Nokia commit to WiFi

Wed, 21 May 2003 08:49:00 -0400
/technology

This is the first public commitment Nokia have made to WiFi. It’s not much but at least shows they’re not going to be blindsided.

Donal O’Connell, Nokia phones’ R&D veep, said that WiFi will form a part of its future high-end handsets at an analyst briefing in Irvine, Texas today.

802.11 will be an option, he told us, but just another option. That doesn’t mean that WiFi will be used for handling voice calls, however.

I have a recent Series 60 Nokia (the 7650 - I’m very happy with it). The platform is open enough that if it had WiFi and somebody released a Voice over IP/WiFi application for it, there’s nothing Nokia would be able (or logically would want) to do. I read that last statement as an attempt to pacify the networks - who are the real losers here.

Clay Shirky’s Permanet, Nearlynet, and Wireless Data is a good starting point for this.