Show 6C Monday Business April 16 2001 r Standard-Examine- Wireless Web courting customers Analysts say surfing Web on phone too cumbersome The Associated Press wireless Web was launched with fanfare just over a year ago There were great expectations that consumers and corporate types would relish being set free from their desktops -browsing the Web sending ' checking stock quotes or baseball scores But the reality has been slow to match these expectations In a recent study the Yankee Group estimated that 1 8 million people tried the wireless Web over their browser phones in December but only 700000 would become regular users Industry analysts say accessing the Web on a cell phone or a PDA is still cumbersome Many consumers were wasn’t the disappointed the “Web-to-go- ” medium they’ve become graphic-ric- h accustomed to on their stationery PCs Also in today’s age of increasing Internet access at home and at work surf mg the Web on a wireless phone is done at the speed of 144 kilobits per second or less That’s slow considering the top speed on the current modems is 56 kpbs generation of dial-uStill there have been early devotees to the mobile Web such as Drew Rosenhaus the Miami Beach sports agent Rosenhaus already heavy cell phone user signed on as soon as wireless Web access was available from Sprint PCS “I use it every day I check NFL news I keep up with the stock market I send It’s to my clients I read my come in very handy” He also uses a Sierra Aircard which is essentially wireless modem for his laptop That way Rosenhaus can chat on the phone and surf the full Internet The high-spee- d mind-numbin- g p web 1 two-radi- with Short Message Service or SMS capabilities that allow users to send and receive messages Just 700000 were using phones with brow sers Of course the carriers are working rapidly to speed up the trend in wireless Web usage Sprmt which offers new customers d phones including a only Samsung phone that also doubles as an MP3 plajer has mtroduced a menu of common questions and responses and allow s users to set up a list of short customized messages such as “Call me ASAP” to eliminate the hassle of typing out messages It also has begun using technology’ offering “Voice Command” so users can just say the name of the person they are calling list of names and numbers from a pre-se- t and the dialing is done automatically - no fingers involved Jay Highley Sprint’s vice president for business customers says that as the next generation of phones and w’lreless technology’ hits the market later this year ‘fcarriers will be able to offer applications and services that are more relevant to Web-enable- voice-recogniti- users" One area that has possibly slowed wireless Web use in the United States is that eadfcarner uses a different standard for transmission In Europe and Japan for instance there is one universal standard and wireless use has grown rapidly in those areas Wireless Application Protocol or WAP is an international open standard that enables wireless subscribers to access the Internet via mobile devices With WAP HTML text - what’s found on Web pages d today - is translated into content stripped of the graphics and then delivered to a handset via a built-imicrobrow’ser Yet since WAP doesn’t allow for color or graphics it has turned off users and developers text-base- n dance game sweeps through arcades Disco-tec- h The Associated Press Part Yet others are unimpressed One is Mark Grossman an attorney with Becker & Poliakoff who specializes in technology and computer law’ in Miami who says he sees “no busmess value in wireless Web access” Grossman’s chief complaint is that there isn’t enough content to bother with wireless access He also finds the current browser phones cumbersome to use “If they can’t make users out of people like me they’re in trouble" he says Sprint PCS launched the first wireless Web service for consumers in September 1999 and began offering a service for busmess consumers last September The company has been innovative in trying to overcome some of the current handicaps users face when trying to key m Web addresses on the 10 tiny keys on a cellular phone or view data on a twcMnch screen Other major mobile phone carriers have followed suit Cingular which was formed by the merger of BellSouth and SBC Communications offers access to email news and messaging AT&T has its wireless offerings as well Nextel with its o added feature is focusing on a busmess market Although the wireless Web isn’t making converts out of every cellular phone user right now telecommunications analysts do expect growth ahead especially as technology and access speed improve The Yankee Group the Boston research firm estimated there were 44 million wireless phone data users in the United States at the end of 2000 with users of SMS (Short Message Service) devices accounting for the bulk of those users However as new generation phones emerge with better capability and faster wireless access speed the firm expects wireless Web usage to rise dramatically in coming years to 56 6 million users in 2005 from 44 million at the end of 2000 Right now about half of the current wireless users 2 million are on phones disco but purely the dance has arrived Marrying the flashing lights of a dance floor with the challenges of an arcade game Dance Dance Revolution is laying down a new groove on its way to becoming the next big craze Like karaoke before it Dance Dance Revolution or DDR is a Japanese import that reliesvonthe same basic premiseTThe willingness of participants to get up in public and either impress or embarrass their friends and themselves The game takes players through a series of dance moves rating their performances as they go Part of the “beat gaThe” genre DDR has gained a cult following in the United States thanks to its presence in arcades Most become familiar with the game through an arcade but some become so enamored with it that they buy a console version for their Sony PlayStation or Sega Dreamcast Michael Hominick a freshman at Duke University first saw DDR at a computer gaming convention a year ago and hasn’t stopped dancing since “I thmk I was captivated by the sheer originality of the game” says the Dallas native “I had never seen anything even close to a game in which you actually had to dance and I just had to give it a try” Taken with the interactivity he soon bought one for his PlayStation Although not sold in the United States import models can be purchased over the Internet for about $60 A foldable plastic mat costs around $60 and many players and online reviewers recommend buying two mats to get the most out of the experience The game costs $2 to play in arcades “I was hooked” Hominick ' admits “I would play with my friends for hours on end to the point where I could no longer move my legs Whenever I’m back in Dallas I play almost every day usually at the high-energ- y arcade” Created by the Japanese game manufacturer Konami DDR uses a simple concept -dancers follow glowing arrows on the arcade screen and hit corresponding buttons on the floor with their feet In the arcade version this is done on a metal stage that sports handrails flashing panels on which to step strobe lights and six large speakers “I think the singularly most appealmg aspect of DDR is its originality both in concept and design” Hominick says “It represents a genre of video games that have never been breached before” Music Tanger From 5C gets paid for the audience it delivers In 13 months of operation the site has attracted national advertisers including Home Depot Sherwin-William- s Estee Ladder Neiman Marcus Allstate Insurance Albertson Verizon and Twix candy bars The company also collects a fee every time someone downloads an IMTuner which is software for streaming audio or clicks on a news headline Jupiter Research which estimates tracks that the streamed advertising market will be worth $14 billion annually by 2005 as the Tanger inserts the ads on the website based on the demographics of the listeners at any given time When users check out for the first time they are asked to fill out a baadsic questionnaire: dress gender year of birth and ZIP code Kevin Shively director of business development at says the site or Cooflink doesn’t know a user’s specific IP address or real name Any further demographic information such as age range income level hobbies and interests is provided if the users opts to do it But the basic demographic info is enough to more accu- m rately target the ads says says Beetho-venco- m technology becomes more portable and the use of Internet connechigh-spee- d tions become more prevalent The Dance Dance Revolution game combines the flashing lights of the dance floor with the challenges of an arcade game Dancers are graded by their ability to follow the machine’s instructions for movement Arrows light up in time to the music to show players where to place their feet Business r!N Oil Steve Vonder Har an analyst with the Yankee Group an Internet research firm based in Boston says that advertising on the radio is something at Madison Avenue unIt’s a known derstands branding tool he says which advertisers have been using for years That explains why sites like Beethovencom can attract advertisers when other online ventures ar'e suffering I call (801) ext 5 then ext 7 or for information call Tara Tiede-man- n 3 at (801) April 26 Logan - First in “Leadership in Action” series by Denis Wai-tle- y 328-505- yi 328-504- Business Calendar welcomes submissions of business seminars conferences training events and gather- ings Fax information to Business 9 Calendar at 625-429- April 17 Ogden - Workshop on owning and operating a small business at the Red Cross Building 2955 Harrison Blvd 8:30 am to 4 pm Cost is $25 For information call the Service Corps of Retired Executives Association at (801) d vice becomes more like direct mail marketing companies which get paid based on sales generated Banner advertising is dying because it can’t deliv- 625-571- Eccles Conference Center Auditorium 9 am to 3 pm Call the 2 April 18 Salt Lake City - “Assessing Your Olympic Risk and Opportunity” seminar at the Salt Palace Convention Center 830 am to 3 pm Cost is $35 To register 7 call (801) April 25 Salt Lake City - Free Expo opening night party at the Salt Palace Convention Center 5 pm to 9 328-509- Eccles Conference Center at or 3 (435) to register 797-042- April 29 - April 29 May 4 Annual software technology conference "Software Odyssey: Controlling Cost Schedule and Quality" at the Salt Palace Convention Center For information call Neil Werenskjold at 4 or Angie Griffeth (801) at (435) 7 Salt Lake City From 5C which have been a drag on production and corporate profits “have been drawn I down to the bone” Fosler said 797-004- Dilbert By Scott j “click-through- After the technology-dotco- m frenzy of the past couple of years in which investors unloaded stocks of companies whose profits weren’t expec ted to double every year earnings expectations have become “much much more reasonable” she said That has created a more stable I stock market I -- 540-583- I Economy 0 at Utah State University However Vonder Haar believes that webcasters are “facing a double-edgesword” He explains that if webcasters segment their audiences too much their ser- er To register pm UH-O- HE’S H HIGH-FIVIN- Adams BEEN' G CATBERT AGAIN j J |