Wireless Web turns mobile phone
into Net powerhouse
BY MIKE LANGBERG
Mercury News Computing Editor
MOBILE phones, suddenly, aren't just for talking.
A remarkable new service called Sprint PCS Wireless Web transforms
ordinary-looking, affordable mobile phones into pocket-size Internet powerhouses
capable of sending and receiving electronic mail, as well as grabbing snippets of
information from selected World Wide Web sites.
The idea isn't new. Other wireless phone companies in the United States and Europe
have offered Net connections for several years. But everything before Sprint required
either special phones that were very expensive or payment of exorbitant monthly fees, or both.
Wireless Web, officially launched Sept. 20, costs more than Sprint's voice-only service, but not much. And the five models of
phone that work with Wireless Web run from just $99 to $399, about the same price range as conventional mobile phones.
For more information, call Sprint PCS at (800) 480-4727 or go to the Web (www.sprintpcs.com).
The Wireless Web phones -- made by Denso, NeoPoint, Nokia and Qualcomm -- all have a small LCD display screen, a
common feature on many mobile handsets. What's different is inside: a bit of software Sprint calls a ''MiniBrowser'' that
displays text from Web pages specifically designed for the limited screen space in hand-held devices.
Sprint, a telecommunications company perhaps best known for hiring actress Candace Bergen as a pitchwoman for
long-distance service, has made deals with a number of big-name Web sites to deliver text-only information to Wireless Web
phones. Among them are Bloomberg for business news, CNN for world news, Mapquest for navigation, The Weather
Channel for weather updates and Yahoo for general news as well as Web-based e-mail.
As Internet-enabled phones and services from many competitors proliferate, which is very likely in the next year or so, the
number of Web sites offering access for hand-held devices should also increase exponentially -- giving mobile phone users
ever more reasons to switch from voice-only handsets.
I borrowed a top-of-the-line NeoPoint 1000 phone from Sprint, the $399 model, and started reading Yahoo news headlines
even before looking at the instruction manual.
Navigating from screen to screen was intuitively obvious, using selection buttons just underneath the extra-large monochrome
screen, measuring 1 1/2 inches wide by 2 inches deep. The screen displays up to nine lines of text at a time, with each line
wide enough for a maximum of 20 characters.
I kept in touch with breaking news while traveling around town, even reading about rumors that rival long-distance company
MCI WorldCom might be contemplating a bid for Sprint. At one point, I handed the phone to a friend who -- without any
prompting or instructions from me -- got a mid-game score from a Detroit Tigers-Minnesota Twins game.
I also checked e-mail in my free Yahoo account, and pecked out a brief response to one message using the phone keys. The
system, while slow, is simple: You press the 2 key once to get an ''A,'' twice for a ''B'' or three times for a ''C.'' Keys 3 to 9
work the same way for the remainder of the alphabet.
Making phone calls was no different from any mobile phone; I just entered the number and hit the ''talk'' button.
Wireless Web service plans range from $59.99 a month for 300 minutes to $179.99 a month for 1,200 minutes. Those
minutes can be used for either voice or Internet data, a big improvement over many earlier plans that required subscribers to
buy voice and data access separately. Sprint PCS subscribers who already have a voice plan for $29.99 a month or more
can add 50 minutes of Wireless Web access for $9.99 a month.
Additional Wireless Web minutes, for those who exceed their monthly quota, are 25 to 30 cents each.
Voice plans are still the cheapest way to talk. In Northern California, Sprint PCS is currently offering 500 minutes of talk for
$50 a month. But 500 Wireless Web minutes -- which, as I said, can be used for either voice or data -- costs $89.99 a
month. I'll do the math for you: The voice-only minutes cost 10 cents each, while the Wireless Web minutes cost 18 cents
each. But I don't find 18 cents a minute to be unreasonable -- after all, the cheapest mobile phone rates were higher than that
just two or three years ago.
There are no long-distance charges on Sprint PCS calls, by the way, and the company's national network already serves most
large metropolitan areas.
Sprint PCS is also about to start selling a ''connection kit,'' containing CD-ROM software and a cable, for hooking Wireless
Web phones to the serial port of a Windows personal computer. The software allows the phone to function as a wireless
modem, a boon to laptop users who can't find a regular phone line. And there's also synchronization with organizer programs
such as Microsoft Outlook, so phone numbers and appointments can be moved into the phone's memory.
The connection kit is officially priced at $99, but will be available shortly at an introductory price of $29; the kit is included
free with the NeoPoint 1000.
I found the synchronization software easy to install and operate, although the many steps required to retrieve information
stored in the phone gave me no incentive to abandon my much-loved Palm IIIe electronic organizer.
The wireless modem software didn't work with my computer -- the PC successfully linked with the phone and dialed the
correct number, but couldn't make a connection. Two calls to the Sprint PCS tech support department, both involving long
waits on hold, didn't resolve the problem. But installing a modem, wired or wireless, is always problematic, and I'm willing to
bet Sprint PCS will quickly iron out the bugs.
I also ran into a few other limitations with Wireless Web.
Even if the modem software worked, the connection would have run at only 14.4 kilobits per second, less than half the speed
of a typical connection through a regular phone line.
Also, the Yahoo e-mail service only displays messages sent directly to the Yahoo account. When using a PC and a regular
Web browser, Yahoo will also fetch e-mail from a subscriber's account with an Internet service provider or corporate inbox.
This is a feature Yahoo, or a competitor, quickly needs to provide Wireless Web users. And there just aren't enough Web
destinations to visit with a Wireless Web phone right now, although I expect that will change.
Nor does Sprint PCS offer coverage quality to match more established carriers, such as Cellular One and GTE in the Bay
Area. Several colleagues who've subscribed to Sprint PCS complain of many dead spots where the phones won't work,
although I expect that to change as the company slowly adds more antenna sites to its network.
But none of these gripes overcomes my enthusiasm for what Sprint has done. The cost of going online with a mobile phone is
now trivial in comparison to buying a voice-only phone and monthly service. I'm guessing it won't be long, perhaps no more
than two or three years, before voice-only wireless phones are hopelessly obsolete.
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