The first piece about WiFi in PatrickWeb was in November 2002. I have always felt the evolution would continue rapidly following the path taken by the Internet. I still believe that, and each day that goes by we see more of the evidence. One of the short-comings of WiFi currently is a lack of seamless "roaming". When we use our mobile phone we expect our "connection" to "hop" from one cell tower to the next while we have an uninterrupted conversation. The same is true with WiFi, even though today most WiFi usage occurs at a fixed spot such as a coffee shop, hotel lobby, train station, or in our homes.
That is about to change as mobility for WiFi is nearly ready to take a huge leap. In fact, already in Japan, there have been more than 100,000 handheld phones shipped which have WiFi built into them. As this type of handheld device becomes more ubiquitous, we will no longer think of the device as a "phone", but rather as a computer connected to the Internet at high speed. The one catch is the roaming problem. I have always assumed this technical challenge would be solved, and the announcement last week by the University of California San Diego has justified my optimism. Most of the obvious shortcomings of great technologies get resolved — sometimes it takes awhile. The new technology, called SyncScan, will nearly continuously test the status of the connection between the device and the nearest WiFi access point. As soon as there is any deterioration in the signal, the device will automatically seek a different WiFi access point. The "handoff" from one WAP to another have shown the new technology to be highly effective.
At present, WiFi handoffs are cumbersome and time-consuming. Not until the access-point signal weakens substantially and begins losing packets of data does a WiFi-enabled laptop, PDA or mobile phone begin scanning for a stronger signal. At that point, it broadcasts requests on all channels to find nearby access points. The result: a delay of up to one second, during which any packets may be lost. That may not seem inordinate when downloading data, but it can be unacceptable if the user is trying to listen to Internet radio, watch a streaming movie trailer or talk on a WiFi phone. The result will mean that a WiFi-enabled handheld device can be used for Voice over the Internet (VoIP) and applications like Skype and Teleo will become the "long distance" provider for millions of people on the road.
The SyncScan invention will also make it possible to have CD-stereo high-fidelity music and video programming "streamed" to our handheld devices. Recently I watched a Norwegian television program on my Sony Ericsson P910a mobile phone. The high quality screen makes it practical and pleasurable. Speaking of Norway, Opera Software ASA of Oslo has just announced that the Opera browser is now being shipped with the new NTT DoCoMO M1000 mobile WiFi smartphone on NTT DoCoMo`s network in Japan. The M1000 is an advanced 3G (third generation) phone, initially for the business market, with full Internet and e-mail connectivity through both 3G and GSM networks, wireless LAN and Bluetooth. All the pieces are beginning to come together to allow people to have the Internet in their hands. This is what we want.
Meanwhile the wireless "operators" (or "carriers") are trying to entice us to use their "toll booths" on the Internet. They have setup m-mode, t-spaces, My Carrier, etc. to enable us — for a fee — to get to news, weather, sports, and stocks. Unlike NTT DoCoMO, many operators don’t seem to realize that what we really want is a high quality full-function browser on our device. Then we can use it the same way we use the browser on our desktop PC and go directly to the Web resources that we choose.
And then there is WiMax — much in the news lately. The media is suggesting that there is a battle between WiFi and WiMax. I don’t see it that way at all. WiFi *and* WiMax are part of the evolution of wireless standards which will enable more people to connect to the Internet from more places — and at greater distances. The way I think about it, WiMax is a long distance wireless technology that brings Internet connectivity into a neighborhood or business park. It is a great alternative to the old-fashioned telco technology called "T1". Once connectivity is available, then WiFi distributes it to people wherever they happen to be. The bottom line is that wireless is here — and that will mean more people connected more often to more services doing what they want when they want it with whatever kind of device they may be using to connect to the Internet. Many people call it "On Demand". Whatever you want to call it, it is a good thing for the IT industry and for all of the users of the Internet.