Push Is On to Make Web More Accessible on Mobile Phones and Portable Gadgets

LAS VEGAS — You probably already have Internet access at work and at home. Now, tech companies want you to take the Internet with you wherever you go.

Fresh off the success of Apple's iPhone, semiconductor makers, Internet and cell phone companies are taking another stab at making the Web more accessible to everyday consumers on their mobile phones and other portable gadgets.

At the International Consumer Electronics show here Monday, Yahoo rolled out a revamped Internet software platform for cell phones that company executives claim will be "a game changer."

Yahoo's Go 3.0 service lets users customize the "home pages" of their cell phones to get instant access to information from the Web such as weather, news and sports headlines, as well as personal e-mail and calendars. The software, which will be available for free download for most phones later this year, also will give users one-touch instant access to popular websites like MySpace, eBay and the Flickr photo sharing site.

The mobile Internet, said Yahoo co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang, "is the next phase of the Internet."

Intel Corp. CEO Paul Otellini said he thinks it will be even bigger than that.

"We're now in the midst of the largest opportunity to redefine consumer electronics and entertainment since the introduction of the television," Otellini predicted in prepared remarks for a keynote speech late Monday.

Intel announced it is on track to deliver its latest chips for so-called "mobile Internet devices" — part computer, part phone, part Web browser — within the next several months. It is launching a major initiative — not unlike its Centrino wireless PC push — aimed at putting the Internet in your pocket.

Otellini showed off prototype devices based on Intel chips, including a Web-based gadget that travelers can use to audibly and visually translate building signs, restaurant menus and conversations in real time. With built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, the pocket-sized device also could be used to get directions and identify and give background — via the Web — on local landmarks.

Tech and mobile phone companies, of course, have for years been promising better Internet service on phones and handheld gadgets. The market potential is huge: Forecasters predict there will be more than 4 billion cell phones worldwide by 2010, dwarfing the number of personal computers.

Apple's introduction of the all-in-one iPhone last year jump-started the latest industry push toward improving the mobile Internet. Apple is expected to announce updates to the iPhone at the MacWorld conference in San Francisco next week.

Other big tech companies are also positioning themselves to play in the mobile Internet space. Google Inc., for instance, announced a new mobile phone software platform last November. It is widely expected to launch its own cell phone and possibly even get into the cell service business — competing head-on with the likes of Verizon and AT&T — later this year.

But delivering mobile Internet service to consumers isn't easy. And, despite the initial success of iPhone, it's not clear that consumers want yet another new mobile gadget.

"Sure, some people may want some sort of easy-to-use device that can maybe fit in your pocket," said Steve Baker, vice president and an analyst at tech research company NPD Group.

But he said it's hard to make a mobile Internet device that's not too heavy, not too expensive and convincing consumers they should buy one to replace their trusty cell phone.

"And in the end, it might not really do very much," Baker said.

Richard Dougherty, director of tech research company Envisioneering Group, said getting good on-the-go access to the Web — either through cellular networks or through wireless Internet Wi-Fi or WiMax technology — is another major hurdle.

At a time when some consumers have a hard enough time just trying to find a strong cell signal, wireless Web service simply isn't good enough today, he said.

"Consumers don't want a device that isn't going to connect like it should and give them a quality experience," Dougherty said.

Intel is trying to fix that, too.

Along with its mobile Internet push, Intel also is a major backer of WiMax technology, which promises to make high-speed broadband wireless Web access commonplace.

Even though WiMax service is rare throughout most of the world today, Otellini predicted that nearly 150 million people will connect to the Web via WiMAX by the end of this year.

To naysayers, Otellini pointed out that many people once had doubts about the potential of personal computers.

"When computing became personal, the industry changed — innovation, collaboration and standards drove growth beyond what anyone could imagine," he said. "I believe that the Internet is following the same path."