- Smartphones with WiFi can be used to set up an ad hoc WiFi network. They are an excellent solution to the challenge of collaborating on a project and exchanging data in locations where Wi-Fi hotspots aren't accessible. Tools for setting up a WiFi phone network include: WMWifiRouter, WalkingHotSpot and JoikuSpot.
- For the weary road-warrior a WiFi PDA phone or smartphone can be a more than adequate substitute for a laptop. As software applications and data increasingly move to the "Cloud" and phones get smarter, it's inevitable the role of the laptop will diminish to make way for smartphones with WiFi.
WiFi Smartphone Cons
- Roaming - it's not yet possible to roam between WiFi hotspots. Handover from one access point to the next is a feature for the future.
- To conserve battery life many smartphone users don't activate WiFi until they intend using it. WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g WiFi is not good at power management. It's a weakness that will no doubt be addressed.
- Security- at open networks such as WiFi hotspots there is no security. Elsewhere it's not difficult to address WiFi security threats by applying the strongest available password and encryption options: WPA or ideally WPA-2. These measures are often not implemented.
- Cell Phone + WiFi Radiation - studies have linked radio frequency (RF) with a wide range of health issues from headaches to nausea to brain tumors. The increasing density of WiFi access points means that it is nearly impossible to avoid exposure. However, there is no conclusive evidence to support either side of the debate.
- The Carrier's Perspective - the cell phone carriers see WiFi cell phones as a Trojan Horse that may threaten their business.
Conclusion
The distinction between cell phones and smartphones with WiFi is rapidly disappearing. Increasingly there is an expectation that all cell phones will support WiFi in the same way as they are expected to contain an embedded Bluetooth chip.
Related Articles
Skype for iPhone - The Ultimate Mobile Phone Tools Free Download
The WiFi Cell Phone - it's take-off time
The WiFi SIP Phone - not just any WiFi Phone
Online Phone Numbers
Long Range Wireless Router - the options
Belkin WiFi Phone: the good - the bad - the ugly
The WiFi PDA Phone - as a field force automation tool
From Smartphones with WiFi to WiFi Cell Phones
From Smartphones with WiFi to Cordless Phone Update
