At Net Works we get requests like this from readers all the
time. It's a wireless jungle out there and it's not always easy to
find your way around.
Cell phone/personal digital assistant/pocket PC combos are
coming out in North America -- lagging behind Europe in many
respects, as our reader points out.
Now is a great time to be upgrading your wireless data devices,
because high-speed connections -- roughly the same as the fastest
dial-up modem -- have finally arrived with most carriers.
There are several possibilities that marry data and voice on a
single device and more ingenious solutions are arriving all the
time.
The Motorola V101 personal communicator was recently released
by Rogers AT&T and our reader is probably correct in his
assessment that it's not the device for him.
The target market for this gadget is young people -- the ones
who regard online chat as a service as indispensable as a phone.
At $99 with a two-year contract it's the junior version of the
Blackberry handheld. Research in Motion recently introduced its
new Blackberry with an integrated phone, for use on GSM/GPRS
networks in North America.
Handspring's new Treo communicator also combines voice with
PDA, Web browsing and text messaging functions.
Kyocera's SmartPhones combine wireless Web access with
Palm-based organizing functions.
If you want more functions in a mini-PC, consider a Compaq iPaq.
The iPaq can be fitted with a Sierra Wireless AirCard and that,
linked to Telus Mobility's faster wireless service, is the latest
solution we're trying out at NetWorks.
An iPaq equipped with a keyboard makes a handy mini-networked
PC and the voice feature -- already available in Europe -- is
expected in North America in the middle of this year. The iPaq
AirCard package will set you back about $1,500.
If you want to add high-speed wireless access to your Powerbook,
consider one of the GPRS phones offered by Fido (ww.fido.ca). The
phone can connect to your notebook, either PC or Apple, via a
cable or infrared connection, giving you wireless Web surfing and
e-mail.
Martin Williams, business services
manager at Cellular One www.cellone-online.com goes with our
suggestion of an iPaq but recommends pairing it with an Ositech
modem card and the Motorola Timeport or StarTax 7868 for wireless
coverage in North America.
Ositech's King of Clubs www.ositech.com is a $200 PC card modem with a cable that
attaches to your cell phone. It automatically determines whether
the service is digital or analogue and makes the connection.
It uses your regular cell phone
airtime so you don't incur an extra monthly data fee. Ositech's
card is upgradeable to 1XRTT service and it works with Macs as
well as PCs and pocket PCs.
For overseas service, Williams suggests renting a GSM phone and
using the infrared port to connect from the iPaq to the phone.
Note also that Microcell's Fido and Rogers AT&T work on the
GSM/GPRS standard.
For small companies that want employees networked but without
huge investment in the technology, Williams suggest a solution
incorporating Service Hub, an online service for managing mobile
workers.
"We're finding a lot of companies need wireless data
services but the cost per user is too high for them,"
Williams said.
"A system like the one FedEx uses is great but what about
the little guy who only has 20 or 30 couriers?"
Williams said total charges, including the data Web service,
airtime and Service Hub, can total less than $75 a month per user.
phones. I am interested in when these combined devices may be
available here as I operate a small business and I travel.
