Fujitsu Laboratories has developed a prototype wireless IP telephone handset that can also be used with conventional cellular telephone networks.
"The design of all mobile phones is dependent on the carrier," says Hideki Mitsunobu, of Fujitsu Laboratories. He demonstrated the handset at the Fujitsu Solution Forum event in Tokyo. "We can't use any software or any service because the carrier has to guard the security of its network, but with this handset we can use anything easily."
In the Cards
The secret of the combination phone is a Compact Flash card slot in the top of the device into which various cellular network cards can be inserted. A Global System for Mobile Communications module can be inserted and the handset will work on GSM networks. If a Personal Handyphone System module is inserted, it will work on Japan's PHS network, for example. Wireless LAN support is built into the handset and so is always available.
Because the cellular network interface is in a card that's already been approved by the carrier or relevant authorities, the rest of the handset requires no special approval and so can be customized or loaded with whatever software the user requires. The base operating system of the prototype is Windows CE .Net version 4.2.
"It's basically a phone-shaped PDA," says Mitsunobu.
It was jointly developed by Fujitsu with Net-2Com, a venture company started from Fujitsu in 2000. It is likely to be offered first by Net-2Com and will be targeted at corporations for use in association with a Fujitsu-developed telephone system, says Noriyuki Fukuyama, a senior researcher in Fujitsu's Information Technology Core Laboratories.
Cross-Network Compatibility
When within range of a wireless LAN, be it the corporate network or any public or private hotspot, the handset communicates with a server and provides its current location. On receipt of an incoming call, the Fujitsu telephone system can direct it across the Internet to the handset. Should the handset be out of range or an Internet connection not possible, it defaults to a cellular network connection. Calls from the handset can be handled in the same way, says Fukuyama.
The handset features a 2.2-inch color LCD with QVGA resolution (240 pixels by 320 pixels) and runs on an Intel PXA273 processor. It measures 1.9 inches by .7 inches by 5.3 inches.
No price for the handset has yet been set, however, Mitsunobu notes it is likely to cost more than a cellular telephone because there will be no carrier subsidiary. Based on its technical specification, it is likely to be somewhere around the same price as a PDA, says Mitsunobu.
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