HSDPA, EV-DO and the rest are all lovely and fast, as long as you can get a signal in the first place.  That’s where Ubiquisys step in; their name might be tricky to type, but their product – called a ZoneGate Femtocell – promises perfect reception in your home or office.  Femtocells boost cellphone coverage by bridging wireless network data onto an ADSL or other broadband connection, apparently a one-step solution which requires no end-user setup.  It’s enough of a temptation to encourage O2 to trial the system in the UK this month and, if that proves successful, rolling it out to up to 500 users in the Summer.

Ubiquisys have also signed a deal with ShoZu, who specialise in cross-platform shared media between cellphones and traditional computers, to develop “Femto 2.0″, a range of services which would take advantage of the ZoneGate’s broadband hook-up to offer low-cost media transfer.  For instance, when the user steps within range of the home Femtocell, images and video taken on the cellphone could be automatically uploaded to an online gallery, bypassing the carrier’s relatively expensive data network.  Similarly, the system could work in reverse, downloading large images and videos from friends and family onto the mobile device. 

ShoZu also envisage a system whereby recorded media from a networked PVR could be transferred to the mobile device ready for viewing while out.  While it would lose some of the immediacy of the current on-demand mobile TV services, the far lower cost of provision could make up for that.