When Cellphones Become Webservers

An anonymous reader writes "Nokia is experimenting with turning mobile phones into webservers, according to an interesting article on Linux Devices. Nokia has ported the Apache webserver and a few other software modules to the Symbian OS that runs its phones, but there shouldn't be any barrier to adapting the technique to Linux mobile phones, since it all appears to be released under Linux-friendly open source licenses. Just think of the possibilities of having a webserver in your pocket!"

Two acronyms.

[Fizzl]

3G, Wifi.

Re:But can I make calls, too?

[10Ghz]

My phone is online 24x7. It has a constant GPRS-connection to the network, so it can receive email sent to me. And I can make phone-calls just fine. I can even make and receive phone-calls when I'm surfing the net with the phone.

Symbian is a multitasking OS, so having a webserver there is not an issue. And GPRS and the like do not prevent you from making phone-calls.

Re:But can I make calls, too?

[TheRaven64]

This is not quite true. The GPRS connection is suspended while you are making a voice call (use a hands-free set and try browsing while talking, if you don't believe me), and is resumed when you hang up. For a client, this is fine; you are unlikely to be browsing while talking (irritating for me though, since I was having a conversation over IM on my computer using my 'phone via bluetooth for the Internet connection when I received a call). For a server, it would just mean random downtime.

Quite why this is a better solution than having your 'phone update a server on a wired connection is beyond me, especially since it requires a Linux machine to act as a proxy anyway. Why not just run Apache on the Linux box, and use rsync to update it whenever you create some content on your 'phone?

Exactly what I was thinking..

[itomato]

Verizon's BroadbandAccess Package: $59.99 monthly access w/ 2-yr customer agreement and qualifying voice plan, two-year Customer Agreement, $25 activation fee per line.

However,

Unlimited NationalAccess/BroadbandAccess services cannot be used (1) for uploading, downloading or streaming of movies, music or games, (2) with server devices or with host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, Voice over IP (VoIP), automated machine-to-machine connections, or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, or (3) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections.

Which makes me ask, "In that case, why the hell would I want it?"