With the next big convergence of wireless technologies, Internet access and content seemingly around the corner, companies are struggling to figure out the best way to display rich data types in handheld devices, such as the Palm VII wireless handheld computer. That's good news for handheld wireless users. Unfortunately, they still need to gain access to a wireless ISPs, and that can be harsher dose of negative reality.

Digital Paths demonstrated its latest version of Digital Paths at Mobile Insights'event. The demo showed how users of such devices gain access to information on more and more web sites. Using their patent-pending Pathway Technology software, they retrieve the web content the user desires to access. Then Digital Paths (Stanton, Calif.) transforms the information to deliver content to the handheld device in a simple, user-friendly text format. In some cases, the technology can improve the readability of the web page.

Acting as an intermediary between the user and the web, Digital Paths uses its server with a Common Gateway Interface application to perform functions similar to those of a proxy server. Based on the type of device, the application reformats the content accordingly and delivers it in an appropriate format. Its use is very simple: the user points the device to the company's site and enters the URL of the web page he wishes to view. This solution overcomes the typical 160 x 160-pixel restriction of a Palm device and the typical five lines of 14-character displays of smart phones.

Digital Paths is joining other reformatting companies that vary their approach across a matrix from low to high-visual appeal and from low to high-cost. Among these are AvantGo, Proxinet, Riverbed, Everypath and Manual Conversion. Digital Paths claims the lowest cost of conversion and maintenance of web pages.

I want my ISP

Unfortunately, gaining access to wireless ISPs is not yet so easy. The Palm VII needs to be in proximity of a 802.11 base station, since the connection from an inside room may not be available.

To that end, a number of 802.11 access points need to be readily available. One company, Wayport has installed such access points in a few areas, such as the Wyndham hotel chain, Royal Sonesta in Boston, and the Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin airports. At MI2000, they announced an alliance with Toshiba America Information Systems' Computer Systems Group (Irvine, Calif.) in which Toshiba notebook users would be able use the 802.11 wireless network provided by Wayport (Austin, Texas).

Among the other demos of interest at MI2000 were the Spiral and ClearPad display technologies offered by Synaptics (San Jose, Calif.). Spiral allows 3-D sensing using an inductive pen, thereby varying the intensity of the writing on the display, and thereby enhancing security concerns, and ClearPad is touch-sensitive sensor technology that can be placed over any LCD screen, providing extra ruggedness over those made of resistive sensors.

One intriguing mobile Internet application shown here raised some eyebrows concerning security issues. ThinkFree.com demoed Internet-based word processing, spreadsheet, presentation graphics, email and file management that are compatible with Microsoft Office, but can be used both online and offline.

By accessing the site users can work offline with the most popular office productivity applications without regard to what OS runs on their mobile computer. "That might cause a security headache for my IT person back home", one attendee observed.