Jan/Feb 2004

New ways of getting online from portable devices are emerging by the day. One of the latest ideas from Socket Communications targets people who work in a fixed office or warehouse environment, but need to be mobile within it.

It's a cordless 56K modem for PDAs and portable devices, and enables users to establish a dial-up Internet connection wirelessly via a fixed analogue phone line. The company says it's the first of its kind.

Bluetooth is the key (it's class 1 Bluetooth 1.1-compliant). The company says this means users can get online if they are anywhere within 330ft of an analogue phone line. It comes with a rechargeable, removable lithium-ion battery that is said to give a minimum of three hours' use.

Socket says it should work with any Bluetooth enabled-device that supports a dial-up networking (DUN) profile, including Pocket PCs, Windows notebooks and Palms.