Working in a Wireless World

A wise man once said, "... all I ask is a tall ship and a star to sail her by." In todays mobile work place, the same could be said of Wireless - give me GSM, WiFi, or Bluetooth and work is progressing. I thought I would share a couple of my favorite Wireless finds to help the Mobile Worker.

Starting off with WiFi - WiFi's pretty abundant if you know where to look, from Coffee Shops, to Resturants, to your "Super Size It" spot you can have access. The trick is often how to find a hotspot near your moving location, one tool I have come to rely on is JiWire Hotspot Companion for Skype. With JiWire I am able to hop scotch from hotspot to hotspot as I travel across the city without fear of ending up in a signal free wasteland (I'll cover the boonies in a moment).

Bluetooth is finally breaking past Cellular Headsets here in the US. I have always wanted to go wireless for my iPod and have finally found a winning combination. The Jabra A125s Bluetooth Music Adapter supports the advanced audio Distribution Profile (a2DP) and audio video remote control Profile (avrcP) for the iPod. This means I can listen to rich stereo sound and control the iPod from the bluetooth device. I am big advocate for functionality, durability and versatility, as such I find the Motorola Motorokr S9 works great as headphones. The S9 is light, flexible, and most of all water resistant - so wearing them while I'm outside is not a problem. If I had to pick a downside, it be that the S9 is a headset, and can be used with a cell phone - I personally find the sound quality lacking compared to my Jawbone headset. One Bluetooth device I can't wait to test is the Jabra A7010 Bluetooth Hub, which should allow me to use my Bluetooth headset with my Deskphone and replace my now dead 15 year old ACS Headset (may it rest in peace).

This brings us to Cellular (and the boonies), I am totally baffled by the number of people who carry a newer cell phone and think they need a cellular card for their computers to connect to the internet. Most modern cell phones can be used by a computer to access the internet using either a USB Cable or Bluetooth DUN (a Bluetooth profile) via Internet Sharing on your Windows Mobile 6 Smartphone or Pocket PC. Signup for an unlimited cellular data plan and you can connect both your smart phone and laptop to the internet for a nominal fee. This allows you to use your smart phone for mobile applications and the laptop when you need a bigger keyboard or screen

So free yourself of the cables that prevent you from soaring and embrace your freedom.