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To: KyrosL who wrote (4878)	6/13/2001 7:27:28 AM
From: Rarebird	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

<I suspect the next generation of 3G enabled phones will be greeted with a yawn -- just like the WAP phones were. Their usability, compared to home PCs, will be atrocious, and the data charges hefty.> The Kyocera Smartphone is already out with the Palm OS. Yes, the screen is too small to navigate and the price is quite high. Personally, I don't think it's a good deal. However, there are some very good deals in Palm Land with fixed data charges. Verizon Wireless, for example, offers unlimited access for $25 a month on their Palm plan. There are 3 good web browsers, Browse-it(from Puma), Eudora Web (from Qualcomm) and Blazer(from Handspring). The first two are free, all support SSL Technology and they basically run at 19.2K if you use a Novatel Wireless Modem. Omnisky is even giving away a free modem on its Palm V plan if you sign up for a year at $30 month. The Palm III and V series are very powerful for an entrepreneur. You can set up a sever on your PC using Palm VNC(Virtual Network Computing) and log into your PC with your Palm (for free) and access your files, send Email file attachmenents and see your streaming real time stock quotes on your palm. It is pretty easy to set up also: harakan.btinternet.co.uk uk.research.att.com To be sure, I'm not arguing that one should go out and buy Palm or Handspring's stock. Quite the contrary: There is a glut of handhelds out there in the marketplace(thanks also to Sony, Hand Era and the whole Pocket PC Family) and prices are cheap. But that is good for the consumer and entrepreneur. The long term big winner in Wireless Land IMO is Verizon. Verizon has a tremendous network which they are constantly expanding and I have never seen the system go down in my 22 months of Palm Network service with them. I would wait for the dividend on VZ to get close to 5% before I would buy the stock though. The situation in regard to Metricom (MCOM) is very tragic. I doubt they will survive. MCOM offers ISDN access on the Palm for a hefty price of $80 a month. Moreover, MCOM is overloaded with a tremendous amount of debt and has a very limited amount of cash at their disposal. Most companies don't understand the needs of the wireless business user. They think that business people will pay exorbitant rates for the fastest wireless access available. That is completely untrue and the MCOM tragedy unfolding here is evidence that they will NOT pay those rates. Wireless Palm Internet access is not meant to be a substitute for one's PC. I don't think entrepreneurs are looking for the same speed on their Palms as they have on their PC. 56K would be good enough at a fair price. Moreover, there are serious limitations within the Palm OS. But if you are away from your PC a lot like I am and need to send important documents and files to others, VZ's Palm Plan is the way to go. It's quite productive and very efficient at a reasonable price.

To: KyrosL who wrote (4878)	6/13/2001 5:39:15 PM
From: LLCF	Respond to of 74559

FYI my data charges on the browser phone are quite cheap here in valley of the sun... and service is fabulous. I cruise the golf course with my "market minder" on and watch my gold stocks tick up all day :) Of course, let's face it, for anything else it's a bit silly [web cruising on mobile phone] IMO... not user friendly... I read the YAHOO bullit boards on my gold stocks once in a while, but we're not there yet. Plus, with the coming financial collapse no one will be watching stocks [number one use for web in US after porn, no?] :) DAK