Mainstreaming of high feature wireless devices will expand wireless application deployments

Motorola's purchase of Symbol Technologies is great news for wireless data. Symbol wireless devices are extremely full featured -- including printing, bar-code scanning, signature capture, support for WiFi and cellular in the same device, and ruggedness -- and extremely expensive, ranging from $1500 to $3000 for combinations of the features listed above. The mass market belongs to devices that are less than $200 (see previous post). There are users, however, that really need all these features to deliver a complete wireless solution. To the extent that Motorola brings the price of these sophisticated devices down and makes them less of an esoteric niche, this will help to expand the world of wireless applications.