Internet telephony provider/pioneer Vonage plans to bring forth a Wi-Fi handheld telephone for subscribers to use when they’re out and about, saying they have a deal with UTStarcom to build the sets and bring them forth come spring or summer.
The new set would work with Vonage service out of the box for American subscribers, taking advantage of local radio waves on the mainstream 802.11b Wi-Fi standard, Vonage said announcing the plans.
Based on Texas Instruments’s voice-over Internet protocol chip set, the Vonage-UTStarcom set will be known as the F-1000, and Vonage said they’ll make it available through retailers on a widespread basis. Vonage said they expect to make it available at over 8,000 American retail locations.
The sets can replace traditional fixed-line phones subscribers have at home and work within range of any adjacent Wi-Fi hot spot out of the house, UTStarcom said.
Vonage also has a deal with VTech Holdings to build a cordless telephone system running on Vonage’s broadband.
