It's pretty much a done deal that the Motorola Sholes and HTC Desire are going to be Verizon's first two handsets but what about the third one? According to information passed to Unstrung, the third handset will be manufactured by a smaller company and will be able to act as a personal router using the "MiFi" service.
The MiFi device provides a portable wireless 3G Hotspot anywhere and everywhere one goes on the Verizon network. Up to five devices (notebooks, netbooks, smartphones, etc.) can connect to the service at once, making it a router in your pocket.
This Android-based handset would be the first to gain approval on the Open Development program. With this initiative, Verizon pledges to offer a quick, pain-free way of approving devices for their CDMA network. Unstrung reports that this handset will debut in early 2010.
9 Responses to “Rumor: Verizon’s Third Android Device to Act as a “MiFi” Personal WiFi Router” Leave a reply ›
"mifi" is nothing new. I've had it on my nokia n85 for a year from JoikuSpot. I played with the HTC Hero today at Sprint and I've watched all the videos. I'm still not that impressed by Android, HTC/Sense yet. Sorry but the Palm Pre is much easier and faster to use.
Too bad that the Palm Pre doesn't have the apps to back it up. I agree that the Palm Pre is proabably the better device, but unfortunately if the apps don't start rolling off the truck soon. Palm will be a has been.
@Erik I have also used JoikuSpot extensively for a while now. It's brilliant since it comes up as an access point rather than needing to figure out bluetooth settings or adhoc networks.
A version of joikuspot for Android is all we need -- and since apps can be download via other sources than a store (much like with the Nokia's) ... why not? I'd buy it (but ask for a discount for already owning it for the N95).
agreed. from what i've read it looks like we probably won't see joikuspot for Android. strange. Android phones on Verizon sounded promising. but right now it looks like a step back. just played with the droid and the eris. tethering would cost an arm and a leg.
My G1 can do this now. The app Wireless Tether for Root Users (http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/) does the job very well. I installed it last Friday, and them my home internet connection went down on Saturday, giving me a chance to put it through its paces. As the name implies, you'll need to root your phone, of course. And you'll definitely want to plug your phone in...it will empty your battery in no time. But it's free, and it works seamlessly.