Little Smart: China's low-cost wireless phone system

A Little Smart handset looks like a cell phone and, for the most part, works like a cell phone: users can make calls, send text messages, disrupt meetings and annoy theater-goers just as they can with a standard cell phone. Technically, however, Little Smart is a limited-mobility extension of the fixed-line phone network. Think of it as a revved-up household cordless phone with a citywide reach: Little Smart users connect to the copper wire network through base stations placed on rooftops around their city. The only functional difference from cellular phones is that Little Smart users can't roam beyond their home cities.