| For long, free services like Skype (part of eBay) | | | | processor. Throughout the process, IP addresses |
| have been associated with Voice over Internet | | | | are used in the place of phone numbers to initiate, |
| Protocol (VoIP) -- i.e., using your computer and a | | | | connect and end the call. These IP addresses act |
| broadband internet line to make long-distance | | | | as direction maps for your call -- just like when |
| phone calls. Basically, what you used to pay for | | | | you log on to the Internet and type a web |
| before came to you for free. | | | | address go to a site. |
| However, the main problem with such a service | | | | The concept of WiFi phones (and the associated |
| was, you had to be connected to a computer to | | | | technology) is still quite new. The preference so |
| place the call, and be right there for the duration | | | | far has been to use wifi-enabled laptops and |
| of the call. Sort of like the 'landline' -- you could | | | | smartphones to log on to a local "hotspot" -- |
| move around, but you couldn't move away. So | | | | maybe at a Starbucks or a city mall -- and surf |
| VoIP, despite its usefulness, was not portable. | | | | the Internet wirelessly. Using a similar system to |
| That was until companies like Netgear, | | | | make voice calls at lower than market rates |
| UTStarcom, ZyXEL and Linksys decided to do | | | | (even free) in a city-wide zone, is still in a nascent |
| something about it -- They built WiFi phones. | | | | stage. |
| With WiFi phones, VoIP could go portable. So no | | | | But the fact remains that WiFi is a simple, |
| more computers required, and you could move | | | | efficient and economical technology. It's also |
| around (or away) while you talk, and still be 'online'. | | | | downright brilliant. Why? Because it has strong |
| WiFi phones are like cell phones. But instead of | | | | roots in digital convergence -- the idea of |
| using regular carriers like Cingular or Nextel, they | | | | combining as one many of the functions, |
| use Internet-friendly WiFi networks, and open | | | | protocols, services and standards that baffle us, |
| protocols like SIP, to place your calls. | | | | and offering a core solution for simplifying |
| Unlike a regular phone that transmits voice in the | | | | technology itself, a need echoed by today's |
| analog form (as is, without converting them), WiFi | | | | multitasking world. And as this technology grows |
| phones convert your voice into a digital format | | | | and its pluses sink in, it's only a matter of time |
| and transmit them as packets of binary data to a | | | | before WiFi becomes the de facto choice and |
| wireless receiver. The receiver then passes the | | | | centerpiece of mobile communication. |
| information over the Internet to the call | | | | |