Upward Mobility
Sun Herald
Sunday April 9, 2000
Mobile phone technology is now moving at a dizzying rate, writes Ashley Norris.
IF you are one of the fortunate few who have managed to get their hands on a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) phone, prepare yourself for some bad news.
While your cherished mobile may be cutting edge at the moment, within a year or so it will be on the blunter side.
Basic Internet functions will be seen as passe, as new models download music, e-mail digital images and even give directions to the local restaurant.
That's the message from the recent CeBIT exhibition in Hanover, Germany, where the talk was of a glittering multimedia future delivered direct to your mobile phone.
The engine the phone companies believe will transform mobile access to the Internet is the high-speed GPRS (General Packet Radio Services) which has been trialled already in Australia and should be operational this year.
The system, which has the backing of almost all the major international phone manufacturers and networks, will offer downloading speeds of 115Kbits per second: faster than WAP services.
Unlike WAP, it will handle standard web pages, and also act as a precursor to third generation mobile phone technology UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone System) that uses video systems.
The arrival of GPRS will provide mobile phone networks and manufacturers with an opportunity to explore new avenues.
Certain to be one of the biggest is downloading music. At CeBIT, the British telecommunications giant BT and Matsushita, (the parent company of Panasonic and Technics), announced the launch of a service that's literally going to be music to the ears of mobile phone owners.
Users will be able to access music sites and download tracks initially via the phone on to a Panasonic multimedia player, but in the near future, on to the phone itself.
Panasonic is also set to produce a series of palmtop devices that will provide the WAP staples - e-mail and Internet access and will also feature integrated digital cameras. Users will be able to take shots then instantly e-mail them to another mobile phone or PC.
Panasonic's rivals Sony and Ericsson are thinking along similar lines.
At CeBIT, Sony launched its debut WAP phone, the CMD-Z5, with a promise that the arrival of GPRS will lead it to concentrate on the delivery of music to its phones.
Ericsson's CeBIT stand was chock full of snap-on mobile phone accessories that will make the most of the faster download speeds of GPRS.
Top billing went to a concept product, the CommuniCam, a small digital camera that can send images to the Internet or another mobile.
Siemens showed a tiny personal organiser concept called Chatset, designed to give mobile access to commercial and leisure online forums. It's small (3Com Palm-sized), and has no keyboard. Words are recognised via its touch screen and handwriting recognition technology.
© 2000 Sun Herald
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