Will the big boys sit on this
 

Is this the phone equivalent of inventing a replacement for petrol, only to have the like of BP come along buy you out and then bury it ?

Can't see them liking this ...

"He said that were this to happen, it could potentially spell the end for the current Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications model. About 70% of all mobile phones use this technology. "

LINK

Re: Will the big boys sit on this
 

Anything that eats into the already disgustingly high profits will be killed at birth by the mobile service providers.

Re: Will the big boys sit on this
 

Sony-Ericsson have already invested large amounts in it.

I don't think any large corporations could supress this though.

Re: Will the big boys sit on this
 

It's actually Ericsson (one of SE's parent companies) who have invested.

They won't (directly) lose money if it takes off. The mobile phone networks will, and I suspect they will try and kill it.

TBH, I personally think the two systems can co-exist. A peer to peer system is fine, but it has three problems.

If you are not within range of another peer, you'll lose network. This isn't a problem (theoretically) on the GSM systems as the mobile phone cos have spent an awful lot of money ensuring that enough base stations are in place to ensure coverage for most of the country (of course, the same range limitations apply to gsm though).

Radiation. While I personally don't believe that phones cause a problem, that may be due to the fact that phones emit a relatively weak signal. The output from the base stations is considerably higher. These p2p phones may have to transmit at a similar power to base stations. Most people don't seem to be too bothered if they live near base stations, however, they also wouldn't be within two feet of those base stations 24/7

The people you call would also need to be on the same network. If they aren't, you'd probably need to pay. In fairness, however, they aren't advertising this as a replacement for conventional mobiles, more as an add on.

Re: Will the big boys sit on this
 

Ah, "mesh networks" - as used by Zigbee amongst others.

I can see some mileage in this for extending the range of mobile networks in remote areas. Coverage out in the hills is very patchy and this could be a very useful in emergencies. However, I imagine that it would be even more unreliable than an ordinary signal.

Re: Will the big boys sit on this
 

So lets get this straight, if Person A wants to call Person B, but can't because they're two far apart, if I come along in between and my phone happens to be on, my phone will forward on the transmissions from either person.
Ability to hack into the conversation aside, when I come to make a phone call, I'm going to find my battery is flat!