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While the Internet is likely to have a huge appeal, surfing the Web on the phone is still impractical because the screens are tiny. So designers have come up with a micro-browser that lets the user surf for information by pressing a number on the dialing pad instead of fumbling with a computer mouse. While typing e-mail on phones is a hassle even with the latest technology, voice-recognition software will enable users to dictate directly to their cell phone.
Although data transmission on mobile phones is currently limited to a relatively slow 9.6 kbps, the European telecom industry should receive a huge boost next year with the arrival of an enhanced GSM system: General Packet Radio Service, or GPRS, will boost transmission speeds to 150 kbps--faster than a high-speed ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) computer line. Consolidating their lead in the global race in mobile telephony, most European operators will begin to add the feature next year.
The real sprint for technological superiority could take place when operators begin switching over to a third generation of mobile phones around the year 2003. Once again, the Europeans and Japanese have agreed on a technical standard called Wideband Code Division Multiple Access as the successor to GSM, but differences with American manufacturer Qualcomm mean that the U.S. will probably adopt a different standard from Europe's and Asia's.
By then, the battle between Microsoft and Symbian may have been resolved by the marketplace. Hand-held-computer makers could offer machines with Symbian's software in hopes of making them more appealing to consumers with mobile phones. Or the mobile-phone industry could beat a retreat and adopt Windows CE to ensure that their devices link up easily with existing desktop PCs. Either way, it's likely that the nations of Europe will be communicating with a single standard-- even if they are not yet talking with a unified voice.
--With reporting by Peggy Salz-Trautman/Bonn and Eric Silver/Jerusalem