Cell Phone/Wi-Fi Hybrid Poised to Revolutioninze Communications

Wifi cell phone hybrid. On October 9th, T-Mobile USA announced a new strain of cell phones that can pass readily between wi-fi hotspots and your run of the mill cell phone towers. The phone would cut off from the cell phone tower when a wifi hotspot is stepped into and make internet phone calls, without interrupting the call whatsoever according to T-Mobile. T-Mobile admits that for their service to be successful, the user experience has to be seamless. Any drop in phone calls or even a slightly audible ::click:: would ruin the experience, according to T-Mobile's chief executive. Aside from just being a cool thing to have, these UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) phones can help ease the burden on the limited call capacity of a cellular network while also providing users a stronger wireless signal when they're inside a building. The technology is starting out in the US so you wont have to wait twenty years for the gadgets to float from Japan and the technology will be initially introduced in a city "Near and Dear to our hearts" according to the company, most likely in their home base of Seattle Washington. The whole endeavor sounds promising but wireless routers, while popular, are not everywhere. This technology might get a serious signal boost if the US had companies like the Spain based, Google and skype backed company called Fon, which is trying to hasten the spread of Wi-Fi by selling cheap wireless routers to anyone who will agree to let other people in the vicinity use them by paying an access fee. The buyers can then choose to split the fee with the company. The invisible hand of the economy certainly is the driving force in innovation but for the time being I am just going to have to deal with my cell phone and internet continuing to be long lost cousins.