IP: MOBILE E-MAIL READY FOR TAKEOFF (edupage)

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

I keep inding such pronouncements interesting. Like someone just woke up. The big problem is all the tools so far on 
the market for doing email are faulty and/or the service is too expensive. Maybe the Wall Street market but not yet 
near my price range . Actually the nearest I have seen for limited apps is GSM SMS (small message service) Cheap and 
useful and not two way available in the USA that I know djf


A new class of devices that combine the features of mobile phones and 
laptops is set to launch, enabling users to dial into corporate networks and 
the Internet regardless of where they are. "The Internet is the killer app 
for wireless data," says a product manager at 3Com's Palm Computing 
division. By 2002, nearly 12.6 million U.S. consumers will be spending more 
than $5 billion to connect to wireless networks, according market research 
firm Telecompetition, a four-fold increase over the number of wireless data 
network users last year. Industry experts predict that combination devices 
that do everything -- fax, e-mail, scheduling -- will not fare as well in 
the market as lighter-weight application-specific devices. "The only 
combination device the American public has bought in great numbers is the 
clock-radio," says the chairman of the Portable Computer and Communications 
Association. (Los Angeles Times 15 Mar 99)