Early adopters clamoring for Wi-Fi, VoIP support

Almost half of early adopters in the United States planning to replace their cellphones want Wi-Fi capability, according to a recent survey by In-Stat.
The market research firm noted that there are numerous dual-mode phones in the pipeline to meet this demand and that the Wi-Fi Alliance, which certifies that devices meet interoperability standards, will have certified more than 100 different models of Wi-Fi/cellular phones by the end of this year.
In-Stat also forecast that more than 50 million phones will incorporate some form of Voice over Internet Protocol support by 2011, and that issues such as limited battery life that have plagued current Wi-Fi and VoIP offerings, will be resolved by handset models released during 2007.
“In the years ahead, dual-mode VoIP-capable phone systems will have increasing competition from other technologies, like femtocells for cellular coverage, but widespread Wi-Fi deployment and the variety of Wi-Fi/cellular handsets offers Wi-Fi/cellular based systems a significant head-start in the market,” said Allen Nogee, principal analyst at In-Stat. “Other technologies, such as WiMAX and Ultra Wideband, are also poised to enter the handset market, but Wi-Fi fills a unique niche that WiMAX and UWB cannot match.”