Mobile and Wireless Email

Wireless email is just starting to to become a standard way of providing mobile email or email on the move.

Email along with mobile phone use has grown rapidly over the last 10 years and it is only natural that they would one day come together.

Early Mobile Email Access

For early users of email mobile email access was provided by Web based mail. Web based mail allowed the use to travel to a different location and connect to his/her mailbox while in an hotel room or customers office.

The internet connection was usually accomplished using a traditional dial up connection, either using the hotel phone or via a mobile phone. This is still probably the number 1 way users  access email when on the move.

Wireless Email Technologies

Blackberry was the first to enter the wireless email space back in the late 1990s and its use has grown rapidly ever since. Blackberry is not alone in providing wireless email and other internet services, and there are several ways of accessing email using wireless networks.

Over the last several years with the introduction of 3G networks and WI-FI networks many new possibilities have opened up. These two technologies along with their associated networks and devices will be competing for the wireless email market of the future.

To better understand these competing solutions is is useful to remind ourselves of where these technologies originated.

3G and Mobile Telephone Networks

Mobile Telephone Networks have enjoyed incredible growth over the last 10-15 years and the devices themselves have become incredibly small and have morphed into mobile communication centres.

Mobile telephone networks are currently used predominantly for voice communication or SMS messages. It is possible to exchange email messages with mobile phones but the email is effectively limited to an SMS message.

The launch of 3G mobile phones and networks (Europe) opens up mobile networks to providing access to Internet based data services like Web browsing. email and calendaring.

WI-FI and the Internet

The Internet has up until now been a data network, used for email exchange and web based traffic. It is increasing being used for exchanging video and sound and of course Internet radio is very popular.

The traditional way of accessing the Internet has been with a computer (PC) ,modem and a dial up Network connection. This method is fast being replaced with broadband connections offering permanent Internet access -see Internet and Internet use.

The latest method of accessing the internet is by using wireless internet access (Wi-Fi ). It is this method of access that opens the door for mobile/wireless email.

The Future of Mobile Email

The future belongs to 3G phones/networks or WI-FI devices and networks, or maybe a mixture of both. What is certain is that wireless email will be available using either of these technologies, making the future of mobile email a wireless future.

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