The projected figures for wireless phone subscribers underscores the importance of having such services in place. There were 220 million digital wireless phone subscribers worldwide in 1998 and 150 million Internet users, a Yankee Group study estimates. In about four years, there will be more than half a billion Internet accounts and roughly 1 billion digital wireless phone subscriptions. EDS' focus on Palm devices could cause problems down the road as other wireless devices become more popular. While Palm currently enjoys 70 percent market share for handhelds, that figure includes the widespread use of its non-wireless devices, and rivals such as Microsoft are aiming to put a dent in the company's lead.
Palm plans to dive deeper into wireless devices.
EDS said its services will allow banks, credit unions and other financial institutions to offer their customers the ability to access and maintain their accounts, as well as pay bills, via wireless devices. The technology is based on an Internet architecture that allows for the expansion of Web applications to wireless devices, the company said. Secure and encrypted transactions are used to protect the data being transmitted, and most banking and payment functions that are available through the Internet are available on a Palm VII handheld using EDS' wireless banking products and the Palm.net service. Inc. All rights reserved.