Create a WiFi hotspot with your BlackBerry

This is one of the neatest devices we’ve seen in a while. It’s a tiny device called the PHS300 by CradlePoint. All you have to do is hook up your 3G EVDO device to it, and it creates an instant WiFi hotspot. Pretty neat, huh?

“Plugging a phone or modem into the PHS creates an instant hotspot for consumers and enterprises that is flexible, reliable and secure,” said Gary Oliverio, CradlePoint’s co-founder and VP of marketing, in a statement. “With the PHS300, shared Internet access is simple and available at higher speeds with virtually unlimited coverage.”

Some might wonder why, if you can tether your BlackBerry as a modem, would you want to share it with everyone in your vicinity? We envision this being helpful for, say, a business team sitting at an airport where you have to pay for wireless. One guy tethers his BlackBerry to this puppy, and everyone has Internet access. It also benefits devices that work on GSM networks, or only on WiFi. Take the iPhone and the iPod Touch for instance. You can’t, as far as we know, tether your Blackberry to either device. But if you plug it into this, you can access the Internet through your iPhone, or download songs from iTunes to your iPod Touch. This is just one example, too. There are plenty of devices this would work with. But, since it only works with EVDO, you’re limited to Sprint, Verizon, and Alltel. However, it will also work with USB modems made by Sierra Wireless, Novatel Wireless, and Franklin Wireless. The cost isn’t terrible: $179. Depending on how you’d use it, though, it could be totally worth it. [Information Week]

About the Author

Joe Pawlikowski is the Senior Editor at MobileMoo.com and has been covering the mobile industry full time since 2007. When he's not writing about the tech scene, he can be found discussing his personal love - baseball (and more specifically the New York Yankees) as well as writing on his personal blog.