Nokia’s new 6301 handset does Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), handing over a live cell phone call from a carrier’s cellular network to a WiFi network. The ability of a cell phone to use WiFi for calls is expected to save users money and improve reception indoors.
Nokia says the phone will be available first in Europe. It didn’t announce any plans to bring the phone to the U.S., however.
Wireless carriers have been slow to embrace UMA technology because it could eat into its core business. But T-Mobile At Home service allows you to switch from a T-Mobile network to a WiFi network. The WiFi support costs $19.99 per month on top of a voice plan priced at $39.99 or higher.
Not big-time savings.
T-Mobile so far offers a choice of just two dual-mode cellular/Wi-Fi phones for the service: the Samsung T709 and the Nokia 6136.
The recently announced BlackBerry 8820 also supports both cellular and Wi-Fi wireless networks. You can’t, however, make voice-over-Wi-Fi calls on the device just yet. RIM says that this feature will be offered at the discretion of the carrier; AT&T says that the Wi-Fi capabilities on the 8820 are “data only” at this time.
Beyond dual WiFi and GSM support the Nokia 6301 sports a music player with support of FM radio, 2 megapixel camera, 30MB of internal storage, and a microSD card slot (128MB chip included). The Nokia 6301 has a talk-time of up to 3.5 hours and a standby time of up to 14 days.
Related Dailywireless stories include; T-Mobile At Home, T-Mobile UMA Goes National, Google Invests in Femocell Company and Sprint; Femocell at Home.
Need to explain that this phone merely provides a UMA Client that requires a special UMA Server/Controller to interface with the Cell Network.
Left by jacomo on September 20th, 2007