When an e-mail is sent to you, it appears on the screen of your phone or PDA instantly. Once you combine the different technologies, it s pretty powerful stuff. GPRS phones can already connect via IrDA to laptops for full-colour Web browsing. Soon, with Bluetooth, you ll be able to open your laptop and be online as long as your phone s within 10 metres of the machine, of course. Just like GPS, the big driver of this technology will be location-based services say, being able to access a map of the area you re in.
Phones are only the first step.
By some estimates, we ll all be buying PCs and PDAs with GPRS modems built into them within three years. Tough Book are expected to have GPRS wireless built in by the end of this year, while the first GPRS modem cards are expected to go on sale as early as next year. Beyond GPRS is 3G the third generation of networks including UMTS and EDGE systems which will bring in a whole raft of new portable devices capable of streaming video and full-colour Web browsing. A recent Ericsson announcement paints a possible future for globally networked wireless gaming over 3G phones and handheld devices. In conjunction with Siemens and Motorola, the company is building a software platform for wireless game developers which would allow people from different countries to play multiplayer games against one another over different networks and platforms on different models of mobile phones.