Cingular Aims to Simplify Wireless Web

Cingular on Thursday announced that it would be introducing a handset with Motorola's SCREEN3 technology, which allows access to information from the home screen of a phone. The service is part of a larger effort by Cingular to allow more personalization of its MEdia Net data service.

The feature will first become available on the Motorola V557 handset, and Cingular said the service would also be included on other handsets to debut in 2006. Information such as news, weather, sports, and entertainment will scroll across the home screen without any user interaction.

The scroll would be provided at no extra charge to customers of the MEdia Net service. Users can choose to drill down one level for a synopsis of the information, or yet another level to read the full story. At that level, charges for data usage would apply, Cingular said.

The service comes at a time when the cell phone is becoming the "third screen" from which consumers obtain information, following televisions and personal computers.

According to recent surveys, one out of every ten wireless users access Web browsing functions of their phones, and that number is expected to rise as more content providers embrace the mobile web as a medium to deliver their services.

Cingular has responded to that trend by making its wireless Web services easier to use, it says. Customers will now be able to access localized content automatically based on their billing zip code, with the option to customize it further through their phones.

Analysts see these changes as necessary in order to increase usage of mobile data. "While the wireless Internet has been available to consumers for years, until now it has not been as easy as it should be for consumers to access," vice president of wireless research at Ovum Roger Entner said.

MEdia Net services are available to Cingular subscribers on a pay-as-your-go basis at a penny per kilobyte, or in packages ranging from $4.99 to $19.99 USD per month depending on usage.