Nextel Plans Moto Wi-Fi and Microsoft Phones
As usual Nextel is shaking things up. First they announced that Motorola is working on an GSM/GPRS/iDen phone with Microsoft Smartphone. Given Nextel's business user focus adding a MS powered phone is a natural choice and since Motorola is the only iDen supplier they are the only ones who can build it. It will be interesting to see if this leads to other MS powered Motorola phones. The two are also working on an iDen phone with built-in Wi-Fi for VoIP calls. Again this is a pretty smart move targeted at Nextel's core business user audience. Integrating VoIP over Wi-Fi means that workers will always use their Nextel phone both at the office and away from the office. And unlike most wireless carriers who are scared of VoIP and Wi-Fi, Nextel is figuring out how to make it work for them. We are curious though to see how Motorola gets around Wi-Fi's power requirements which will kill a normal cell phone battery. Then again, iDen phones aren't exactly known for their small size.![Hide This Hide this](https://ii.techdirt.com/s/t/i/topclose.png)
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team