Encase Yourself In a WiFi Bubble

Verizon has announced the MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot and it will be coming to a Verizon store near you on May 17th. You put this little device in your pocket and it creates a small WiFi network linked to Verizon's 3G network around your body.The dimensions are 3.5" X 2.3" X 0.4", which is just slightly larger than a credit card, albeit quite a bit thicker. Still, this will fit easily in just about any pocket. At 2.05 ounces, you will hardly notice it is there.

It is strictly meant for occasional use, not all day. The battery is expected to last 4 hours when used or up to 40 hours on stand-by, so when traveling, you'll need to keep the charger handy. It is certainly more convenient than many of today's portable WiFi routers.

This is for more than just internet access. It allows up to five devices to connect to it. If you had a Zune, you should wirelessly sync to your laptop while on the road without dragging out your cable, or move files between devices. What I don't know is will that go through the 3G network, which will consume your data allowance and be slower than 802.11b/g speeds, or just act as a router between the devices.

The device is $100 with a two year plan and has two monthly plans available. The first is $39.99 per month which allows 250GB of transfers. This will satisfy most people that do occasional web browsing and emailing when on the road. If you need more bandwidth than that, for $59.99 you can get 5GB of transfers per month. If you want to use it sparingly, say in place of pay-for-play hotspots in airports, there is a $15 option for 24hrs of access, but with that plan, you pay $270 for the MiFi instead of the subsidized rate.

This is the first carrier based mobile network that excites me. $39.99 is a decent price and I can use it with my laptop, netbook, Windows Mobile phone and Zune all at the same time if desired, and still have one slot left for my wife to get online with her netbook. My son will just have to wait until one of our devices is disconnected before getting online with his Nintendo DSi. There are no cards or USB dongles to fool with. Just leave the card in your pocket or bag and get online.

This device was mentioned at Mobile World Congress earlier this year, and I would expect a GSM version will be available soon for T-Mobile, AT&T or both. It should also be available in other countries later this year.