Jason Dunn
08-12-2002, 06:00 PM
Wireless data is a fascinating topic – there’s so much potential in the concept of a Pocket PC connecting up to a larger source of data and tapping into the Web, online services, and Instant Messaging. But until it arrives for all of us, it’s hard to know what we will use it for. Here are some of my ideas on how average consumers could benefit from having wireless data access from their Pocket PCs.<!><br /><br /><span>Un-published PocketPC.com article originally written April 16th, 2002.</span><br /><br /><i>Wireless data holds so much promise, but until it arrives, it’s hard to understand how it will impact our lives. Or is it?</i><br /><br /><b><span>First things first…</span></b><br />From a consumer perspective, the biggest obstacle to using wireless data is the price, so before going any further with this article I wanted to address this: I believe wireless data is still too expensive for the average person to use on a daily basis. How expensive is wireless data? <br /><br />Looking at the current options, GPRS is the most common type of 2.5G high speed wireless. With a provider like VoiceStream, you’d be paying US $19.99 extra per month for 5 megabytes. Each additional megabyte will cost US $5. If you’re using wireless data often, this can quickly add up to frightening levels. I know some mobile professionals who have spent US $500 a month on GPRS alone. As long as data is charged by the megabyte, consumers will be wary of using it as often as they’d like to. Wireless data is an expensive proposition at the moment for the average consumer.<br /><br />The good news is that this is changing, albeit very slowly. In Canada, a carrier named Fido (which uses the Microcell Network) is offering a flat-rate GPRS plan for CND $50 a month (roughly US $33). This means you can use it as much as you want without paying for every piece of data you download. I hope that other carriers will follow Fido’s lead and offer flat-rate pricing – this will spur wireless data use in a significant way.<br /><br />While there are affordable flat-rate CDPD plans out there, I consider CDPD to be too slow for most of the concepts I discuss in this article. At speeds of 19.2 kbps, you have to have a great deal of patience to even open a simple web page.<br /><br />Now let’s talk about some of the things that you can do today with a wireless data connection, and some of the things that you may be able to do in the near future.<br /><br /><b><span>Picking a good movie</span></b><br />Most people like movies, but going into a local Blockbuster Video store and picking out the right movie can be a daunting task – there are so many! If you had you Pocket PC with a wireless data connection, you could head over to <a href="http://www.mrqe.com">the Movie Review Query Engine</a> and access over 26,000 movie reviews from all over the Web. Where else can you find over 100 reviews of The Matrix? Picking a movie just got much easier!<br /><br />Looking forward, imagine if a video store like Blockbuster had 802.11b access points in the store, and as long as you had your own 802.11b wireless card, you could access a huge collection of video trailers that Blockbuster had sitting on a server. Each DVD would have a number on it, and when you put that number into Pocket Internet Explorer, you’d be taken to a web page with a plot summary of that movie, and most importantly, a video trailer! It’s sometimes difficult to get a feel for a movie by reading the back of the box, so being able to watch a movie trailer would help you make decisions easier.<br /><br /><b><span>Music on demand – sort of</span></b><br />If you love music, you probably buy CDs frequently. But how do you know if the newest bands are any good? Music stores typically have listening stations with a few select CDs, but with your Pocket PC you can access more of the content that they might now have. With a wireless Pocket PC, you can head over to Windows Media <a href="http://www.windowsmedia.com/mobile">Windows Media</a> to check out some new artists, tap into a few live radio feeds, and even watch a few music videos.<br /><br />I’ll confess that I gave up on finding an online web store that had audio capable of being played back on a Pocket PC. The concept seemed easy enough – Pocket PCs are capable of multimedia playback, and these sites offer audio samples of the CD, so I thought it would be simple. It wasn’t. I tried CDNow.com, Amazon.com, CD Universe, Buy.com, Yahoo.com, Rolling Stone.com – and none had music clips that were compatible. Those that had music in Windows Media format wouldn’t work – it downloaded an .exe file that wouldn’t open. Sites like <a href="http://www.cdnow.com">CDNow</a> have MPEG audio in MP2 format, which Windows Media Player can’t play back. I also installed the RealAudio player, but no site that had RealAudio would work with the Pocket PC (it merely downloaded the RAM file and tried to do HTTP streaming, which the Pocket PC client doesn’t seem to support). Back to square one for this concept – the companies who run these music sites haven’t thought enough about how to appeal to people with mobile devices.<br /><br />Still, even without the audio these sites are good resources for reading more about the album and the artist.<br /><br /><b><span>Price check on aisle four!</span></b><br />This is one of the reasons I wish I had a wireless Pocket PC (I currently don’t) – comparison shopping! There’s nothing worse than buying a new product, coming home and seeing a flyer from a competitor offering the same thing for $20 less. Having the ability to hit a site like <a href="http://www.dealtime.com">Dealtime.com</a> (formerly known as Shopping.com) to check prices is invaluable. And in the case of some merchants, you may even get them to price match a competitor's price once you show them the price live from your Pocket PC. This is also an excellent way to get product information that may be missing from the box, or even check reviews on a new game you’re interesting in getting. I always like to know what other people think of something before I buy it, so sites like <a href="http://www.epinions.com">epinions.com</a> are invaluable to my decision-making process.<br /><br />Looking forward a few years, imagine having a wireless service that would let you learn more about the product you were interested in, inform you of applicable coupons and rebates, and even arrange to have it purchased and shipped to you if you didn’t want to carry it home with you. Services like this are closer than you think – all the pieces are there, it’s just a matter of someone putting them all together.<br /><br /><b><span>Keeping in touch, the easy way</span></b><br />All Pocket PC 2002 devices include MSN Messenger (also known as Windows Messenger under Windows XP), allowing you to use your wireless Pocket PC as a rich communication tool, sending messages back and forth with people who are online. Faster than SMS, instant messaging is a great way to keep in touch. Let’s say you’re out shopping at a grocery store, but you know your partner is at home working on the computer. Rather than use a cell phone, a quick instant message asking them what groceries to buy will save you both time.<br /><br /><b><span>Conclusion</span></b><br />A Pocket PC with a wireless data connection can open up a world of possibilities for you. As prices on wireless data drop, I believe we’ll see a rapid adoption of the service – assuming that the web sites and in-store services are there to be taken advantage of. Even today, however, you can do a lot with a wireless Pocket PC. Enjoy the benefits!