Article about phones with Internet access. (There are a couple of real "bonehead" comments in here ...)
April 16, 1999
Surf the Net on Your ... Phone?
Filed at 5:45 p.m. EDT
By The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) -- Futuristic devices that offer brand new ways of surfing
the Internet are hitting the market, promising a nifty alternative to the
personal computer. But do enough consumers want to check out Web pages
on their telephone?
Gadget makers will soon find out. The French telecommunications company
Alcatel is talking with U.S. companies about introducing a ''smart'' home
phone this fall that would give Americans quick access to the Web and
electronic mail without a PC. One potential partner reportedly is America
Online, the largest Internet service with 17 million subscribers.
Alcatel's phone, called WebTouch, is about the size of a hardcover novel. It
has a 7.5-inch touch-sensitive screen, a pull-out keyboard and up to 10
special buttons that can be programmed to jump the user to weather updates,
stock quotes or order pizza from the corner restaurant.
Elsewhere, makers of mobile phones such as Qualcomm, Motorola and
Nokia are soon coming out with nearly a dozen new Web ''companions'' that
add e-mail and Internet access to wireless phones.
The pitch in upcoming marketing campaigns will be relatively simple: Why
bother booting up your computer to surf the Internet when you can just
reach for the phone?
Currently, less 1 percent of the 69 million cellular phone users in the nation
have Web phones, according to the Yankee Group, a Boston-based research
firm. But that is expected increase to about 21 percent by 2003 as prices
come down and technology improves.
But the devices face obstacles. Vendors must simplify Web information and
graphics so they don't clutter relatively small screens. Some analysts say the
gadgets could confuse consumers by combining Internet and phone
functions.
To be sure, the beauty of the home phone is its simplicity.
''The main drawback is this converged idea -- Let's glue a phone and a Web
browser together,'' said Tom Rhinelander, an industry analyst with Forrester
Research, a Boston-based high-tech consulting firm. ''How are you going to
get people to understand how to use this?''
Alcatel is betting it can. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday the company
is a probable partner with America Online in delivering a screen phone to U.S.
consumers. AOL, by marketing to its millions of subscribers, could stoke a
mass market by offering discounted subscriptions to early adaptors of the
technology. A phone is just one of a slew of Net-surfing gadgets planned by
AOL.
An Alcatel spokesman, Gean Christophe Huertas, declined to comment on
any AOL deal but confirmed the company is talking with ''several U.S.
partners to develop our screen phone in the United States.'' AOL
spokeswoman Wendy Goldberg also would not comment.
Alcatel hopes it can duplicate the success of its Minitel screen phone, which
is widely popular in France.
Don't expect the PC to go away. Potential smart phone customers are
expected to still use a PC to for lengthier Web browsing, since computers
boast larger screens.
''It's not in competition with the PC,'' said Beatrice Mandine, an Alcatel
spokeswoman. ''In our visions, it's a very different approach.''
Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company |
