CNNdotCOM Technofile: Web-access cell phones

From Rick Lockridge
CNNdotCOM Correspondent

(CNN) -- We've come a long way since the old days of telephones. Not only are today's phones sleeker, cheaper and portable -- now they have Internet access.

In a few years, 23 million Americans will have Web-access cell phones, while Europe will soar to a booming 300 million users. That's a far cry from the bulky cell phones offered in 1985 for $1,000. So would it be fair to whine about paying $400 for a sleek, Web-enabled phone that's also a palmtop organizer? You make the call.

The Sprint PCS TP3000 has a flip-top screen that's large enough for limited Web surfing, while most other Web phones only offer a four- or five-line display. With a screen larger than most on the market today, it lets you send and receive e-mail, find movie listings, check stocks, access a personal calendar, check news and weather, and store more than 1,000 names in a personal address book.

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As for the built-in organizer, it's no Palm Pilot, but it'll store notes, doodles and phone numbers. The best feature is a stylus and on-screen keyboard, which you can use to tap in messages instead of using the tedious phone keypad.

You can spend from about $100 to $400 for a cell phone now, but if you wait, the major service providers like Sprint, AT&T and Verizon may give phones away for free by the holidays.

Getting Web access on a phone can be nearly free, or it can cost up to $15 extra per month, depending on whether you want to let other people steer you to a few hand-picked Web sites or surf on your own.

Still, be very careful about what service plan you sign up for and read the fine print. Will browsing the Web eat up your calling minutes? How much e-mail can you send before being charged?

Don't expect pretty pictures and T1 speed when phone surfing. Web phones don't accommodate graphics, and U.S. cell phone networks are achingly slow when handling data.

But the future bodes well for Web-access cell phones. A few years from now, you may well have a Web phone that takes dictation so you never have to type, and surfs the whole Web -- including graphics -- on a brightly colored screen.

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