|
Cellphones are hugely popular, with about 50 per cent of Canadians owning one. The problem with cells is that minutes are costly. Skype is hugely popular, with more than 136 million registered users. The problem with Skype is you have to be sitting near a computer to use it.
So what we need is one mobile phone that can automatically link to either the Internet over Wi-Fi or to a cellular network. If you're in range of an available Wi-Fi signal, your call goes out over the Internet and is either free or very cheap. If there's no ’net connection, the call is made on the cellular network.
Industry watchers and enthusiastic users have been waiting a couple of years for this. Nokia came a step closer with the announcement at CES of its new N800 Internet Tablet. (Details at http://www.nokiausa.com/N800.) The N800 is an update of the Nokia 770, an earlier device that failed to take the market by storm.
With a Skype client available for download soon, N800 users will be able to make IP calls using this relatively small device. That's good news, especially as it comes from the world's largest cellphone company. But we're still waiting for Nokia to take the next step: add Skype to a cellphone and have the unit automatically switch from Wi-Fi to cell as needed. HP has also come close to this: the iPaq 6900 series is both a cellphone and a Wi-Fi device and you can use it for Skype, but at present the user has to choose either Skype or cellular for a call, and the time it takes to do this means most people will just opt for the convenience of always burning cell minutes.
Of course, Rogers, Bell and Telus are quite happy with the status quo; the lack of easy mobile Skype connectivity keeps customers burning cell minutes. But if cellphone companies want to keep their customers happy, it's time to deliver an integrated and seamless Skype experience.
Peter Wolchak
Posted January 9, 2007
Categories:
General
Comments
Add Your Comment
|
