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Transatlantic Cable: Something in the air
The wireless internet is taking off in the US, but not in the way Europeans might expect. Richard Baguley reports from Silicon Valley on current trends in wireless net access.

By Richard Baguley

Published: Wednesday 15 November 2000

There's a buzz in the air over here, and it's not related to the ongoing arguments on every street corner about the elections. It's a buzz about wireless internet access because, after many years of being hailed as the Next Big Thing, it's beginning to take off in the US in ways that still haven't caught on in Europe.

I've mentioned some wireless web services before, such as the Ricochet service (http://www.silicon.com/a34667), but more recently we have seen a new trend: wireless PDAs.

As well as PDAs with built-in wireless capabilities (such as the Palm VII), also available are wireless devices that clip onto existing PDAs, such as the Omnisky modem, now available for both Palm and PocketPC-based PDAs.

In other words, the PDA is no longer just mobile but net-connected (while the net on mobile phones is still pretty much in its infancy), meaning mobile internet access is becoming big business.

Life on the road...

The attraction of these devices is easy to understand. For a self-confessed geek like me, the idea of being able to send emails from a bus halfway across the Bay Bridge asking, "Guess where I am?" is irresistible. And net access on the move can be very useful. Combine it with the numerous online mapping websites and you've got an easy way to get directions (although they still lack an 'I'm lost - where the hell am I?' button).

For the more business minded, they do provide a good way to keep in touch with the office, and many of the companies are gunning for business people who want email but don't want to lug around a laptop. In particular, the RIM Blackberry is proving popular, for the simple reason that it provides two-way email and organiser capabilities in a package about the size of a cigarette packet.

...can be hard

But, as usual, there's a price to pay - speed. While these wireless PDAs are undoubtedly cool, they are also slow. Most of the systems are based on the CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data) standard, which uses cellular phone technology to transmit and receive at a somewhat lethargic 19.3kbps.

And the Palm VII is even slower. It uses a different network system and can only cope with a yawn-inducing 8kbps. To be fair, the Palm does try to get around this by using web clipping apps. A small program is run on the device that minimises the amount of data sent and received, so instead of having to download a whole web page, all a user gets is raw information.

In fact, browsing the web in the usual way on a Palm VII is very difficult - it's all done through web apps and built-in email programs. But this only goes so far - trying to get information on a wireless PDA often involves long waits while data bounces around the atmosphere.

However, there's little doubt that this is the way things are going to go, and we are also beginning to see an increasing trend of bringing PDAs and mobile phones together, with Palm, Handspring and several other vendors recently launching devices that turn PDAs into mobile phones.

(Still got those) DSL blues

And for regular readers of this column, here's an update on my ongoing battle to get a DSL connection (http://www.silicon.com/a39021 )...

After several months of waiting for the new phone line to be installed, Pacific Bell finally turned up in October to do the outside wiring. However, a couple of days later, PhoenixDSL (the company actually supplying the DSL service) emailed me to say that, seeing as it was taking so long, they cancelled my order, and suggesting I find another ISP. Oh, and have a nice day.

The very next day the company was sold and they've not yet bothered to reply to my numerous emails or phone messages.

Fortunately, a new solution has arrived, in the form of a self-install kit. Recently, some ISPs have struck deals with telcos that allow them to use existing phone lines, so home users get normal phone service and a DSL connection on a single phone line.

This also means not having to wait for an engineer to come out and wire up premises: the ISP sends out the DSL modem and the user just plugs it into the same phone line used for phone calls. I've just received a kit from Earthlink: I'll be reporting on how this works in coming months.