Engadget has a report about BT going VoWiFi with the planned release of a WiFI phone.
My experience so far with WiFi handsets has been rather “so what” as the quality is not nearly as good as the cordless phones available.
When Uniden or VTech gets into the WiFi phone market then its time to think seriously about it. Right now you have phones that lack the quality in voice and feel to not make me want to say it’s the real deal.
Also, there are the technical hurdles of authentication beyond WEP that needs to be ironed out. A SIM card in a WiFi phone would be a good idea, but I suspect the GSM group has the patent on that and while I think some company has worked out the how to do that a few years back, no one has been fast to roll one out, making me think the GSM industry has other ideas.
The bottom line is VoWiFi is a great idea and it has it’s uses. I like it, want it, but it has to be as good as what it replaces, not just a dream of what it can be in order to offer mass appeal. That means either service offerings or price.
I’ll have to defend a WiFi phone I am using. It is crystal clear and “blows” away my Uniden cordless phone at the house.