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Technology Stocks : METRICOM - Wireless Data Communications -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rex Takasugi who wrote (748)	5/18/1998 10:31:00 AM
From: Ross	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3376

Rex, PocketNet pricing can be found on this page: wddsales.entp.airdata.com (click on "pricing") I believe it is approximately $30.00 monthly, and you must be a ATT wireless customer also.. I agree that to receive just e-mail and a couple of extra features does not compare to what MCOM offers presently but I also believe that this is just the beginning of what ATT is going to offer. In one of our commercial buildings we have CELLULAR ONE as a tenant and they recently became part of a partnership composed of subsidiaries of Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems Inc., Vanguard Cellular Systems Inc., and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. I believe that if there is enough capacity in the cellular bandwidth we will see wireless Internet access through your Cellular provider.. Not just e-mail.. For me the problem with MCOM is that they need to build another infrastructure.. The Cellular infrastructure is, for the most part, in place.. Also, even if there is a capacity problem this may be solved with software and hardware technologies like DSP (Digital Signal Processors).. A little off topic but may make my point (about DSP) is Tom Engibous Chairman, CEO and President Texas Instruments speech to the Signal Processing Society.. If you read this, in its entirety, you will get a feel for how dynamic this area of technology is.. ti.com A shorter version: ti.com And if you want even more on the CEO and his outlook this is a great article: dallasnews.com We live in a rural area and know MCOM will never provide access to us.. I love what they have to offer but the competition is going to be tough considering how many will not be able to use their service.. Ross

To: Rex Takasugi who wrote (748)	5/18/1998 11:22:00 AM
From: Ross	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3376

Rex, I'm sorry to have included so much 'off topic' info on a MCOM site but I must add one more item.. Because I think the speech of TI's CEO is so long you may not read it, here is a little excerpt of most importance.. "I've already mentioned the impact of digital cellular phones. Work is under way on the next generation of digital cellular technology - a generation that won't be limited to voice calls, but will offer people advanced features such as Internet access. With these new phones, we will have the capability to upgrade the phones' software by automatically calling the phone and downloading the upgrade over the wireless network - all by answering a call and pushing a button." MCOM will never be able to provide both cellular and Internet access to everyone... That is a huge negative. MCOM as a buyout? Possibly.. But why would they buy MCOM to get subscribers when they already have it with the Cellular subscribers? Every time I think of MCOM I see all these little boxes on light poles that must be installed and maintained.. That is a lot of overhead expense. (overhead/expense! no pun intended here!! <G>) This is just my opinion, of course.. <g> Ross

To: Rex Takasugi who wrote (748)	5/18/1998 7:17:00 PM
From: HVN	Respond to of 3376

OK. here's the info on AT&T's PocketNet. the data service is $30 per month and you need to sign up for voice service as well - which is something I had with AT&T to start off with anyways. The phone has its own POP3 email account. So, you can either get your email directly on it, or forward your email from your office, etc. directly to this phone. It's great for screening email and you don't need to carry your laptop around with you - which for me works fine at times. I got mine recently, and it's great. I got it with this free software - called Intellisync or something like that - which basically synchronizes the schedule and calender from my computer with what's on the phone. The rest of the websites are decent - but a pain to use at times - and they could definitley do with more sites - one I definitely would like to see is Movielink. And they've even provided me with a cable which allows me to connect this phone's CDPD modem directly to my laptop. So, when I'm traveling, alls I have to do is connect my phone to my laptop and I'm surfing the internet, etc. on the CDPD modem. When I can't get CDPD coverage, which is a LOT less than MCOM's coverage, I dial in through my office's landline toll free connection. From what I hear, AT&T is going to be offering flat rate monthly access plans, much like MCOM, for the non-Pocketnet data access. Their transmission rates are a lot slower, but for email (our office has a connection to their CDPD gateway) and the coverage they offer, the other common data technologies have a long way to go to catch up!!! Would strongly recommend you give them a call.