Put a Hot Spot in Your Pocket
New innovations revealed at the Computer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week could make the minor struggle of looking for wireless internet a thing of the past.
Palm unveiled new versions of two of their flagship mobile devices this week that feature, among other capabilities, the ability to create 3G mobile hotspots. These Wi-Fi hotspots can be used for any device that can connect to wireless internet networks, like laptops and other mobile devices.
The new Palm Pre Plus and the smaller Pixi Plus are slated to go on sale on January 25. The two devices will be available only on the Verizon wireless network. The wireless hotspot feature will be available through a download available only through Verizon wireless’ data plan. The program will be downloaded by users from the Palm App catalog.
The new feature will give users the ability to create a small 3G Wi-Fi network that can be used by as many as 5 different wireless devices simultaneously. It is likely that other cell phone manufacturers will develop similar Wi-Fi capabilities for their own mobile devices in the future, but until then, the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus are the first cellular phones in the world that can offer such a feature.
Sprint is currently the only carrier of palm products in the United States, so in addition to stirring up the world of wireless internet, the announcement also creates a stir in the world of mobile phone carriers.
Palm previously only worked with the Sprint network, so could this departure mean other cell phone manufacturers will follow suit and cease to have exclusive contracts with particular service providers? Questions like this are making the mouths water of iPhone envious mobile phone users who currently have contracts with networks other than AT&T – currently the sole service provider with access to Apple’s game-changing mobile device.
