BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : DECEMBER 4, 2000 ISSUE
FRONTIER -- FORECAST 2001 Unplug Your Business A Sampling of New Wireless Products and Services for 2001 Handspring's VisorPhone WHAT IT DOES: Dials directly from address book. Conducts three-way calls. Syncs with desktop computer. AVAILABLE: December (at www.handspring.com); Jan. 1 in stores. PRICE: Phone, $299 when service plan is ordered. Visor PDAs, $149 and up. DRAWBACKS: A little pricey for both phone and PDA. Wayport WHAT IT DOES: Accesses the Web at 11 megabits per second--faster than DSL--from an airport terminal or a hotel lobby. AVAILABLE: Now in Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin airports and in more than 170 hotels. PRICE: Free trial period ends Dec. 31; starting Jan. 1, ten full-day connections will cost $35. Other plans to be announced. DRAWBACKS: Access still spotty as Wayport builds out its network. 3Com's AirConnect Wireless LAN WHAT IT DOES: Allows growing businesses to painlessly extend their local-area network. Rather than punch holes in walls and run new cable, offices add wireless hubs to the existing LAN and give AirConnect cards to new employees. AVAILABLE: Now. PRICE: $1,795 for a wireless hub and three modem cards. DRAWBACKS: Requires some technical knowledge to set up. Motorola Accompli 009 Personal Communicator WHAT IT DOES: Reads WAP-enabled Internet sites on a color screen. Sends e-mail and voice. Synchronizes with desktop personal-information managers. AVAILABLE: First quarter 2001. PRICE: Less than $600. DRAWBACKS: Not all communications carriers support this device. Palm VIIx from Palm WHAT IT DOES: Sends and receives e-mail. Lets you schedule meetings and organize personal records. Can call up news clips from E-trade.com, Fodor's.com, and 400 other sites. AVAILABLE: Now. PRICE: $449 for device, plus $10-$45 per month for Palm.net Internet service. DRAWBACKS: Only small text messages can be sent. Can't freely browse any Internet site. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					Contents for Dec. 4, 2000 issue RELATED ITEMS The Wireless Future TABLE: Unplug Your Business A Wireless Web Wizard INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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