A Wireless Primer

I first started writing for Handheld PC Magazine (now Pocket PC magazine) in late 1997. Many readers were interested in wireless computing, but the ability to access data wirelessly was mostly limited to vertical markets. There were no easy solutions for the average user.

Since that time there have been significant advances in wireless computing for the general user. One of the earliest was the Novatel Wireless CONTACT, a Handheld PC with an integrated CDPD wireless modem. One of the most recent and notable wireless solutions is the Palm VII, which comes with a built-in wireless modem. In addition, Novatel Wireless introduced its Minstrel series of wireless modems for Palm PDAs, as well as Merlin and Sage products for Handheld PCs, Palms, and notebook computers.

Today, the wireless voice industry is ready to embrace wireless data and signs of interest are everywhere we turn. Our own Wireless Data University, which is held before each CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association) conference had to turn away more than 100 people who wanted to attend because we ran out of room—this after registering almost three times the number of attendees as in previous sessions. CTIA Wireless 2000, which has historically been about cellular voice devices, infrastructure and little else, was dominated by the wireless Internet, data, data-capable phones, and new dot-coms that are or will be providing data over wireless links to all manner of devices.

The interest is higher than ever before and the phrase “Wireless Internet” has triggered many companies and investors to seek out ways to make money in this “new” and exciting field. There is still a lot of hype, and predictions of higher-speed wireless data “coming to a network near you real soon now.” The feeding frenzy is on and it is difficult to tell what is real and what is wishful thinking on the part of the various industries engaged in bringing the Internet to a Pocket PC or similar devices.

This primer is designed to help clear the fog, cut through the hype, and provide you with what I believe is the most realistic view of what you can and cannot do wirelessly today as well as what you will be able to do over the next two to three years. It deals with wireless technologies that apply not only to Pocket PC devices, but also to phones (Microsoft has its eye on wireless phones, too), two-way pagers and messaging devices, and even notebook computers. While Microsoft has elected to drive the Pocket PC operating system upscale to include audio and multimedia capabilities, it is most interested in making the Pocket PC platform as wireless friendly as possible.

Wireless and the Pocket PC complement each other in many ways, and, over time, some of the capabilities of the new Pocket PC systems will be useful for expanding wireless capabilities. In the meantime, here is a look at where we stand in the wireless world.

“Wireless Internet” WAP phones are in, Palm and Nokia have agreed to develop pen-input phones, and Qualcomm has built a PDQ phone that marries a digital phone and a Palm computer. Microsoft is working with carriers to wirelessly-enable computing devices. Anytime, anywhere computing is closer to becoming a reality than ever before.

Before you read the rest of the wireless primer, it will be helpful if you understand some basic truths about wireless data:

* Wireless Data is slower than wired data access and will continue to be so for the next three to five years.

* Wireless Data is NOT about surfing the Internet or Web browsing. It is about making a surgical strike into the Internet to obtain a piece of information that is important to you. It is about extending the reach of your desktop, not just getting to the Internet. It is about YOUR email, YOUR calendar, and YOUR data files, residing on your desktop or your Local Area Network.

* Wireless Data is as much about “push” as it is about “pull.” When you use a browser to access the Internet and go out to get information, you are “pulling” the information. When someone sends you an email and it automatically shows up in your inbox, the information is being “pushed” out to you.