A Sprint Through the Web

Web phones can be a wealth of mobile information, but you'll still deal with some frustration when dialing for data on a device designed for voice.

Sprint PCS is one the first major carriers with a wireless Internet service; its Wireless Web debuted last September.

Since then, as many other carriers have launched services, Sprint has busily added new services and content. Among its partners are shopping sites Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble and the online auction site EBay Sprint customers can check their portfolios on Fidelity Investments. And they can get mobile entertainment on the likes of FoxSports.com and Hollywood.com. Soon, even AOL will be on the menu.

It's high time to look at what Sprint PCS has to offer today. But, as with some other fledgling wireless mobile offerings, while the content is there, coverage barriers and navigational pains still make the service less than easy to use.

Size for Surfing

To surf the Sprint PCS Wireless Web, you first need a Sprint voice plan and one of the ten available phones that support Sprint's Web services (five more designs have been announced). You'll want to consider the display size when choosing a phone you'll use for data.

At $299.99, the Sprint PCS NP1000 single-band smart phone I tried is hardly a steal, but it offers personal digital assistant features such as a calendar, an address book, and synchronization with Outlook, as well as voice recognition for 30 contacts. While slightly heavy (6.4 ounces), the Sprint-branded NeoPoint phone also has a large 11-line display. Battery life suffers with Web use. The phone promises 40 hours on standby, but after some brief use of the wireless Internet, it lasted only 24.

A Sprint PCS voice plan gives you six months of Wireless Web free, then it costs $9.95 monthly. You use your calling plan minutes for both voice and surfing, but at rates of 14.4 kilobits per second, those data minutes can add up. (Sprint plans to boost that to 56 kbps this summer.) Sprint PCS charges 25 cents per minute for Web access when you exceed your plan, so choose your voice plan accordingly. Unlike Sprint PCS, AT&T PocketNet doesn't charge by minutes, but to get full browsing you have to pay another $14.95 monthly.

Besides wireless Internet, Sprint PCS also offers short text messages with your choice of news updates through Yahoo on any phone. You get 30 free updates with a wireless Web plan; otherwise it's 10 cents per update. But you don't need a phone with a browser to get the updates, says Kami Jowers, a Sprint PCS spokesperson.