According to a Techworld report by Peter Judge, a dual mode BlackBerry with cellular and Wi-Fi is coming out by the end of the year.
Personally, I can go either way. I used to think that it was a feature that all new smartphones should have, but, as I really think about it, the reason for wanting Wi-Fi on my BlackBerry was because the cellular networks, less Verizon, are so darn slow. Additionally, I am never in enough places with free Wi-Fi access long enough to make it worth it.
I travel for business quite a bit and it is rare for organizations to have wide open networks anymore. I know some of you are saying that I haven’t been to where your work, however, most enterprises, per their auditors recommendation, are buttoning down their Wi-Fi implementations.
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I agree…for me Wi-Fi isn’t a big deal, but certainly there are a lot of people who want that feature.
Verizon’s EVDO service is fast enough for me…and I agree that most businesses are securing their networks. That leaves only the commercial hotspots, like Starbucks, and most of those charge a fee that I don’t need to pay, given EVDO’s great speed.
On a small screen device, really, how many times does one need the speed of WiFi?
If I really need WiFi, that generally means that I need a laptop anyway, given what I need to do.
I’d be excited if there were a built-in SIP phone that would work with my office IPBX and over the internet – thats where the power of the internet lies. Your in Honk Kong and call home with your BB for free over the hotels wireless network.
Of course there will be no SIP phone so whats the point?