AT&T; Wireless Services announced plans to unveil a cellular phone and service that will allow users to surf the Net.

The service, called AT&T; PocketNet Phone, will allow users to display data and send and receive email on the $500 phone's three-line display screen. Users will also be able to view interactive applications that will allow them to make purchases, book reservations, and check local movie listings with the cell phone. Graphics and multimedia will be left out when surfing the Net.

Corporate and independent Web developers will be able to program the phone for remote access to intranets. PocketNet will cost about $30 a month above the average existing cellular voice services, plus additional by-the-minute charges that have not yet been determined, according to AT&T.;

Mitsubishi Electric America and PCSI, a Cirrus Logic company, are developing the new cellular phones for AT&T; by using software designed by Unwired Planet. Called UP.Link, the software includes the Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML), the UP.View browser, and the UP.Link server. HDML is an open programming specification derived from the Internet standard Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).

 

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