I see what you want to imply with GPS use, but I fail to see the interest. Hotspots who belong to a given network, say boingo or t-mobile, can use the same ssid all over and then the Nokia (and other) can connect automatically.

More interesting is the point "certificates" in the OS2008. That can be used to implement an automatic login procedure for a wifi network. You give each paying user an individual certificate, and a challenge is used to log in without sending a password in the clear. Maybe a network operator will be interested.


Last but not least, I find wifi networks overrated. You can't really use them to be logged on all the time (as in GSM or UMTS netowrks), because of the limited coverage. This in turn reduces their usefulness for email or voip. So basically, the use I can imagine for them are:

-quickly checking for a price or a map when e.g. shopping. Networks adapted to this usage can be deployed in malls, and some malls already have a free one available to their customers: wifi is cheap and free wifi is a simple and cheap way to try to attract new customers.

-being able to use you lap- or palmtop when seated somewhere, typically at coffee or lunch. Here again, some cafes and restaurants have found out that they can attract customers by offering this service for free.

In the end, I think that wifi networks are way too expensive, considering that the competition is free as explained above. The only additionnal service that they can offer is to be at locations where lots of people need them or at locations where they are easy to find. This is the business model of T-online, who has hotspots in airports and train stations and in each macdonalds burger joint. This is quite a different business model than ubiquitous broadband.


In the end, if you want to be always on line (e.g. for mail as with the blackberry or for phone), you'll have to use cell phone technology, e.g. UMTS and Edge/GPRS. This is the direction taken by Apple with the iPhone or by Nokia in the Communicator series, BTW. Both devices can also use wifi when it is available, of course.


There are a few other comments I'd like to make on the subject. First, nobody has yet proven that there is a market for ubiquitous internet. The technology has existed for a few years with UMTS in Europe, but people are not willing to pay for it. Second, wifi is not adapted for wide range coverage in real use: when clients are at very different distances (near and close) the client which is further away can't really keep the connection.