inquiline weblog

Welllll, looks like news is that there's a Cisco Wi-Fi phone due in June - good news for WiFi, bad news for users.

They're completely ignoring the battery issue and they know it

Handhelds are already handicapped with only enough room for a small battery but can still squeeze out a day's worth of use between charges. Adding radios needed to log onto a Wi-Fi or cellular network will dramatically cut the device's lifespan on a single charge, Ro said.

He's basing his assessment on experience with a Toshiba e740, a Wi-Fi-enabled handheld. The device needed to be recharged after surfing the Web over a Wi-Fi connection for about 75 minutes, Ro said.

Nonetheless, he said Cisco could have some success in the crowded market because it "owns dozens of accounts that they could sell this to.

Essentially, they think that because they have an audience, then they have a market. This seems just a wee bit skewed to me, but then again, whatever broadens the acceptance of wireless access is good in my view.

posted by Brian @ 5:35 PM