Pervasive computing or the ability to conduct transactions anytime, anywhere and on any device is the promise of the 21st century. The International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts a rapidly growing market for wireless Internet Appliances, forecasting $15.3 billions by 2003.
With this promise, a new trend of portals is emerging: The Mobile Portal. The mobile portal allows mobile professionals to use their cellular phones to receive a host of services ranging from location-specific information such as restaurants, to news and banking services.
A well-known brand name is Yahoo!Mobile with whom Sprint PCS is teaming to bring wireless web updates to its subscribers. But others are also emerging with exotic names such as myAladdin. This is a service of Neopoint, creator of the Neopoint smartphones that is also being marketed to carriers and vertical markets, including banking and online trading. And, Vodafone Air Touch selected IBM to build and manage a global Internet portal for wireless devices, to be launched next July in North America and Europe.
Financial services have once more taken the lead by rolling out wireless banking and trading services. Trading on the move is catching. Online brokerage Ameritrade and Sprint PCS have formed an alliance to enable Ameritrade customers to access accounts and make Internet trades via Sprint PCS wireless phones. And in Canada, the Bank of Montreal has teamed up with 724 Solutions to expand its wireless banking services to include trading with the bank's InvestorLine discount brokerage.
To carve a niche on the coming device market, software developers have been busy unveiling products at a record pace and striking alliances with equipment and service providers.
In the browser world, Phone.com has licensed its UP.Browser to over 20 leading wireless phone manufacturers to turn the LCD screen of their phones into a window on the Internet. Oracle announced that it is launching its Portal-to-Go browser that works on analog and digital phones, enabling access to stored corporate data as well as consumer shopping from any mobile phone. And, Microsoft made a foray in this burgeoning market by announcing Microsoft Mobile Explorer (MME). This is a platform, which comes in two flavors: MME for smart phones to run both networked and local software based on the CE operating system, and MME for feature phone that runs networked applications.
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