Why is wifi so important in a smartphone

[Guest beersoft]

Ok, im confused again, why do we need wifi built into our smartphones?

on a ppc i can see the use, but something with a 2inch screen i dont see the point

maybe i've missed someting, so enlighten me please

later

Owen

[Guest mr_end]

Ok, im confused again, why do we need wifi built into our smartphones?

on a ppc i can see the use, but something with a 2inch screen i dont see the point

maybe i've missed someting, so enlighten me please

later

Owen

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well it opens up so many possobilities for future phone use. Imagine having skype on your phone and using that through a wifi router (meaning cheaper phone calls!!) and regular gsm when you are out. It also means you can download things/view pages/download ringtones/games over wifi at home without the fees that networks charge.

[Guest tonijj]

And there are so many ppl with open WLAN networks so if youre downtown its really easy to sniff an open WLAN connection to connect to. Cheap internet access basically, well free access :)

Lets hope that the C600 will have built in WiFi.

[Guest beersoft]

ok, your not selling wifi on the smartphone to me yet

we have

1) use skype/voip : which is all well and good, but if i have gsm coverage might as well use the free minuites that i get on my contract

2) fast downloads for installing stuff: well, bluetooth is fast enough for me/most people for that, and doesn't hammer the battery, and if im sticking loads of stuff on the sd card, use the sdcard reader on the pc

3) Steal otherpeoples internet: good idea, lets break the law and go to prison/have huge fine

come on, there must be a better reason why wifi is a killer feature for smartphones, and before you go on about wifi is cheaper than 3g, its not and it is a damn sight more painfull on the creditcard if you 'accedenlty' connect to a subscripton access point and dont know about it

later

Owen

[Guest Confucious]

I must admit I'm with Beersoft on this one. When I want an app at home I download it to my PC and then install over either BT or USB, why would I use WiFi?

As for Skype, again I don't see the benefit for me, if you make lots of international calls then maybe it has it's uses but with phone calls at the w/e and evening at 5.5p for an hour my call charge for the last 1/4 was just under £2 (pus VAT) so that just doesn't do it for me either.

I can't see WiFi being used by many people but those that want it seem very vociferous, why?

[Guest phil-t]

Although slightly more limited in the house.. I would still like WiFi..

1. Not sure about your house, but BT has limited range, wifi would cover your house/most of garden...

2. MSN Messenger for free...

3. Surf the 'limited' web when you want for free.. want to check the cinema times when sat on the patio.. no problem... no GPRS charges

4. Stream Music/Video from your main PC to your Smartphone.. this is a big 'use'..

5. With the right software, you could stream music from your house to your phone from any WiFi hotspot.. (Work, etc)..

6. Inclusive minutes can be used up easily within a few days.. if you have the optin to call people for next to nothing via VOIP from home, you can save the minuytes for when you need them, and save some money by reducing your tarriff..

Horses for Courses I'd say, its easy to think of reasons for and against, I'd say the biggest is the range and availability of WiFi hotspots, Home, Work and in Towns..

Edited August 15, 2005 by phil-t

[Guest Confucious]

If you have a WiFi connection at home don't you have a laptop that can do all of the above and more?

I do and since I've had my laptop I've not done any of the above using BT so can't see a use for WiFi (for me). Admitidly some people would use it but I wouldn't have thought there would be that many people who would.

I could be wrong though....

[Guest tonijj]

1. Free minutes when calling Int'l is a drag, it eates your minutes in notime. Secondly, why not use SKype when you can, and use your free minutes to those contacts who dont have Skype.

2. Agree regarding BT and the card, thats what I do too, however, that limits you to your apt. or atleast where your computer is. WiFi gives you the opportunity to

3. As far as I know (though there probably are more cases) I've only heard of one guy getting busted for what you call "stealing" bandwith/I-net connection, that was in FL, U.S.A. and he was released a few min afterwards, without any fines.

Furthermore, I know that there has been some discussion here in Sweden about logging on to antoher WLAN, and if its an open one, I think its still a greyzone when it comes to the current laws. And honestly, if someone doesnt even botter to secure his/hers WLAN with a WEP or WAP then its his damn fault. Dont think that user will suffer much if someone logs in with his phone and uses a few kb/s of the bandwith.

Me, I would use WiFi whenever I can instead of GPRS, downtown, at home etc.

Edited August 15, 2005 by tonijj

[Guest tonijj]

Seemed to double post, my bad.

Edited August 15, 2005 by tonijj

[Guest ukdownhill]

Phil-t makes some good points. To be honest, yes a laptop does do all that and more but my laptop dosnt exactly fit in my pocket.

Certainly at home having wifi on my phone would mean I have access to messenger and web anywhere in the house in a device I carry all the time anyways! (that I pay a monthly internet subscription for anyways.... so I might as well use it instead of gprs/3G etc)

I think that a bigger screen/more of these phone/pda hybrids like the Orange M500 (Sadly with no wi-fi) that we keep seeing will drive a demand for wi-fi on a small device.... But perhaps not on a device with a screen as small as my c500's!

[Guest Confucious]

So, basically Skype - which if yopu use you probabl;y already have a Skype handset and using other peoples bandwidth?

Not exactly "killer" apps are they? With the extra cost of building it into the phone and the increased power drain I'm still to be convinced that it's something HTC should be spending time on developing.

[Guest gregh]

Its something Id love to see in a smartphone

These are my personal reasons, a lot of em have been mentioned

Quick net access if I want to check email, a webpage, wherever i am in the house or at work - not booting up the PC, great if ur lying in bed and need to check something

Streaming music when Im lying out the garden in the summer - a laptop screen is pretty much unusable in the sun, at least u can just about see what you're doing on a phone. Besides a laptop is hardly a portable audio device. Before you say why not just buy a big SD card - Ive got 30 odd GB of music, Id like access to all of that

Anything I download to install on the phone will be put on my server, and when i had time i could just install it anytime i wanted

Skype isnt a huge deal to me yet but i could be sold on it, it would be good being able to use my mobile for that

If I wanted to copy some music to it before I go out or to work, its a 2 minute job, rather than plugging it in, switching the PC on, waiting for it to sync etc

I could leave myself logged into messenger all day when Im at home, and Id know as soon as someone was trying to contact me, without massive GPRS charges

And basically I like the idea of being connected whenever possible and in as many ways as possible...some people obviously dont for some reason

Edited August 15, 2005 by gregh

[Guest sSword]

i want wifi on my fone so i can run msn messenger/internet things

(bluetoof dont cut it)

otherwise its gonna be costing me an arm and a leg in gprs bills

and....

even tho i have a pc on all the time in my house i cant always hear the messenger 'ding'

i got a v big house and share with other people, sometimes they log me out of msn so they can use it. tis very annoying as they rarely log me back in

oneday i will be rich enuf to afford a nice pda with built in wifi...... :roll:

Edited August 15, 2005 by sSword

[Guest bluesmudge]

You're all wrong!

The only reason we want wifi on our smartphones (myself included) is so we can add it to the list of things nokia's can't do :)

[Guest Confucious]

Welcome to the forum gregh

Personally, my PC is turned on 24/7 and my laptop is usually plugged in in suspend mode next to my bed except when I take it in the garden, I just open my laptop and have internet access/ email access on a full size screen.

I have 30Gb odd of music as well so I have an iPod that way I can carry it all with me all the time so syncing it isn't a problem, not for everyone I admit but if you have that much music it might be worth considering, otherwise you have a valid use, personally, like I say, I don't.

Anything I download I install why keep it on your server and need WiFi access to install it? Again, for me this isn't an issue.

Skype - as I've said is not for me.

Messenger - I can hear my main pC when anyone contacts me (my house isn't that big) and I either have my laptop with me or have to walk to my study - again I am contactable most of the time, it's not something I need.

My music is on my iPod so synching isn't an issue.

I like being connected as much as possible but still think that fro me and most other people (That's a nice generalisation isn't it :) ) WiFi isn't worth the decrease in battery life and increase in cost.

For some people, like you, it might be worth it but I believe there are other things that would be more worthwhile HTC concentrating on (eg 3G)

I might be wrong but the benefits seem minimal compared to the cost.

OK BlueSmudge has sold me on it ;)

Edited August 15, 2005 by Confucious

[Guest mupwangle]

Someone got done a couple of weeks ago in the UK for unauthorised use of a computer network or something.

[Guest beersoft]

ok, so bluetooth isnt fast enough for msn messager?

and you all have 54meg dsl??, no, oh you all have 11meg dsl??

ok, so some of you might be lucky enough to have 8 or 4 meg dsl, loads of you can get 2 meg, bluetooth transfer is 1.2meg the smartphone talks bluetooth/usb serial at 110k (on current devices)

so, short answer "its faster" is a load of twaddle, so just to remind you the question is "Why do i need a smartphone with wifi"

later

Owen

[Guest Zim]

Coz i am greedy... and i want more functions on my phone then a nokia can come out with...

"Z"

[Guest Matt Kirby]

Just one thing to throw into this:

Although Skype do have a Smartphone beta avaiable, at the moment it's text-only and it sounds unlikely that Skype will do a Smartphone version to do voice (see thread here for details (and arguments!)).

So, for all those "it'd be great for VOIP" thoughts, it sounds a long way off yet...

[Guest Xenzo1990]

I personally think WiFi is over-rated.

If i'm in my house, and need access to the internet, I have a computer. I don't need a phone when I can just go and use a PC witha 17" screen.

When your out and about, if you latch onto someones wifi, are you going to stand still? No, you keep moving, then go out of WiFi signal area.

The average phone user, probably doesn't want to have the hassle of setting up WiFi.

Fair enough with the skype thing, but its still all too much hassle. Loggin onto skype, oh dear my contacts not on...... Or lets pay skypeout charges and skypeout -> mobile is a rip off, lets face it, home phones are cheaper.

WiFi is part of a bigger picture, its not been used to its full potential yet. Bt & Vodaphone are releasing a phone, that when outside your house, uses a normal phone network, but when inside, uses VOIP through a router. This automatic transition is what im looking for, not logging into skype when im home, then exiting it when im going somewhere, logging onto a wifi hotspot.

The day will come when we use our mobile phones and PDA for everything, and WiFi will be everywhere.

[Guest Pagemakers]

Ok, im confused again, why do we need wifi built into our smartphones?

on a ppc i can see the use, but something with a 2inch screen i dont see the point

maybe i've missed someting, so enlighten me please

later

Owen

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So when you walk into your house with its wireless router, all your phone calls are automatically routed through Skype and your Internet pages download at broadband speed, none of which is eating up your costly GPRS package.

Thought that was obvious :)

[Guest scrattyrat]

Well - those of you who are clearly not intersted in wi-fi in smartphones probably wont be interested in these badboys then....

http://msmobiles.com/news.php/4147.html

;) :)

[Guest beersoft]

scratty, if you read the specs

Tekniset tiedot:

Prosessori: TI OMAP 200 MHz + TI E-Syren

Käyttöjärjestelmä: Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 SmartPhone Edition

Puhelinominaisuus: Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz (automaattinen taajuudenvaihto), kaiutinpuhelin, midi/mp3/wav-soittoäänet, värinähälytys

Akku: Li-Ion 1050 mAh, valmiusaika 250h, puheaika 5h

Muisti: Flash ROM 64MB, 32MB SDRAM

Näyttö: 2,2" TFT LCD QVGA -värinäyttö, 64k väriä, resoluutio 240 x 320 pikseliä

Kamera: Integroitu 1.3 Megapikselin Video/Still-kamera, digitaalinen zoom

Laajennettavuus: Sisäänrakennettu MiniSD–korttipaikka

Rajapinta/Audio: Sisäänrakennettu mikrofoni ja kaiutin, handsfree joko kaapelin tai Bluetoothin kautta

Rajapinta/Data: USB, IrDA (infrapuna), Bluetooth

Ohjelmistot: Pocket Outlook, Pocket Internet Explorer, Media Player 10 (mm. wma, wmv, MP3), Video Player (MPEG4), Laskin, MSN Messenger, MMS, WAP, Java Midlet (MIDP-2.0), Wireless Modem, pelejä

Mitat: 107.5 mm x 46,2 mm x 17,5 mm

Paino: 106 g

Lisävarusteina saatavissa mm: Telakointiasema, miniSD-muistikortit, Bluetooth Handsfree, GPS-paikannin ym.

they dont have wifi

and pagemakers, i can do that automaticly with bluetooth and the btautosync app, and with wm5/over network i can only do that after spending £400+ on a ms smallbusinessserver or server2k3+exchange2k3

(and having a flat battery on my phone due to having wifi on all the time)

come on, there must be a better reason why wifi is a killer feature for smartphone

later

Owen

[Guest scrattyrat]

From msmobiles:

2 new Microsoft smartphones announced : Qtek 8300 and Qtek 8310 - both with built-in Wi-Fi and Windows Mobile 5.0 !

Some highglights about these phones:

    * operating system: Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 SmartPhone Edition

    * quad-band GSM (both European bands and both American bands) and GPRS and EDGE, however still no UMTS (mainly European and Japanese standard for 3G)

    * high resolution display: QVGA = 320x240 pixels

    * built-in Wi-Fi : 802.11b

    * 1.3 megapixel camera

    * battery life:

      stand-by time: 250 hours (more than 10 days)

      talk time: 5 hours

To learn more visit web page of Qtek 8310 smartphone and web page of Qtek 8300 smartphone.

It seems youve quoted the only part of either msmobiles new story or the individual websites that doesnt claim the phones will have wi-fi? - admittedly im not fluent in finnish but wi-fi is mentioned numerous at the top of each of the phones webpages?

It could be msmobiles have got it wrong but weve also seen recently major cock ups with the spec-lists of new phones whilst at the same time the missing items from the list are being used as selling points (cebit?/qvga displays?: http://www.modaco.com/T_Mobile_Germany_ann...-t202962.html))

Personally i hope they will have it!

Cheers :)

Edited August 15, 2005 by scrattyrat

[Guest mr_end]

ok, your not selling wifi on the smartphone to me yet

we have

1) use skype/voip :  which is all well and good, but if i have gsm coverage might as well use the free minuites that i get on my contract

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ok, lucky you. You have free minutes. Not all of us are on contract!

The possibilites are so much more with wifi, bluetooth is so limited in both range, throughput and compatibility.

VO Wifi will hopefully become a major factor in mobile phones. This will have knock on effects for people like you who don't care. This is because things like skype will hopefully compete with major networks due to VO Wifi, this will in turn lower mobile phone call prices!!!

Edited August 15, 2005 by mr_end