Idea for a new app, but carriers might not like it.

[Magnetic1]

Iam combining several of the things that I found while pondering the fact that a whole lot of people use the iOS devices.

Lets say people got this new app that let's them make phone calls.
Instead of using the wireless phone network, it uses wifi.
But we already do that where ever there is a hotspot.
Well even though hotspots are growing in numbers, I think iOS devices numbers are greater in number.
Plus many hotspots are gated community, if you know what I mean.
So what this app will do is a couple of things.
This app will create a wifi bridge over all of the iOS devices that are turned on for those who chose to use the app.
The call will go through the most efficient path so that the app participants will not drain their battery so much.

Now I think given the apps that we already have this is very doable.
GPS, I think will help a lot with routing of the bridge.

Although phone calls have come down in price, you can't beat free.

So could someone get on with this app?

 

[thewitt]

As hoc wifi hotspots are not currently something that app programmers can create on iPhones.

What you are suggesting is not currently possible on a stock phone. Perhaps on jail broken devices, but even then you would have to be sitting very close to everyone participating in order to make the chain of wifi connections...

 

[scifan57]

As hoc wifi hotspots are not currently something that app programmers can create on iPhones.

What you are suggesting is not currently possible on a stock phone. Perhaps on jail broken devices, but even then you would have to be sitting very close to everyone participating in order to make the chain of wifi connections...

The streets of a city would have to be lined with hotspot enabled iPhones, as well as the highways from city to city. You would need millions to cover the whole country. Totally impractical.

 

[Magnetic1]

That's what they said about doing dsp when they first invented it before there were computers fast enough.
And didn't they say apple sold millions of iOS devices already?
I don't think they will stop selling them because they reached their million milestone.

 

[AQ_OC]

This kind of thing would be important in emergency siutations. It is within the realm of research activities.

 

[scifan57]

That's what they said about doing dsp when they first invented it before there were computers fast enough.
And didn't they say apple sold millions of iOS devices already?
I don't think they will stop selling them because they reached their million milestone.

WiFi hotspots have a very limited range, less than that of a regular WiFi router. The idea is just not practical, even if it were possible.

 

[thewitt]

Again, with jail broken phones you might be able to set up peer to peer ad hoc wifi networks, but not with a standard iOS device.

If you could convince Apple to do it they could, but no one on a non jail broken device would be able to do this at all today.

Research it all you want

 

[scifan57]

This kind of thing would be important in emergency siutations. It is within the realm of research activities.

How would you ensure that all phones had their hotspots turned on.

 

[LannyC]

You can't. It would be a community of like-minded participants, like Waze, which works best when lots of users are in the loop.

Aside from technical issues, though, there are probably legal ones as well. Are participants accessories to each others' illegal acts?

Still, an interesting concept.

milliHelen: amount of beauty required to launch one ship.

 

[AQ_OC]

How would you ensure that all phones had their hotspots turned on.

Who knows...in order for the result of the research to function in the real world, the phones would need to be designed to function appropriately in times of emergency. It would take some authoritative group or entity to set standards/rules to enable the function. Researcher just work on the tech, without concern for broader issues. That comes later.

Also, in emergency siuations, the rules are different. People wouldn't be making regular phone calls, streaming video, or music. The operation would be to form an ad hoc network that could be used to propagate a signal from under rubble, etc., to an regular tower or a temporary one setup to deal with the emergency. It would be used for location purposes.