Convergence is a term often discussed when cross technologies are incorporated into new product designs. Often the term is synonymous with the drive towards products which are ever present, so much so that they may be with us twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Such devices could be life saving cardiac monitors, the everyday cell phone, or the convergence of both devices... Note the previous blog entry. However, the avenue of convergence that is most talked about at the moment are internet access devices, ranging from cell phones to televisions, to internet enabled refrigerators. Not just any internet connection, but wireless internet, often refered to as Wi-Fi internet. In order for such a network to function, a number of nodes, or "hotspots," are setup to provide a local area within a give radio-frequency area access to teh internet. Now the question is, if everything is wireless, how do you know if you can connect to the internet from where you are situated? The answer is a Wi-Fi area locator that indicated when you are in an area with a wireless internet connection available. The current locators are rather bulky, requiring something "extra" which you have to carry around, so why not incorporate the feature into something that you can keep with you at all times? Here is one possibility and it will take some additional engineering, but it certainly is innovative.

Wi-Fi Ring