To date, PocketNet has been widely criticized for its slow speed and complexity for the user. This phone, however, won't be available until the first quarter of 2000 and will only have a four-line display.
Access comes at a cost, however.
With the old PocketNet service, users received e-mail access, personal organizer, dial capability from an address book, online information sources for news headlines, financial information, weather, and entertainment. These services will allow users to access their central contact databases, calendars, and e-mail. AirTouch, GTE, Sprint, and Bell Atlantic Mobile have all now announced their circuit-switched CDMA digital services and made quite a splash in doing so. There is no doubt that they are gearing these services to businesses first, and consumers secondarily. Probably, for the simple applications it is geared towards.