Nokia has developed a prototype handset that supports Mobile Internet Protocol version 6, a version of the protocol that will help to improve the quality of voice over IP, streaming video, and other applications delivered to wireless devices, the company says. The technology offers several advantages over its predecessor, IPv4. Most importantly, IPv6 can accommodate a vastly increased number of network addresses, the identifying numbers assigned to devices on a network. New addresses from IPv4 are already in short supply, and the introduction of third-generation phones, with their powerful data capabilities, is only likely to increase demand.
In its booth at the 3G World Congress show this week in Hong Kong, Nokia showed a video clip being streamed to its IPv6 phone, which also supports the current version of the protocol, IPv4. It was the first public demonstration of a call being made to a phone using IPv6, according to Nokia.