The days of searching for the nearest Wi-Fi HotSpot are at an end. Now, thanks to a North Carolina company TapRoot Systems, you can turn your WiFi-enabled smartphone into a WiFi HotSpot capable of granting broadband internet access to any nearby WiFi-capable PC and laptop, as well as the iPod touch and other MP3 players.
The application, called WalkingHotSpot, currently supports 3G smartphones running the Symbian S60 or Windows Mobile operating systems, but that’s just the beginning. TapRoot promises support for other OS’s are on the way.
Currently, WalkingHotSpot is being marketted strictly to wireless carriers, but plans are in effect to market the software to consumers any day now.
The technology, promoted as being energy-efficient, user-friendly, and – above all – secure, is also poised to allow smartphone users to have WiFi service activated and make and receive voice phone calls simultaneously, though at the moment only devices on the AT&T HSDPA/UMTS service can do so.
At the WalkingHotSpot website, smartphone owners interested in the service can sign up to be notified as soon as a demo download is available for their system.
