The VAR Guy spent part of Saturday afternoon getting a hair cut. During his wait at the barbershop, he struck up a conversation with a senior IT manager from Cablevision Systems–the big cable and broadband provider.
The IT manager was using his cell phone to check his email. Only, the email software didn’t require a cellular connection. Instead, this dual-mode phone had WiFi capabilities that automatically connected to the barbershop’s network. In other words, the IT manager was reading and updating his email using a free remote connection. This is the start of something big, folks.
The VAR Guy expects dual-mode phones–with WiFi and cellular capabilities–to gain critical mass in the second half of 2007. The devices allow users to frequently use WiFi connections rather than eating up their cellular minutes. Home users, students and small businesses in particular are prime targets for dual-mode phones, which will allow them to have a single phone device regardless of their location.
Some early dual-mode phone projects suffered from vendor debates. But more recently, companies such as T-Mobile have successfully rolled out dual-mode phone service.
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