A few months back, I called Microsoft's upcoming wireless kit a "hackneyed solution". Well now the Microsoft Communication Kit is here and I stand corrected; it's a hackneyed temporary solution. If you are in dire need of wireless communications on your Windows CE device, Microsoft has delivered a short-term solution in the Communication Kit, but bigger things are on the way.

As I mentioned previously, the MS Communication Kit consists of two separate elements; a cellular phone connector and software. The hardware portion of the package, is Socket's Wireline Connector, a digital phone card that plugs into the Windows CE device and a cable that attaches to an Ericsson, Nokia or Siemens cellular phone. The software bundle is dubbed the Microsoft Communication Kit Wizard, and consists of a set-up utility, Avantgo, iBrowser and ActiveSync 3.0. The kit is available from Socket Communications at the amazingly low price of US$100, and cellular phones equipped with IrDA can reportedly purchase the kit without the hardware at a lower price.

Obviously, this solution is priced extremely low. Comparatively, modems without any software at all are US$50 more. While it could be said that such a patchwork quilt-style solution should be priced lower than landline modems, I think there's another reason behind the pricing schema. While mobile phone users know that you'll pay "per minute" charges when you use your cell phone to dial into your network or ISP, that is not the only catch in this scenario. I believe that Microsoft wants you to get used to getting your data wirelessly. That's because they have a plan.

Real Wireless Solutions

Microsoft has revealed to me that two different peripheral manufacturers are already developing real wireless solutions. According to their reports, one company is working on a wireless LAN card to allow Palm-size PC users access to corporate networks while another peripheral maker plans to deliver a Bluetooth card in the middle of 2000. Bluetooth, in case you haven't heard, is the "ad hoc" short-range wireless network that will allow the Palm-size PC in your hand to communicate with the cellular phone on your belt-wirelessly.

And, while those manufacturers connect cell phones to Windows CE devices, other companies are hard at work integrating cellular and Windows CE. But like the wireless solutions, Stinger, (Microsoft's codename for Windows CE-based cellular phones) is also maturing slowly. So similarly, Microsoft has also created a "mid-term" substitute for the full-fledged cellular PDA.

The "Microbrowser" is the company's platform-agnostic attempt to hook cellular users on receiving wireless data. Like Internet Explorer for the desktop, and Pocket IE for the handheld, Microbrowser is an HTML/WML (Wireless Markup Language) browser targeted at cellphones. Corporate users in the UK and Norway, in cooperation with British Telecom, are currently testing the phone browser on Samsung and Sagem telephones. These cellular wonders are allowing wireless access to corporate Intranets and online services and PIMs.

Controlling platform and conduit

Based on all this info, it is clear that Microsoft plans to close in on both the wireless voice and data side. Whether you want a handheld to connect to your phone, or you want your phone to access your data, Microsoft has the solution. And these solutions, I believe, are carefully designed to get you hooked on wireless. With this new strategy, Microsoft would control access to content from both angles, by controlling both the platform-the Palm-size PC-and the conduit-the cellular phone or cellular modem).

-Dan Hanttula