IP: SingNet Tests Forwarding E-Mail to Mobile Telephones

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

These guys need to learn about mail filters djf 


SingNet Tests Forwarding
E-Mail to Mobile Telephones




By WAYNE ARNOLD 
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL




THE GOOD NEWS is that if you live in Singapore, you can get your e-mail on
your mobile phone. The bad news is that if you live in Singapore, you can
get your e-mail on your mobile phone. SingNet, Singapore
Telecommunications' Internet access service, has been trying out a service
that forwards a copy of incoming electronic mail to users' handsets. This
month SingNet's arch rival, Pacific Internet, started a trial of its own,
which is all the more impressive because it requires the cooperation of
Sing Net's cousin, SingTel Mobile.


Both the services are free while they are in the experimental stage --
until March 31 in Pacific Internet's case. (SingNet hasn't set a date for
its trial to end.) Receiving such messages on your phone doesn't cost
anything, either. You can sign up at each Internet service's Web site
provided you are one of their customers. While you're there, don't forget
to check the lists they provide to make sure your phone is capable of
receiving short messages in the first place.


SingNet has 380 customers in its trial so far, according to SingTel
spokesman Ricardo Villanueva. He says the service has been working fine,
although the company still isn't sure whether it will continue to provide
it once the trial is over. SingNet customers receive their e-mail in bursts
of 160 characters. Pacific Internet's version won't send more than one take
of 160 characters, but both services let users program them to send only a
message's subject header or just a simple alert.


So why my ambivalence? Because after a few days trying out this new
service, I realized that very little of the e-mail I receive warrants an
ear-piercing bleep to inform me of its arrival. And in a world where
digital technology is making information increasingly ephemeral, the
anticipation of watching unexpected e-mail download to your computer
endures as one of life's little thrills.


Fortunately, both services let users establish ground rules for receiving
alerts. You can tell the service to forward only e-mail from a particular
sender, and can turn it off altogether during certain hours. Best of all,
you can do all of this on-line. But don't think turning your phone off will
save you from the bleep. The diligent cellular network will pass messages
received while you were out of touch to you the minute you switch your
phone back on.