There are cell phones, there are WiFi phones, there are cordless phones, and there are VOIP phones. But never the twain shall meet.

Now a universal wireless phone has come a big step closer, with news that WiSpry has perfected final elements of the chip design, and will work with Jazz Semiconductor to produce the necessary chips using CMOS technology.

The two firms' release on this subject is deser than a good bagel, but like such a bagel it's worth the effort. WiSpry calls its technology RF-MEMS, combining Radio Frequency (RF) technology with Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), a combination of electronics and mechanics on one chip.

The result, in this case, is a one-chip tuner, like a radio that carries its own channel selector. The difference in this case is that the channels are different communications networks. Thus the same device can handle the frequencies used by cellular carriers and those used for WiFi, and more. In quantity, at no additional cost. Voila -- universal phone.

It will take some time to deliver products to phone makers, and more time to get these chips into the pipeline to you. That's what competition is for, however.

Oh, and that means you could also have a PCMCIA device that doubles as a cellular data, WiFi, and even WiMax collector, for no more than you're paying now to reach any one of these networks.

Pretty cool, huh?