Here we go: the first outrageous claim of CES, right on time. Peep Wireless is attempting to create ad hoc P2P networks between mobile devices by turning them into “client/server viral transmitter/receivers.” What does that mean? It basically piggy backs on the phone’s wireless connection to connect one phone to the next and then route calls that way. Obviously we’re dealing with a few fatal flaws. First, if there’s only one Peep device in the area, you’re SOL. Second, carriers will never allow this, also putting you SOL.
Sascha Segan at PCMag asked how it worked and got this reply:
“Anything with ROM or RAM on it and a bus can use our system,” a company representative said in an email. “Any game box, any car with programmable Bluetooth, any PC in a café with Wi-Fi, any device you can download to or any device that uses a voicemail system. The first app we intend to launch is the iPhone App, to be followed by the Droid app, to be followed by the Win[dows] phone app to be followed by an API for anybody left out in the phone world.”
The claim that Peep is able to use bandwidth without really connecting to a cell tower is ludicrous and unless it’s all Wi-Fi/Bluetooth all the time, this will never work. But, as we all know, CES just isn’t the same without wild people saying crazy things.
Like many things that are announced ahead of the curve, P2P Wireless may be poo pooed today, but it is the inevitable future – as I have been thinking about, tweeting and discussing with engineers for over 10 years. The air time providers / networks have nothing to do with it, so their opinion does not matter. You just buy the hardware – goodbye contracts and greedy middlemen. They have failed to scale in parallel with the local performance of our devices (iPhone, HTC Desire, Droid etc), making the whole concept of the mobile productivity worker a pain. Just today co-incidentally, here in the UK, I have spent half a day attempting to find a speedy Vodafone 3G signal being their Edge is useless. I gave up and located a bar with WiFi, but had to meet far from our original destination. But if I could have joined a swarm based on the 5 to 10 mobile devices in my vicinity, life would have been sweet.
Any technical issues will be solved fairly quickly, as will scaleability. Time cures most of our technical ills.
#p2pwireless
Biggs you’ve done it again! Proving that tc doesn’t actually know shit about tech. I bet that the carriers don’t approve of your ignorance either. Yet there you are, constantly pulling your head put of your ass just long enough to submit another clueless post. Ha ha ha
Cloud-based and P2P? That makes no f’ing sense and is an oxymoron.
Viral? WTF
This is just a phone claiming to operate via a mesh network (though one critical detail being which network, such as wifi, it would operate over is left out). Mesh phones don’t scale yet, and won’t really be feasible until POSSIBLY white spaces is adopted on a mass scale.
Thank you so much for this artlice, it saved me time!
Who the f* will ask the carriers if they are willing to allow me to do something on my own phone on my own paid internet connection?
I say be non-threatening at first, go smaller, be friendly, be helper a service to the carrier network as you grow. Check it http://bit.ly/eLbXbj
Every phone is a transmitter and a receiver so in theory every phone can also be a micro cell tower and this can be done. However, the trick is to use the unlicensed part of the spectrum to make p2p work. You can’t use the licensed part of spectrum because owners of the spectrum, in this case cell companies, will not allow that (plus FCC will frown upon the potential interference). Therefore the only option remaining is Wifi or bluetooth, unless someone sticks a 60Ghz radio into the phone (some line-of-sight gains). In my view, p2p will work best for bandwidth sharing for data then for making calls because of QoS aspects related to distance limitations.
Connection most likely will be wifi->wifi->cell tower. I.e. p2p aspect will be on wifi or bluetooth.
Disclaimer: I am only ‘pretend smart’ in this area
Once swarm grows, you can throw carriers out the window and use their spectrum. They will not be able to take action against millions of p2p nodes, same way that they cannot shutdown torrent anymore.
“The power solution for the device uses a type of technology currently only in use in space systems but now available for use on Earth thanks to Peep innovation. Details are available to qualified investors under NDA.” – looks like a nicely put together bluff. They are either joking here, or really want to help some investors part with the money.
I’ve gotta disagree with you on this one John…I don’t see any reason this system could not be implemented. Some carriers might prevent it, but this will be nigh impossible on Android devices or jailbroken devices…and the app. really isn’t that different than a Skype or other VoIP app. which uses the data connection to get around minutes fees.
Yes, there may be some instances in which you wouldn’t be able to get a signal on the P2P network – but that isn’t the end of the world…we all expect that some areas won’t have service.
I expect, eventually, that cell providers will move from a voice/data plan to a simple data plan which might reduce the incentive to implement these sort of P2P networks…but right now, when they are tagging us for voice, data, text, and everything else – its a good idea. =)
http://bit.ly/eLbXbj
This is how the net worked in Snowcrash. Bring it son. Some interesting things could happen though if we adjust our expectations. Is it going to replace your cell carrier? No, but it may be the precursor of something that will enhance the carrier networks, and eventually dwarf them.
Biggs clearly misses the point in the Peep’s comment that this is most likely a WiFi system – how else would it connect to game boxes or laptops?
There are a couple of dark sides to this solution:
- Battery drain of ad hoc networks constantly looking for partners to peer to.
- Signaling inefficiency of WiFi in dense user environments – try this in a room of 30 Peep participants and watch the air get congested quickly.
- Poor ad-hoc driver support for wireless chipsets.
Those issues (and others) aside, this is a pretty cool type of solution and eminently feasible.
Biggs – do some research… you might find there are other companies already doing similar work.
It`s looks like a vapor-wireless. The register at http://www.peepwireless.com in a Jomla portal is a poor and we have no choice to deal with.
A use for this is in next gen nav systems that will share location with each other so that traffic can “communicate” and update position relative to neighboring vehicles, speed, etc. There still needs to be a wireless carrier although P2P could handle messaging among user systems such as “get off my bumper”
So look.. most of the comments are right that this does make sense, in fact Ericcson is doing it by taking over the company Terranet which is doing this in Africa. Any Droid or Iphone can already talk by bluetooth to Bluetooth and WiFi to WiFi and SMS to SMS. Gameboxes connect to the internet and you can SMS and talk to anybofy in world on them while playing a game. All Peep is doing is putting it all together into one App. Anybody who says this can’t be done must be from the 1970′s.