Mini-Me Data

Will wireless devices mimic the evolution of desktop computers?

Sassan Sanai, Research in Motion (www.rim.net) senior manager of engineering development, said the ideal mobile solution would allow customers to access information as though they were sitting in front of their PCs. At Supercomm 2001, Sanai added that all successful wireless hand-held devices have a desktop precedent, and the Internet is driving standards for desktop connectivity.

Does this mean that all of our future wireless devices will look more like desktop PCs than handsets? According to Sanai, sort of. When asked whether it was easier to add voice to a data device or data to a voice device, he said that because of the ergonomics and screen size, it was far easier to add voice to a data device. But Dan Coole, Oz.com (www.oz.com) director of product strategy, added that it's always more difficult than it sounds to turn a handset or hand-held into an “all-use” device.

Even with all of the complicated technology to think about, many in the industry have an optimistic view of what we can expect in two to five years.

Sean Burke, Compaq vice president of iPaq products and connected devices division (www.compaq.com), predicted that within three years, wireless access devices will be as pervasive as cellular phones are today.

How will this happen? Thanks to 3G technology, Java, Bluetooth and a solid framework, next-generation handsets could be “mini-me” versions of today's desktop PCs. RIM announced that it has implemented Java 2 Micro Edition as the core operating system for the BlackBerry wireless hand-helds. Sanai said there is an existing knowledge of Java because HTTP is used on desktops and now is specified as the transport for Java-based hand-helds.

According to Steven Jaeger, Cingular (www.cingular.com) vice president of global accounts for the Great Lakes region, Bluetooth technology will revolutionize the way we do business. Using examples of the possibilities that Bluetooth and 3G technology offer, Jaegar said the mobile Internet soon would be considered the third industrial revolution. (He referred to the second industrial revolution as the popularity of PCs.)

Coole predicted that by next year, most new devices would be open applications. Oz.com is working with Ericsson (www.ericsson.com) on iPulse, a single-interface framework for all types of communications, voice traffic, text chat, Web conferencing and online-payment systems.

RIM's Sanai said that even if there were skeptics about 2.5G and 3G, the industry would be vindicated when the technology is proven. Cingular's Jaeger added that the wireless industry needs to set the right expectation for next-generation technology.