Mobile connectivity is at the forefront of innovation, it seems everyday more phones use WiFi, 3G variances, EVDO connections, Edge/GPRS capabilities, WiMax and other forms of evolving connectivity standards. Symbain v9.5 is not however looking to reinvent the wheel, but rather to "place all the wheels on the right axis" so to speak. With Symbian v9.5 Freeware the wireless technologies we currently use are integrated, forming one cohesive unit of connectivity bliss.
As I had done with Symbian Location Based Services, i'll give a simple day to day walk through of how the hardware/software can be utilized, but first we need to understand what Freeway is, according to Symbian "FreeWay is the new and unrivalled IP networking architecture in Symbian OS, providing broadband speeds in your pocket." Now let's understand what that architecture entails.
First image your data connection is on a 1 dimensional plain, as information is passed to your device that plain is utilized, therefore new information can not be passed along until the old information is abandoned. Now imagine if that plain became more three dimensional. As one packet of data comes into the new 3D model it is sent to one part of the 3D plain and continues to use that sector until the action is terminated, while another piece of data is sent to another part of the plain to utilize a different part of the spatial availability. Essentially by fragmenting information into different plains packets of information can be sent simultaneously without interfering with one another, whereas a 1 dimension offering can only pass data in one direction, one data packet at a time.
Lets break this down into easier to understand terms by offering a "day in the life" example.
Sitting at your favorite bookstore you receive a call through Voice Over IP (VOIP), when you answer the call your Symbian based device places the VOIP call in its own data plain, away from your other data activities that may occur at the same time. Why is this important? Lets say you receive an MMS message while on your VOIP call, typically you would wait until your call ended before viewing the message, now with your VOIP call existing "outside" of the MMS data stream you have the ability while using your Bluetooth headset to continue your call while viewing the MMS, or while checking your email, browsing the internet, or downloading and uploading files simulataneously. Better yet, you can accomplish all of these goals without network congestion and ultimately you can avoid network slowdowns.
If Freeway stopped there it would still be a neat feature, but there's more. Lets say you decide to leave the Bookstore and head to your house. Upon leaving the WiFi hotspot your connection would typically be lost, if you're streaming music this can easily cause your music to seize playing once your out of the range of the WiFi network. Fortunately Symbian's Freeway continuosly monitors your data connections and helps you determine which data networks will work best for your chosen activities. For instance, the WiFi signal is becoming weak while 3G signals are strong and fast, the Symbian Freeway application realizes this data information and seemlessly switches you to a 3G connection as you drive away from the bookstore, with no break in your streaming media. If you don't have 3G access or it is not available Symbian Freeway will attempt to connect you to whichever service you subscribe to, and which is available.
Freeway can also be configured by the user, for instance, if you don't want to pay for 3G access when it is not necessary, maybe because you don't have an unlimited data plan, you can tell Freeway to connect to a WiFi hotspot or home connection whenever one becomes available, or to avoid 3G connections all together.
So now you arrive at home and you have a WiFi connection at your house, as your device realizes its within range of the WiFi connection it switches out of 3G mode, all the while your downloads and music streaming files, along with your VOIP call continue uninterupted.
In quick review, the IP architecure of Symbian's Freeway based application allows Symbian v9.5 users the ability to seemlessly switch between all available data connections available through their device. Symbian has promised that the unit will support the widest variety of connections available, which so far includes Edge, GPRS, 3G and Super3G, EVDO, WiMax and LTE, however as the field of available connections continues to grow the technology housed within Freeway will allow for more connections to utilize the state of the art software it has implemented, the reason for this is that the technology is not based on the speed but how the speed of the connection is utilized. Freeway is not a new speed its a new way to look at how data speeds are handled and that's what excites us most about this new tool in the Symbian arsenal.
Update: We forgot to mention. Symbian is going open source, which should help programmers create stronger programs that can further take advantage of Freeway technology. Only time will tell but we're excited!