Soon-to-be-unveiled
wireless service allows
surfing on your beeper
Net access from a pager: Go.Web
By Gary Krakow
MSNBC
March 12 — Since I've started writing this column,
I think I've tried to access the Web on almost
every kind of device imaginable. I haven't yet
tried surfing on my refrigerator or on a car
dashboard computer, but I can now say I've
successfully surfed on a pager. And it's better
than you might think.
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THE WIRELESS ISP people at Go America sent me
one of their RIM (Research In Motion) Inter@ctive950
two-way pagers with a final beta of their
soon-to-be-announced (mid-April) Go.Web service. Go
America is one of the nation's leading wireless ISPs
(Internet Service Providers) providing nationwide service
for network carriers, corporations and mobile professionals.
The RIM is a second-generation two-way paging
device with built-in keyboard that's marketed by a number
of different companies. It competes head-on with
Motorola's PageWriter 2000, which I've written about a
number of times. I actually carry one on my belt. The
Motorola can do a lot of things, such as send and receive
messages and e-mail. I've even seen beta software that
allows the PageWriter to sync up with Microsoft Outlook
and other contact software. A portable wireless PDA. But
so far, it can't access the Web.
The RIM can send and receive pages and e-mail and
will soon be able to act as a wireless PDA. It has an Intel
386 processor inside, 1MB of memory, a little
black-and-white backlit screen, a clever curved keyboard
(for typing with two thumbs), and a roller wheel that acts
like your computer's mouse (roll to a command and press
to start running it). The 950 runs on a single AA alkaline
battery. It can back up information to a PC via an optional
serial cable.
I particularly like the feature where the keyboard
“space bar” actually knows when you're sending e-mail and
automatically adds the “@” or a “.” when you type an
address.
WIRELESS SURFING
With Go America's RIM, there's another command on
the wheel. It's for accessing “Go.Web.” When you get to
their home page, you can choose from a number of
pre-selected destinations under headings like Business and
Finance, Entertainment, News, Search, Sports, Travel,
Weather and Other. And, of course, there's the “Choose
your own destination: Open URL” setting.
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What Go.Web does is get your request, surf the
Internet for you, then process the page you've asked for,
stripping it to take out everything but the text, then
compressing it and passing it along to your pager. The
explanation takes a little longer to read than Go.Web takes
to do its thing. What I'm trying to say is — it's fast. Not
blazing, but it's fast.
I can report the service was nearly flawless on every
page I tried. It didn't do so well on some sites, but 90
percent of the time I was able to read the information within
30 seconds of asking for it. For comparison, I've tried
some PDAs that can't do that. The pager worked well at
MSNBC headquarters in New Jersey and at my Lower
Manhattan test center. There was no available service at my
Eastern Long Island test bench, though. But, to be fair, the
Motorola PageWriter (via SkyTel) doesn't work there,
either.
THE COST
Go America has a number of plans available for the
RIM.
GoLite is $9.95 per month for 50KB of any
combination of Go Mail and Go.Web service. (A typical
e-mail message of four to six sentences or a typical
compressed Web page is about 0.5 KB).
Unlimited e-mail (Go Messenger) is $39.95 per month,
and Go Unlimited (e-mail and Web browsing) is $59.99 per
month. I've found that last price is typical of many unlimited
wireless ISP services. There's an extra charge for people
accessing your message pager via a live operator (instead of
dialing your personal identification number or sending e-mail
on the Web).
The pager itself runs $259 with any one-year
GoAmerica services contract or $359 with any six-month
contract.
I have to admit this is a very cool device and service
combination. I've used it to access the Web in places I
never thought imaginable. I'm very sad it's on its way back.
If I didn't carry a company pager, this is one service I'd
seriously consider.
RIM has introduced a new pager, the Blackberry, with
a wireless e-mail solution for MS Outlook users. When
that's combined with Go.Web — wow!
Next week, Web access for your laptop or handheld
computer via wireless modems. There's one service
provider that has a way to boost wireless downloads to
nearly “wired” speeds.
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