BlackBerry Tour "world phone"

The BlackBerry Tour is a "world phone" that will be coming to Sprint and Verizon Wireless. Both of these networks currently use CDMA technology. Most of Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world use GSM. As a results, to offer a "world phone," Sprint and Verizon must use a phone that works on both the CDMA network (for the U.S.) and the GSM network for the rest of the world. The BlackBerry Tour will provide EV-DO Rev A speeds on the CDMA network. When you're roaming, you'll have access to 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE as well as 2100 MHz UMTS/HSPA networks.

So, if you're locked into Sprint or Verizon and you're a world traveler because you attend international medical meetings (like the World Federation Of Neuro-Oncology or the International Association for the Study of Pain), then pick up a world phone. You'll be glad you did if you get lost in a foreign city. I just hope we see more medical software for the BlackBerry operating system.

Sprint and the MiFi Router

So Verizon isn't the only wireless provider who is offering the Novatel Wireless MiFi 2200 portable EV-DO Rev A router. You can also configure a smartphone that has built-in Wi-Fi to act as a wireless router (but you may need to make some modifications to the ROM). I don't want to say that you'd have to "hack" your phone, but that's essentially what you'll have to do if you want to use your smartphone as a Wi-Fi router.