More than one in three mobile users are interested in accessing the Internet
through their phone, according to the results of a survey announced by analysts
JD Power and Associates at this week?s Mobile Expo event in Birmingham (9-11
May).
But where's GPRS?
The show was further proof of the growing acceptance of mobile Internet
technologies such as WAP with virtually all of the leading mobile phone vendors
showing off phones that support the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP).
But firm evidence of support for GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) - the
wireless technology set to increase mobile bandwidth more than seven-fold - was
thin on the ground.
The only company to have a GPRS model on display was Mitsubishi, which showed a
device called the Mondo. Resembling a PDA with an antenna, a company
representative claimed the product was due to launch this autumn in the UK.
Ericsson's Screen Phone grabbed much of the show's limelight with a
Bluetooth-enabled device. The lightweight hybrid device accesses the Net
wirelessly via a Bluetooth connection. It also can operate as a phone, memo-pad
and download extra applications from the web. The Screen Phone uses Linux as its
operating system and will hit UK shelves from early next year.
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