Mi-Fi - Revolutionizing the concept of connectivity
By Renjith VP, SiliconIndia   |   Friday, 05 November 2010, 12:32 IST   |    3 Comments
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Mi-Fi - Revolutionizing the concept of connectivity
Bangalore: This new line of compact wireless routers seems to be adding personal dimensions to connectivity. My Wi-Fi or Mi-Fi as it is christened; this device has opened the doors for a potential revolution of advanced Wi-Fi usage. So pretty much technology related to connectivity are pinging up and what makes Mi-Fi stand out? Well is has already managed to beat Apple MacBook Pro, iPhone 4 and BlackBerry Bold 9700 to win gadget of the year by T3 magazine. And the reason for this is also the reason which can increase the scope of Mi-Fi as a potential connectivity hub - it is so tiny and, according to the New York Times' David Pogue, ridiculously easy to use. The device which can act as mobile Wi-Fi hotspots was introduced by Novatel Wireless and not to add, competition has already begun with all big names getting added up before the keyword such as Bell Mi-Fi, Vodafone Mi-Fi, Verizon Mi-Fi, Three Mi-Fi, Huawei Mi-Fi to name a few. MiFi is an interesting new invention when we interpret it as a device that gives us a personal modem that will work just about anywhere. That's right - Our own signal. And Mi-Fi interests that particular person who sits in a coffee shop, which is a Wi-Fi hotspot using a laptop, with all that Wi-Fi experience getting ruined because of the many number of people using it simultaneously. The MiFi gets its Internet signal the same way those cellular modems do and with firms like Verizon to provide excellent 3G (high-speed) cellular data network you can access upto 5 GB of data any which way you want. It also makes the use of smart phones debatable since with a Mi-Fi to assist you an iPad can perform as an iPhone without a phone. Mi-Fi will interest or in fact overwhelm its users in the coming days, if not the present responses are wrong and this will likely increase the new and advanced versions of this technology to pop up. The "cloud" of high-speed Internet connectivity that MiFi offers can be shared not only between users, but between devices such as laptops, cameras, gaming devices and multimedia players. Perfect for carpooling and relieving boredom in the back seat during that long road trip with kids - think Nintendo DS or Sony PSP - the MiFi will support up to five users simultaneously. It has got its own limitations too. Being a cellular modem, the user will be rather having low data caps. The packages as of now rate at $40 for 250 MB and $60 for 5 GB and are currently available in U.S. and Europe. Feedback on the total use, features and performance are still incomplete but claims are high as of now. India has roughly seven million broadband users. Though this represents only a tiny portion of the country's over 400 million mobile subscriber base, telecom industry experts agree that with the advent of 3G more and more and more people will start accessing Internet via mobile. Thus the need for continuous connectivity will rise. WiFi mobile hotspots are all set to drive a new ecosystem of broadband connectivity. US telecommunication carriers Sprint, Verizon and Spain's leading telecommunications company Telefonica Espana have already taken the device to their broadband users.There is no doubt that MiFi will have takers in India. However, it is yet to be seen how soon it will enter into Indian wireless broadband space, since the company sources say that there are no plans yet to take it to the third largest mobile subscriber base in the world.

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