With the steady growth of wireless devices, many people predict consumers will soon be making purchases on the go. The U.S. lags behind countries such as Japan and Finland when it comes to wireless adoption. In Japan, about a third of the 27 million people accessing the Internet are doing it over a wireless device. Still, IDC has predicted that by 2003 some 40 million Americans will be carrying around web-enabled phones. Harry Wallaesa, president of Safeguard Scientifics, said wireless is the key technology currently driving the new economy.
Mobility is the key.
Wallaesa and others at the conference said problems with bandwidth and a lack of standards are the biggest stumbling blocks. Micro displays Security Spectrum utilization Content adapting Applications Bluetooth Bluetooth is a radio-based technology that lets devices communicate with each other. Jonathan Oakes, CEO of ThinAir Apps , said PDAs and mobile phones will converge, and the winner will ultimately be a hybrid device. In the United States, he said there are currently about nine million Palm devices in circulation. Oakes also said that successful revenue models for wireless would be those built around serving enterprises or industries, and not consumers.