A new term is creeping into our vocabulary, one that encompasses Americans' love for their vehicles and their desire to take advantage of every idle moment that occurs throughout the day. The term is telematics: the ability to provide wireless, built-in computer functionality inside vehicles.

Many blame WAP, a lack of 3G bandwidth, or both, for the m-commerce woes we've all experienced or heard about. But what every consumer wants, sooner or later, every consumer gets. In this case, some of us may be getting a truly user-friendly m-commerce solution as soon as this fall.

Connecting to the Internet - from wherever you are - may finally be just around the corner. I want to be up-front about this article on the Wireless Ventures Conference and Boingo Wireless. It is unabashedly positive; a puff piece for wireless networks. Why? 'Cause I can't help myself!

Return of the Netheads. It's not the title of a big-budget horror movie. It's a recent VC trend: large investments in wireless startups led by proven winners from the world of IP (Internet Protocol) networking.

It was another lively month here in Tokyo. First KDDI, Japan's second largest telecoms group, forecast that group net profits would more than triple to $384 million thanks to restructuring and a boost from its 3G mobile phone service.

What wireless aficionados really want are devices that work like they have an Energizer Bunny inside, preferably on steroids. We want them to keep going and going...but they don't. Enter the Los Alamos National Labs, where scientists are going beyond Wi-Fi and radio frequency technology, thanks to a technique called 'modulated reflectance.' The bonus of such an approach is that it dramatically reduces the demand on your device's battery.

A secure mobile payment system is essential if m-commerce is to reach its potential. The most-popular method used ­ credit cards ­ has failed in this area, and fallen prey to astronomical levels of fraud and theft. Now, Paybox, a relatively new company with an authorization system that tracks transactions every step of the way, is taking on players such as Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.

Wireless data communications is a fascinating technology. The idea that a clean digital signal can be extracted from the analog soup of RF communications is audacious in concept and even more so in the implementations that are either currently available or being planned for the next few years. Given all of this, why is it that no one seems capable of making any money on it?

While 3G crawls forward without any sign of speeding up its deployment in Europe, companies such as NTT and British Telecom are quietly escalating their Wireless LAN plans. Although 802.11b, or Wi-Fi as it's commonly known, has been around for awhile, it has always seemed to be the poor cousin to other technologies such as Bluetooth.

For many application developers, the fastest, easiest way to introduce a mobile solution was to 'chop down' an existing Web-based application. Users that had a device with a browser could then access the applications. However, because the resulting applications were not designed for the navigation capabilities of a mobile device or the smaller bandwidth, the user experience suffered. These problems can be solved by using a thick client instead of a thin client.

No need to do everything at once. Start out small if you wish, and see what works best. There are two approaches to getting started. One is to do a strategic plan and rollout for the entire enterprise. The other is to begin with a limited pilot in which a single business area is mobilized. One thing is sure though. Businesses that begin wireless implementation now will reap the benefits sooner than their competitors.

In Japan, not all the low-hanging fruit has been picked ­ it looks like there's still lots of room for the Big D competitors to grab increased market share, for an additional reordering of market share holdings, and for overall growth in the national subscriber base.

As you've probably heard all too often by now, banner ads are a bust. With average click-through rates below 1% across the Web, advertisers have been turning to other ways to reach out with their messages. I don't know about you, but I never remember banner ads or anything about the advertiser, even minutes after seeing them. I'm much more likely to pay attention on a site devoted to a specific interest of mine.

'Empowering people through great software ­ anytime, anyplace, and on any device' is Microsoft's vision. Literally. Long accused of using its dominant position in the desktop software market to repel innovative competitors, some are wary of Microsoft's ventures in the mobile industry ­ perhaps suggesting that the company's true vision is to be 'everywhere on every device.'

It could help improve the safety of vessels at sea. It could help with fighting terrorism. Doug Cline is a man with a mission: to introduce wireless vessel tracking to the maritime world. Here WBT talks to Cline and his associates on the Foresight Project and learns that, while it may seem pretty straightforward technically, there are major political roadblocks ahead.

Here's how system provisioning can provide a way for carriers and device manufacturers to introduce new capabilities for handsets after they've been deployed in the field, ensuring the most up-to-date services without incurring high costs.

When it's a camera. SMS or text messaging has been one of the all-time great legacies in terms of consumer adoption of a new technology. With the advent of the first MMS (multimedia messaging) services launched recently in Europe, many are saying that MMS will follow the same trend. But will it?

Today, computers go everywhere with us. We port laptops, handhelds, and BlackBerry devices for every purpose from remote teleworking to anytime, anywhere e-mailing. As long as the device does its job, we don't gripe.

Portable POS has all the trappings of a great idea. Developers say all the pieces are in place to make it an affordable, customer service­enhancing solution for many types of retailers. Here are some of the benefits early adopters are ringing up.

Planning to offer enterprise access to PDA or smart phone devices via the Web? Read this article to learn what is available in the mobile browser arena.

'HAVE IT YOUR WAY' ­ the hallmark of Burger King Corporation ­ sounds like a simple promise. But the ongoing measures that the fast food chain takes to ensure that customers receive what they want ­ just the way they want it ­ are far from simple. An external handheld device is the newest solution.

The biggest news in Tokyo this month is the ongoing 3G pummeling being delivered to Japan's 900-lb gorilla NTT DoCoMo by perennial No. 2 carrier KDDI. With the June 30 announcement that KDDI's CDMA2000 1X 3G system had amassed 1,151,300 subscribers against DoCoMo's 114,500 (for that carrier's W-CDMA 3G system), KDDI has taken an early and seemingly unbeatable lead in Japan's 3G race.

Telematics - the marriage of cellular wireless technology and Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite location - gave birth to a plethora of new services that provide automobile drivers with added safety, security, and convenience. Mercedes-Benz was an early proponent, and as it continues to take a leading role, the company faces the many challenges of trying to keep pace with rapidly changing technologies.

Rather than technology preceding demand (as is often the case), in mobile services, the technology is trying hard to catch up with demand. Innovative companies that have already developed mobile services based on simple technology such as SMS are taking an early advantage in the huge mobile services market. There are opportunities within all organizations to create successes with m-business.

Anytime, anywhere calling sounds great, but until voice quality is improved, and background noise minimized, mobile users will not want to stay 'on the line.' The promise has seemed simple: mobile phone subscribers should be able to make or take calls anytime, anywhere. That's the promise wireless service providers have been making for years. Unfortunately, they're only addressing one part of the equation - network coverage.

PepsiAmericas significantly changed the way it does business by moving from a direct store delivery to a pre-sell model for its sales and delivery functions. Wireless handheld computers made the transition successful. When you walk into your local convenience store, do you take it for granted that your favorite beverage is going to be on the shelf? As you make your way to the refrigerated section, do you ever stop to think about the technology that helped get it there? Yes, technology, particularly wireless handheld computers, plays a large role in assuring that your favorite drink is always in stock.

Managing a fleet of service technicians can be a challenging task. But with the help of reliable technology and recent innovations in wireless communications, I've learned that everyday processes can be refined and improved to eliminate certain inefficiencies.

There's a lot of talk today about the potential of mobile and wireless technology. Somewhere between the hype and the naysaying lies the truth. While you cannot yet watch a movie on your mobile phone, many companies are harnessing the power of mobile technology to reap significant rewards. Don't let the mobile application revolution pass you by.

Seeing, hearing, touching - as multimodality grabs hold, users of mobile applications worldwide will reap the benefits - and so will mobile operators. Mobile applications - whether Web or voice - are still struggling to make inroads with the majority of mobile subscribers, both enterprise and consumer. Surely there have been moderate successes, but the promise of mobile access to enhanced services and applications has not yet been fully realized.

AT&T Wireless is due to start selling Java-enabled handsets this month and, if service planners at Redmond headquarters are smart, they'll take a note or two from the 'i-Appli' Java ecosystem created by investor NTT DoCoMo in Japan. Here, Java has become a major success story, and carriers (Java has also been deployed by KDDI and J-Phone/Vodafone) are smiling all the way to the bank.

Nextel is building on its industrial voice service success with a broad professional data service that features 30 new J2ME applications, with 20 more in the works. Starting with several choice partnerships and customers old and new, it is now set up to deliver tailored mobile data solutions.

Incucomm Consulting, located in Richardson, Texas, has recently completed comprehensive market research on mobile enterprise solutions. The results show that enterprise customers expect to greatly expand their spending for mobility, but want to see some very specific features as well as tangible, trackable financial benefits. In contrast to general IT purchasing expectations, in which about 50% of firms report spending plans that will keep budgets flat, down from 2002­2003, mobility solutions showed growth in every area tested. Incucomm's market research shows that 83% of enterprise IT buyers plan deployment of mobile enterprise solutions for logistics, service, and sales.

My first encounter with a microcomputer was thrilling. I didn't know about 'disruptive technology' yet (it was 1979), but it certainly changed my life. I dreamed of carrying a computer around with me all the time. The same thing happened the first time I saw a Web browser. More recently, the day I finally got a Wi-Fi connection to work, I wandered around yelling, 'Look at this!'

It's been around for years: a rumor that Apple is going to revolutionize the market with a radical new smartphone. A recent New York Times article sparked a new round of discussion on the issue ­ but is there really anything behind the rumor? Back in August, a New York Times article entitled, 'Apple's Chief in the Risky Land of the Handhelds' sparked a new round of speculation on an age-old rumor. Citing a range of factors, from Apple's ongoing software agreement with Pixo, Inc., to features in the newest Macintosh operating system, the article suggested that the company may be developing an Apple-branded phone/PDA, or smartphone, dubbed the 'iPhone.'

In some countries in today's wireless world, there are operators who are able only to gaze into the distant future, dreaming of the day they'll be able to profit from advanced high-speed mobile services. Elsewhere, operators in countries such as Korea and Japan are blazing ahead. What can we learn from these countries?

The technology is in place to make wireless iTV happen today. If we provide real value to the end consumer, and the carriers and networks recognize each other's value and allow each to profit, we can do it.

Full of promise, benefits, and potential profits, mobile commerce is capable of becoming a $21 billion industry by 2004, according to leading analyst firm IDC. Several key marketplace infrastructure components are already in place to jumpstart that growth.

Selecting a middleware solution should be easy, right? Yet in this crowded market, it is important to understand how one middleware solution differs from another, not only in terms of features/benefits, but also investment protection.

WBT's Wi-Fi editor reports on a recent conference that was devoted to examining the value, profit prospects, and real-world obstacles inherent in deploying and maintaining wireless public Internet access networks ­ commonly called 'hotspots.' In light of the estimate that there will be over 10,000 public wireless access points by the end of 2002, Ron profiles the players in the hotspot market today, and explains some of the flavors of the 802.11 standard that's fueling the growth of Wi-Fi.

With anytime, anywhere access to the Web, e-mail, Internet applications, and more, mobile professionals are enjoying the convenience and flexibility of being cable-free. But what would happen if suddenly 5,000,000 cellphones dropped their calls and stopped working for several hours or days?