Wifi phones

Thursday, April 19th 2007 - 20:17 CEST - Comments: 0

R esearch and Markets has announced the addition of WiFi for Voice: Consumer Research Around Wi-Fi Phones to their offering. Could a WiFi-Only phone ever Replace your cellular phone? No or Maybe was the lukewarm response from survey respondents that participated in our Web survey around Wi-Fi phones and communication devices. Although the majority of respondents expressed at least an overall lukewarm interest in WiFi Only phones, nearly twenty-five percent expressed absolutely no interest. Respondents cited WiFi's limited range and possible Quality-of-Service (QoS) issues as major obstacles to WiFi's use as a voice communication technology, over cellular.

 

WiFi only phones

Also, survey results indicated that current pricing for WiFi Only phones is significantly higher than what respondents are willing to pay for the devices. The majority of respondents had never heard of the Sony mylo, a pioneering personal communication device that supports WiFi and VoIP. Results from oTAP survey around WiFi Phones reinforce the sluggishness of the WiFi-Only phone market. Although WiFi Only phones have been out on the market since 2000-starting in the business segment and moving to the consumer space-this market has never managed to ramp up or attract much consumer interest.

 

WiFi phone - Communicator device

Overall survey results, however, indicated that WiFi is a desirable buddy technology to cellular; the majority of respondents were interested in having a WiFi communication device together with their cellular phones, albeit only if the WiFi phone or communicator device is cheap.

• Apple iPhone
• Cell phone plan
• WiFi video player