These devices carrythe promise of allowing their owners to fetch driving directions, make flightand hotel reservations, shop online and check e-mail all from their cellphones. If you've purchased a new cell phone recently, chances are it isequipped with Internet access capabilities. Unfortunately, you are alsoprobably disappointed with how difficult and cumbersome its Internet capabilitiesare. Internet-enabled cell phones carry much promise, but in practice, theInternet features are awkward and difficult to use for anything other thanscrolling through the latest news. The primary difficulty in using the cellphone interface revolves around the lack of a usable keyboard and the terriblysmall viewing screen.
Most phones require the user to type by toggling through the letterson the dial pad.
The experience leaves one feeling frustratedrather than connected. Most will find PDAs, such as Palm Inc.'s Palm devices, much better-suitedfor wireless Internet connectivity. The screen size of these devices istypically much larger, allowing the user to read through text much moreconveniently. Similarly, data entry is much easier through either a mini-keyboardor a scripting tool built into the device. As a result, the entire experienceis much more convenient and satisfying.