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To: Ramsey Su who wrote (265)	7/27/1999 11:10:00 AM
From: Sawtooth	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 13582

<<I just can't see using the pdQ for surfing the net. What do the futurist predict? Is there going to be a killer app when high speed wireless data is available?>> One app that is emerging as we "speak" is online stock trading using wireless devices. Online firms are jumping onboard in a big way. Receive your RTQ's, portfolio info, company news and initiate trades as you enjoy your club sandwich and iced tea at the bocci match. (Future View: Your various financial accounts are updated automatically as you transact.) This is currently id'd as the killer app; for today, anyway. ; )

To: Ramsey Su who wrote (265)	7/27/1999 1:15:00 PM
From: bananawind	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 13582

Ramsey, wireless data devices In the context of a service like that envisioned for WK, ie. secure access to corporate intranet as well as internet, I think the most useful device would be something about the size of a 8.5"X 11.0" pad of paper (maybe a little thicker, but not much) which would be mostly screen and a functional keyboard. Someone (maybe it was me) called it the 'wireless etch-a-sketch', which refers to a toy that was popular way back in the 1960's. I guess this is really just a super-thin, specialized, laptop that is optimized for communications, graphic display, low weight, and low power consumption. Anyway, that's the one that would be on my wish list. Best regards, Jim

To: Ramsey Su who wrote (265)	7/27/1999 2:13:00 PM
From: Eric L	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 13582

Ramsey, << devices >> Wireless Data Good article called "Rush Is On in Europe for Wireless Data Services" " ... part of a very serious rush across Europe into wireless data services that is keeping the Continent, along with Japan, well ahead of the slower-moving United States." nytimes.com There are several references to (sorry to say) GSM and the evolution to 3G through GPRS, and EDGE. Article comments: "Other big players, including Sprint and Bell Atlantic, are pushing a rival approach called wideband CDMA, or code division multiple access. The conflicting standards have slowed things down considerably, said Mark Lowenstein, an analyst at the Yankee Group, a research firm in Boston." and: "The United States also faces a more difficult chore in getting from here to there. The American carriers do not have a middle-term technology comparable to GPRS in Europe, and the third-generation services are not expected to reach the market for a few years." Article is from NY Times which requires, I think, (free) registration. Another good article in todays NY Times called "Forced to Compete in Wireless Technology, Japan Becomes a Global Power" references: "The latest mobile phone to draw oohs and aahs here has a tiny camera that sends a shaky TV-style color image to a small screen on the other party's telephone -- assuming that it too is a video phone. That cellular video phone will be introduced by the Kyocera Corp. this month, for about $335, and it is as tiny as any other mobile phone, easily fitting into a shirt pocket." nytimes.com - Eric -

To: Ramsey Su who wrote (265)	7/27/1999 8:54:00 PM
From: cfoe	Respond to of 13582

<<What would the devices be? I just can't see using the pdQ for surfing the net. What do the futurist predict? Is there going to be a killer app when high speed wireless data is available?>> I believe I wrote in an earlier posting having met someone (at the Gilder conference two weeks ago) who had one ofo the new Q phones that combines the Palm Pilot (pdqPhone?). He had a beta of software that allows the user to check stock accounts and bank accounts, and to pay bills by the phone. For business people who travel heavily, this should be very attractive.

To: Ramsey Su who wrote (265)	7/28/1999 2:29:00 PM
From: Bux	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 13582

What would the devices be? I just can't see using the pdQ for surfing the net. What do the futurist predict? Is there going to be a killer app when high speed wireless data is available? Here's my vision looking 3-6 years out. 3G services will become available and some 3G phones will begin to look and be worn like pagers only they will be thinner and a bit wider and longer to allow a 3"x4" touchpad/digitizer. Using Bluetooth or a competing technology the data will be transmitted to a headset which will consist, at minimum, of a device that hangs over the ear and also hac a mic for speech. Some will prefer a traditional headset with a boom mic. Those who want to take advantage of 3G bandwidth without the inconveniences of a laptop will be able to choose from a variety of optional glasses that will contain one or two (for stereo- 3-D) high-resolution screens. Voice recognition technology will handle dialing, number lookup etc. and/or the touchpad/digitizer in the belt unit will handle editing, signatures and other more complex input. The glasses will allow users to see the "monitor" and also monitor the activity around them. Users will customize their "phones" to display whatever data they are interested in, late-breaking news, traffic info, stock tickers, sport scores etc. More advanced models will function as variable sunglasses, video cameras, still cameras and virtual reality movies as well. These units will replace dictation recorders, check-books, credit cards, many PC's, cameras, personal stereos, PDA's, calculators, gps's, etc. and will be the one personal device that is indispensible. In time, a certain portion of the wireless bandwidth will be purchased by TV media so the devices will also function as TV's. Children born into the 21st century will be surprised to learn there once was a time when these devices didn't exist. If the power consumption of these headsets is too high initially, bluetooth may have to wait since a power cord between the headset and main unit will likely be needed anyway. At first people will only wear the headsets when needed but with further advances they will be worn more hours a day until some rarely take them off (I never said the future would be pretty, just profitable). Until then, devices like the PdQ will fill the gap between voice-recognition handsets and laptops. Ramsey, keep in mind that WK's first services are specifically tailored to PDA's and cell phones so browsing the services with available devices won't be a problem. Bux

To: Ramsey Su who wrote (265)	7/28/1999 6:29:00 PM
From: Clarksterh	Respond to of 13582

The next generation PDA (i.e. 5-10 years from now): 1)Glasses with a projector in them with a resolution as good as a modern monitor. Whether prescription or non prescription they will probably change their tint via an electrical adjustment in order to prevent wash out of the display in sunlight. Mouthpiece folds down from the earpiece and is hooked to a natural language voice recognition system (i.e. it can take dictation in addition to standardized commands. Note that dictation requires some context sensitivity as in 'I got the noun and the object so the other thing must have been a verb.') 2) Computer with small lcd screen on one side (for diagnostic purposes only) and a touchpad on the other side (the touchpad is a device which can act as a mousepad or alternately as a keyboard where any letter is just a combination of simultaneous or sequential 'keystrokes' of different fingers.). For some things a picture and its mouse is still worth a thousand words. 3) A data rate of up to 1Mbps and storage via flash of 1GB. The biggest impediment to adoption of this is not going to be the technology. In ten years the most expensive part is likely to be the prescription lenses in the display system. The biggest problems are, IMO, human: 1) Head Mounted Displays, like VR systems, make many users nauseas. So the real question is what will drive users to use it long enough to get over the problem (like with sea sickness, most people eventually overcome most other kinds of motion sickness). I think that adoption will be first accomplished where, for whatever reason, it becomes essential to the job (e.g. military) or when VR games become the really in thing. (The first time I played Doom, which isn't a full blown VR system - yech!) 2) Wearing glasses is dowdy, especially among the early adopter set - everyone is getting the eye surgery. The glasses have to look cool. 3) It has to be in. Right now it is still considered mildly impolite (rude or show-off) in the US to be talking on a phone in public, even when you are in now way interfering with anyone else. Just my thoughts. Clark PS Alternatively, I think that there is going to be some very large workplace deployments of Bluetooth type technology with cheap, if not quite disposable, 'scratch pads'. The pads allow you to tap into the local system and, for instance, use HTML in a presenter's charts while he is presenting. I went through a whole scenario maybe 6 months ago on the other thread. The pads would also allow you to connect to your home base and check e-mail or allow you to write a letter via handwriting recognition, or allow you to access things that can only be accessed locally (proprietary stuff), and of course with many of the attributes of paper will get us closer to a paperless society. This is a Xerox PARC scenario.