Posted at 10:30 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 12, 1999
Internet changing as
computing devices go
wireless
NEW YORK (AP) -- Imagine ordering a plane ticket on the way
to the airport using a hand-held organizer or a pager with a wireless
link to the Internet.
Or imagine wrapping up Christmas shopping, completing a stock
transaction or checking the latest sports scores from the dentist's
waiting room.
Someday soon, you won't have to imagine it. Internet is changing,
breaking longstanding ties with the computer. Smarter portable
devices are making it possible to surf the Web from just about
anywhere.
Within a few years, those devices are expected to be as popular as
desktop or laptop computers for reaching the Net. Leading Internet
companies such as Microsoft Corp. and America Online Inc. are laying the groundwork today for
the Internet's mobile future.
''The Internet is beginning a transition,'' said Harry Fenik, an industry analyst with Zona Research
Inc. of Redwood City, Calif. ''A lot of these wireless devices are going to access the Internet, but
it's not something you're going to be conscious of.''
The Internet will become as basic as electricity, he said. It will be available anytime, anywhere.
The movement toward mobile Internet access comes as speedier connections are arriving in homes
through cable, special phone lines or satellite links. Hotels, cruise ships and airports also are
working to improve access for travelers with laptops, and some companies are furthering Internet
access through regular TV sets.
Cell phones have had the capability to receive e-mail messages for years, but the newest ones
offered by Sprint can also surf parts of the Web.
That feature is also coming to hand-held organizers, including the Palm VII that went into
nationwide release last week. By next year, Handspring Inc. expects to have wireless capability for
its competing organizers.
Dallas-based Panja, meanwhile, is hooking home appliances to the Internet, letting homeowners
turn off lights or program videocassette recorders remotely.
At the Internet World conference in New York last week, InfoCharms Inc. of Sherman Oaks,
Calif., hosted a 20-minute fashion show featuring Internet devices that can be worn like clothing.
Consider a wrist display for checking stock quotes and news headlines. Or jewelry-like accessories
that can serve as a cell phone, organizer, e-mail reader and Web browser.
Steve Case, chairman and chief executive officer of America Online, said more people today are
relying on e-mail, stock quotes and travel information on the Web.
''Today, they are starting to really embed it in their lives,'' he said. ''They want it all the time, not
just when they are home in their den.''
Still in its infancy, the technology to permit wireless Web surfing has many limitations: small screen
displays, slow Net connections, lack of an industry standard.
Web sites often must be customized for each portable device, and its users cannot get the full range
of text, images and sound they now get on the computer. And some corporate networks still restrict
outside access for security reasons.
Nevertheless, as technology improves and prices drop, sales of those devices should rise. And
while those devices may never completely replace the computer, today's competition is fierce to
serve tomorrow's wireless market.
Last week, America Online released new software to make its interactive calendar and other
features adaptable to portable devices, while online retailer Amazon.com plans to sell products
through wireless devices.
''It's important for us to be there for the customers as these new technologies come to fruition,''
said Paul Capelli, a spokesman for Amazon.com.
While e-commerce made shopping available anytime, he said, wireless devices will make it
available anywhere.
In recent months, Microsoft and Yahoo! Inc. launched services to let users of portable devices get
customized content through the Web. Paging Network Inc., one of the largest paging companies,
created a new subsidiary in June to focus solely on wireless Internet and information services.
GoAmerica Communications Corp., which sells wireless Internet access, has a new service for
lawyers to research online databases during courtroom breaks.
Deanna Sanford, a product manager with Microsoft's MSN online service, said customers will
soon come to expect wireless offerings, the same way some people on the go have become
dependent on their cell phones or pagers.
''You don't have to be sitting in the office on your PC. You don't have to be in a certain time zone,''
she said.
''We want to be available anytime, anywhere and from any device.'' |
