Access the Net from your mobile phone!<\/p>\n
Vishnu K. Mahmud, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After stubbornly holding on to an old, dilapidated cellular
\nphone for years (which my friends called \"The Brick\"), I finally
\nrelented to the advances of mobile technology and purchased the
\nnew Ericsson T-39, a petite handphone filled with gigantic
\nfeatures.<\/p>\n
I was intrigued with it since many people had nothing but
\npraise for its capabilities, especially its wireless connectivity
\nfacilities. I decided to give it a try.<\/p>\n
The T-39 is a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) ready phone
\nthat can access the Internet without needing to constantly dial
\nin and pay by the minute charges. Dubbed 2.5 G, this service
\nprovides a glimpse of what 3G (Third Generation) mobile
\ntechnology will be about. GPRS is an \"always on\", packet
\nswitching service and users only have to pay by the number of
\nkilobytes they exchange (sending and receiving), not by the
\nlength of time spent reading online.<\/p>\n
IM3 (www.indosat-m3.com) is currently the only GPRS provider
\nin Indonesia, so I purchased an IM3 \"Smart\" (the pre-paid version
\nof Indosat's cellular service) SIM card and tried to get online
\nwith my handphone. Configuring the phone for GPRS was relatively
\neasy thanks to instructions from IM3's specialized member website
\n(www.indosat-m3.net).<\/p>\n
IM3 GPRS is free till about the end of February so users can
\naccess the web to browse and download as much as they wish
\nwithout paying for it.<\/p>\n
The default homepage on the handphone for IM3 was, of course,
\ntheir own website. Using Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) I
\nwas able to read the latest Indonesian news, cinema listings and
\nothers via the small screen of my handphone. Granted, it may be
\nrather annoying constantly scrolling down to read the news but if
\nyou're stuck in traffic, or in a position where you cannot get to
\na computer, it's as good as it gets.<\/p>\n
Another test was to access my Yahoo! e-mail account. You can
\naccess yahoo via its WAP site at wap.yahoo.com. Once connected, I
\nwas offered the basic My Yahoo! facilities such as browsing news
\nand checking e-mail. Entering your username and password can be a
\npain using the alphanumeric keypad but \"Chatboards\" or small
\nkeyboards for Ericsson handphones are available for heavy power
\nusers.<\/p>\n
Viewing through my Inbox and reading news on the WAP site,
\nalthough small and basic, actually yielded a small amount of
\nbandwidth. By the end of this exercise, I had utilized less than
\n30 kilobytes (23k received, 7k sent), which is remarkable
\nconsidering that one page in regular internet HTML (Hyper Text
\nMarkup Language) on Yahoo! can be more then that!<\/p>\n
Using WAP may be \"ugly\" compared to HTML but it does save you
\nbandwidth fees when IM3 starts charging for their GPRS
\nconnections.<\/p>\n
The T-39 also has an infrared port so connecting it to
\nPersonal Digital Assistants (PDAs) is also possible. A friend of
\nmine, an ex-journalist, spent hours on his IPAQ and GPRS phone
\naccessing the net from his dining table, until the batteries (of
\neither the phone or Pocket PC) ran out. Such are the benefits of
\nwireless Internet, so I thought I'd give it a try.<\/p>\n
You can install the Eudora Web Browser for the Palm on your
\nPalm, IBM or Handspring devices and connect to the Internet \"via
\nmodem with infra red (IR) port\". Both IR ports should be aligned
\nand stationary for optimized connections. Although Palm users
\nmay not have the colorful experience offered by the Windows-based
\nPocket PC, obtaining information and checking e-mail is
\nacceptable.<\/p>\n
The only drawback for this was that using the IR port drains
\nthe batteries for both phone and handheld. Cables to connect both
\ndevices are available and should be considered. In addition, the
\nweb browser accesses the kilobyte heavy HTML pages directly and
\nthe access charges can add up.<\/p>\n
For the moment, there are a few blank spots in IM3's GPRS
\nnetwork but that may change as they continue to expand their
\nsystems.<\/p>\n
The T-39 is not the only GPRS enabled phone in Indonesia.
\nIt's sister, the color-screened T-68, along with the Nokia 8310,
\nMotorola V66 and Siemens ME45 or S45 can also be used to access
\nthe web. It may have small screens and lack multimedia
\ncapabilities compared to handheld devices but despite its
\nlimitations, portability has its benefits.<\/p>\n
So what was the point of all this? Mobility, and more
\nimportantly, accessibility in connecting with the Internet.
\nPeople will be able to pay bills, read news, transfer funds and
\nsend instant messages via their cellular phone. Handphones are
\nnot as expensive as computers so more and more Indonesians will
\nbe able to access the World Wide Web.<\/p>\n
Local businesses can be built around the \"mini-web\" offered by
\nGPRS and WAP, providing services and charging fees accordingly.
\nIn the future, the features of PDA's and handphones will be
\nmerged, offering affordable Internet wireless solutions for the
\nmasses.<\/p>\n
But more importantly for me, I can read the latest gossip on
\nBritney Spears during boring company meetings!<\/p>\n
To get an idea of what WAP can do, visit the IM3 website at
\nwww.indosat-m3.net to see a demonstration of a cellular phone WAP
\nbrowser.<\/p>",
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