Bucking the Industry Trend - WiFi will Make BlackBerries even More Appealing

Before the end of this year, Research in Motion (RIM) intends to release a smartphone with Wi-Fi . This will the the company's first device with this short-range wireless networking standard built into it.

RIM Senior Vice President David Yach told eWEEK, "Our goal with Wi-Fi then is that Wi-Fi will just work. When you have coverage Wi-Fi will work, and when you don't you'll use something else,"

The company is working with wireless carriers to make the hand-off between an Internet connection via Wi-Fi and a connection via a cellular-wireless network as seamless as possible.

Stay Tuned

Yach did not give any additional details on exactly when the first BlackBerry with Wi-Fi will be released, or what other features it will offer.

He also didn't discuss which wireless carriers have expressed an interest in offering this device. Not all of the carriers have embraced Wi-Fi, as they would prefer their customers subscribe to their 3G services.