Bear's Log

I was watching Walt Mossberg's iPhone Review Video and one thing that caught my attention was the bit where he says that the iPhone will auto-switch from an Edge data link to a WiFi link when it detects an open WiFi network. That's not a whiz-bang feature I know - heck my Nokia N800 allows for that, but it's a manual step so I know when the switch is made.

Now of course I haven't seen the iPhone so I don't know if you get some sort of alert when it happens. I can't help but think that if it does not alert you, how many people will be streaming their potentially confidential email or web auth information across an open WiFi link without realizing it. WiFi sniffers get your skillz up - the iPhone could be a huge source of info if that's the case. I'm hoping the Apple devs are smarter than that.

Update: I see from the iPhone WiFi spec picture (can't really call it a spec page) that it will auto-switch to "trusted" networks so may be this is a tempest-in-a-teapot point on my part.