Having been at PacketVideo, I’ve heard plenty of clue-needing people assure me that 3G is coming “next year, for sure!” I’m as much of a techno-cheerleader as anybody, but the headline is my prediction about when 3G is actually going to get here. By that time I’m guessing that my phone will be roaming between wide-area 3G networks and local-area (802.11x?) meshworks.
In the meantime, MIT Technology Review has a short overview of where we are with 3G today. Link