The New Web Phones

The stars have aligned in the technology realm as wireless devices merge with portable computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs) to create a breed of terminals known as smart phones. Industry analysts and engineers agree that the Internet -- especially e-mail -- is driving the cross-pollination of phones and computers. Smart phones manage e-mail as easily as voice mail, provide remote access to a company's intranet without a laptop and allow subscribers to surf the Web.

Imagine a scenario where Joe's flight arrives in Atlanta. His phone already knows that he is a gold Hertz member, notes his reservation is confirmed and directs him to pick up his rental car in spot L64. The phone prompt then asks if he needs directions to the hotel. As a valued Hyatt member, Joe can find out his room number with a few keystrokes before reaching the hotel. He need only punch a key code at the front desk to retrieve his key. These special perks are courtesy of Joe's carrier, Hertz and Hyatt, which jointly market to frequent businesss travelers.

"This scenario is new ground," said Yankee Group program manager Phil Redman, who painted this sketch. "It is a matter of linking technologies together. It is pretty far out, but we are putting the steps in place today."

Will every wireless phone eventually become a smart phone? It seems likely as users become more dependent on digital information, and the need to dial in to data sources, such as the Internet, becomes as frequent as the need to dial each other. Although almost 30 million wireless phones were sold in the United States in 1998, Dataquest projects that sales will jump 43% to $43 million by 2000, and more than 4 million of those will be smart phones. The new devices also will enable e-commerce -- linking the phone to bank accounts for debits, charging products, downloading electronic cash to "smart cards" and linking to new forms of advertising and marketing.

Wireless phones are being transformed into information appliances that do many things now done by computers. And 3G phones, like computers, will be able to do even more. They will have operating systems that can handle a wide variety of computer programs so phone users can play games over the Internet, visit Web sites, check on inventory in a corporate database, send and receive faxes or lengthy e-mails, manage personal calendars and hold video conferences.

"What you see is a lot of experimenting going on in the industry and a lot of money being spent in R&D," said Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm president of consumer products. "It is a convergence between computing and communications."

THE PHONESThere are a few smart phones on the market capable of retrieving information from the Internet. Among them are the Mitsubishi Mobile Access 120 series phone, the Samsung Duette and Nokia's 9000il Communicator.

Earlier this year, Qualcomm introduced its CDMA Digital Thin Phone and Nokia its 8800. Samsung Telecommunications America is rolling out its 88-gram SCH-6000, its lightest CDMA phone for the U.S. market, and Motorola plans to introduce its V-series, smaller than Motorola's current StarTAC line, with phones that are about the size of 20 stacked credit cards.

Between these two extremes -- super smart phones on one end and high-end wireless handsets on the other -- a new category is emerging. Smart phone hybrids, also called simple smart phones or "voice plus" devices, have made the handsets as small as possible while still enhancing the screen for data transmission. The hybrid device is expected to attract the mass market and will be priced as a consumer product.

"Smart phones are a natural evolution of communications and consumer electronics," said Umesh Amin, AT&T Wireless Services director of new technologies and planning. "It is a Darwinian marketplace -- the offer that meets customers needs the best takes over."

IN THE BEGINNING ...Nokia created the smart-phone category in 1997 with its wireless phone combined with a portable computer. The Communicator eliminated the need to carry both a wireless phone and a laptop.

Technological improvements will allow Nokia to produce a smaller, lighter Communicator without giving up any functionality, according to Haroon Alvi, Nokia Mobile Phones director of business development.

This summer, Qualcomm will begin selling the pdQ smart phone and the Thin Phone, both of which can retrieve information from the Web. The pdQ combines a CDMA wireless phone with the PalmPilot organizer from Palm Computing to keep calendars, to-do lists, phone numbers and addresses. Users can download thousands of programs developed for the PalmPilot such as spreadsheets, calculators and TV remote controls.

The pdQ supports Graffiti, a stylized form of handwriting used on Palm devices, and it can share data with a desktop computer, synchronizing information. The pdQ has a screen that displays as many as 11 lines of text compared to the standard 4-line displays of most digital phones. But at 8.2 ounces, it is much heavier than most wireless phones.

The other offering from Qualcomm is the 4-ounce Thin Phone. It is nearly as slim as a ballpoint pen and includes e-mail and limited Web access using Phone.com (formerly Unwired Planet) technology. The screen is smaller, showing four lines at a time, and it does not have a built-in organizer.

NEOPOINTAn interesting entry in the new batch of smart phones is the NeoPoint 1000, a CDMA smart phone developed by start-up NeoPoint (formerly Innovative Global Solution). The silvery white phone has an elongated viewing screen that holds 11 lines of text and comes with a docking station that lets users synchronize information with their PCs and recharge the phone battery at the same time.

The NeoPoint phone uses wireless Web-access technology developed by Phone. com.

Rather than using a pen stylus for writing, it uses a text-entry system designed by Tegic Communications that saves button pushing by predicting words as they are spelled. Tegic's T9 program also is being used with Nextel's iDEN phones, the PalmPilot and the Philips Nino Windows CE Palm-size PC device.

The Neopoint also has Advanced Recognition Technologies' voice-command capabilities, so users can speed dial preset numbers with verbal prompts. For example, saying the word "Internet" to the phone will connect it automatically to the UP.Browser functions and find requested information through voice commands.

The added data functionality does not increase the size, weight, battery life or price of the device. Initially, it won't have the capability to load third-party share- ware applications as the pdQ can.

MOTOROLASummer also is the roll-out period for a new crop of phones from Motorola. The i1000 Plus soon will be available in six cities on Nextel Communication's digital cellular network. It will integrate a digital phone, an alphanumeric pager, a 2-way radio, an e-mail device and a microbrowser into a 5-ounce cellular phone.

It allows users to keep their calendars, contacts and other data on a Web site, eliminating the need for manually updating information between phone and office. The phone will operate through what Nextel calls a wireless Internet "portal," dubbed Nextel Online, which uses e-commerce hardware and software by Netscape Communications.

The device can wirelessly send and receive fax and e-mail messages when connected to the PalmPilot and Windows CE devices.

In addition, Motorola and its Starfish Software subsidiary teamed up to create the 2.3-ounce Motorola StarTAC Mobile Organizer accessory. Using its own 9-month battery, the device can be used to find phone numbers and place calls on the StarTAC phone. It can synchronize with desktop-calendar and phone-list software. The device allows phone numbers to be exported into StarTAC's internal phone directory.

ERICSSONEricsson's smart device, the MC218, incorporates a broad set of features including wireless application protocol functionality. The MC218 is equipped with Symbian's EPOC operating system and supports e-mail, fax, short-message-service messages and Internet access. Supplied with an Ericsson infrared modem, the MC218 works with any Ericsson GSM phone.

Ericsson's CF 888 phone has a built-in infrared port and modem. By hooking it up to a PDA or a computer, the user has e-mail and Internet access. The phone comes with software for editing names and numbers, and address books can be downloaded from the computer or PDA. At 7.1 ounces, the R380 is the second phone in Ericsson's R-class of high-performance products. The R380 features handwriting-recognition, voice-dialing and voice-answering capabilities. It also supports synchronization of user information between the R380 and a PC. The Ericsson R380 will be available in volume early in 2000.

PALM COMPUTINGPalm Computing is debuting its own Web device, the Palm VII, which can retrieve information from the Internet and perform 2-way wireless messaging. The Palm VII will be available sometime in 1999. The unit does not include a phone.

With Palm Computing's Web clipping service, users turn on the device and are presented with a series of icons from sites such as Moviefone, Bank of America, Travelocity, E-Trade and Thestreet.com. To look for a stock quote, for instance, a user would click on an icon for the E-Trade Web site, fill in the ticker symbol and press Go. The Palm VII then retrieves the clipping, minus the graphics-intensive design.

The device, currently in field trials, will combine the functions of a standard Palm portable organizer with a wireless connection for Internet and intranet access and 2-way messaging.