Sonnet Labs, a Toronto-based technology company, has developed a system that allows for the connected luxuries of a city anywhere in the world. The company's eponymous gadget gives users' smartphones the ability send instant messages, voice recordings, images, and GPS coordinates, even in areas where there's no cell coverage, satellite service, or internet access.
The seemingly miraculous gadget enables makeshift internet connectivity through the use of a much older technology. Sonnet Labs devices can connect to smartphones via short-range Wi-Fi. Each Sonnet then connects to other Sonnets via traditional long-range radio frequencies, achieving sending distances of up to five kilometers.
Though Sonnet Labs' tech won't allow users to connect to the internet as a whole, it effectively creates its own internet among the devices within range. That means that as long as the user has data stored locally (e.g. pictures they've taken on their phone, GPS coordinates their phone automatically gathers, or text messages they've composed themselves,) they can send it to any other Sonnet user.
Off-Grid Data Devices
Sonnet Labs' New Device Allows for Communication Without Coverage
Trend Themes
1. Short-range Wi-fi - Short-range Wi-Fi technology can create off-grid data connectivity that functions as a local internet among devices within range.
2. Traditional Long-range Radio Frequencies - Devices that use traditional long-range radio frequencies can achieve sending distances of up to five kilometers, facilitating off-grid data communication in remote areas.
3. Local Data Storage - Off-grid data devices like Sonnet Labs' eponymous gadget rely on local data storage to send text messages, voice recordings, images, and GPS coordinates even in areas without coverage or internet access.
Industry Implications
1. Telecommunications - Telecommunications companies can develop and market off-grid data devices that provide connectivity to users in remote areas with no or limited cell coverage or internet access.
2. Travel and Tourism - The travel and tourism industry can leverage off-grid data devices to provide communication tools to tourists visiting remote locations where access to coverage or internet access is limited or unavailable.
3. Natural Disaster Response - Off-grid data devices can provide critical communication tools for disaster response teams, allowing them to coordinate rescue and relief efforts in areas with no or limited coverage or internet access.