Small is beautiful for Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi must move away from the laptop and onto smaller devices, according to industry experts.

While the bulk of Wi-Fi users currently connect using laptops, smaller and more mobile devices are needed for everyday use. This would include PDAs, phones and location-based devices.

"Getting Wi-Fi onto smaller and smaller devices is vital," said Andrew Allison, head of Intel's mobility group in the UK.

"So too is the ability to switch between networks on the fly. By 2010 we will see huge numbers of Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices out there, all working seamlessly with each other."

Wi-Fi is increasingly being built into PDAs as standard and BT has confirmed that it will be introducing a combination Wi-Fi/GSM phone by Christmas.

"This is a massive focus for BT," said the telco's chief executive for wireless broadband Chris Clark.

"People do not take their laptops out with them everyday but plenty carry their PDAs and other mobile devices. It is important if Wi-Fi is to gain mass market acceptance."

Clark explained that increasing numbers of Wi-Fi devices might cause problems initially because of signal clutter, but that there are technical fixes for such a situation.