Google says it has a plan for Americans everywhere to be able to surf the web on handheld devices at WiFi 2.0 speeds by the 2009 holiday season. How? By tapping unused “white spaces” in TV signals, but the FCC still has to sign off on it. And that’s not a slam dunk, because some are worried that Google’s plan would result in signal interference.
But if Google can pull this off, imagine the ramifications. Anyone with Google Android software on their smart phones will be able to navigate the web just about anywhere in the country at gigabits-per-second speeds. Suddenly, the mobile web will EXPLODE. In many respects, it’s already beginning to explode. Just look at these new iPhone stats: 85% of iPhone users accessed news and information websites in January, compared to 58.2% of smart phone users and 13.1% of the overall market. And that’s at a slower speed that Google promises with its “WiFi on steriods.”
| Activity | iPhone | Smartphone | Market |
| Any news or info via browser | 84.8% | 58.2% | 13.1% |
| Accessed web search | 58.6% | 37.0% | 6.1% |
| Watched mobile TV and/or video | 30.9% | 14.2% | 4.6% |
| Watched on-demand video or TV | 20.9% | 7.0% | 1.4% |
| Accessed Social Networking Site/Blog | 49.7% | 19.4% | 4.2% |
| Listened to music on mobile phone | 74.1% | 27.9% | 6.7% |
(Source: M:Metrics, Inc., Copyright © 2008.)
