Ubiquisys, a startup backed by Google, lays claim to “the words’ first attocell—a personal femtocell.”
Femtocells are small cellular base stations that connect to the Internet on one side, and wirelessly link to a 3G cell phone on the other end.
They’re often used by cellular carriers to provide coverage for homes and businesses that are in or near dead zones.
The novelty factor of Ubiquisys’ attocell is that it’s really small, and meant for gadget-centric international business travelers who do their business in regions with high roaming charges.
It does seem like this will become one more piece of hardware, along with adapters, battery chargers, cables, etc. that many will leave behind in hotel rooms, convention booths, or bistros/enoteccas/tapas bars.
Attocell works by tricking an iPhone into thinking it’s the local cell carrier. Purchasers of this tiny cellular transceiver then can make and receive calls that bypass the local 3G network: the connection is all VoIP north of Ubiquisys’ micro base station, which is linked to a laptop through a USB cable.
Looking at the fine print of the Ubiquisys announcement (see reference below), it appears that in some countries the attocell will self configure to output enough power to cover a 5 mm area—that’s 5 millimeters or less than a ¼?.
In that case, you would place the iPhone atop the attocell to keep it in range, and then grab a bluetooth headset to conduct your conversation in a more comfortable way. Oh wait, that’s one more thing you forgot to pack.
I suppose another possibility, if you’re concerned about high cell phone bills and think femtocells resting on laptops seems silly, is to directly use Skype or another VoiP service on your laptop, or better yet, Android tablet, during your journeys.
Sure, your caller ID won’t match your cell phone number, but it’s a small price to pay.
If you’re a true road warrior, the kind who buys executive swag from SkyMall magazine, Ubiquisys’ attocell may be for you.
Related articles
- Coming Next: Carry-along base station for travelers (reuters.com)
- Ubiquisys announces World’s First Attocel (ubiquisys.com)
