Yahoo! Internet Life: Net Phone Fun

GAMES

The Game Boy Advance may be the reigning champ of handheld gaming, but you can’t use it to go head-to-head with someone across the county (let alone make phone calls). That’s just one of the advantages of playing games on your cell phone. With AT&T Wireless’s new mMode [attwireless.com/mmode] service, all of the games are online. And because they’re hosted on servers rather than on the phone itself, colorful adventure games such as Star Trek put little or no demand on your new color phone’s memory.

CALLING ALL GAMERS Nextel’s Java-based phones, which allow you to download games and store them in the phones, make for especially good pocket arcades. Current titles include Mobile Madness, MotoGP, and Astrosmash (which Sprint PCS will also offer soon). Newer titles including Blazing Boards, PhatCash, and Dice Extreme take their place alongside traditional card and board games such as Blackjack, Solitaire, and Chess. Cingular Wireless sells mostly trivia and word games but has exclusive rights to the Spider-Man franchise. Verizon Wireless’s hottest offerings include Tiger Woods PGA Tour and a color bowling game.

FUN FOR FREE? Depending on the carrier and the game’s level of sophistication, it may be free, pay per play (usually 99 cents), or lumped in with a slightly higher monthly subscription fee. All of the carriers see a real moneymaking opportunity here, so expect lots of experimentation with various payment plans in the future.

ONLINE ANTICS As icons such as Sonic the Hedgehog make their wireless debuts, other console- and PC-like perks are sure to follow. You’ll be able to upload your scores to the network to see how you stack up against other players, download more levels over the air, and taunt others during play via text-messaging. In Sweden, virtual gunslingers use location-tracking phones and short messaging to take potshots at one another in the real world. Think of it as paintball without the paint. Expect the game, called BotFighters [botfighters.com], on our shores in the coming months.

E-MAIL

Along with always-on Net access on your cell phone comes the opportunity to keep track of your e-mail on the go. If you’ve tried to manage messages on your current phone, you know just how much squinting and menu-digging is involved. The Net connection makes it easier to manage multiple accounts.

NAMES YOU KNOW The major phone carriers support most of the popular e-mail services—AOL, EarthLink, MSN, Yahoo!—as well as some of their related instant-messaging systems. If one of these services isn’t already listed on your phone’s main menu screen, open up the phone’s browser and click on Portals or E-mail to see your options. Then click on Yes or OK to sign in.

TYPING TROUBLE Yes, typing messages is hard, and yes, you may be stuck pressing the number 7 four times to get an S. Text-prediction software such as iTAP and T9 from Tegic [tegic.com] can help, but if you really want to master your e-mail from a single device that also serves as a phone, your best bet is to get an e-mail pager with a built-in keyboard and phone. Check out Motorola’s V100 (from Voice- Stream) or V200 (from Verizon Wireless), or a more capable PDA/phone combo such as Handspring’s new color Treo 270 (Cingular Wireless, VoiceStream, Sprint PCS) or the BlackBerry 5810 (AT&T Wireless and VoiceStream).

OFFICE E-MAIL Some carriers will send your office e-mail to your phone so you’ll never have to compose another I’m-out-of-the- office message again. Cingular Wireless’s Xpress Mail Enterprise Edition service (starting at $10 per month) requires a BlackBerry device ($299) but also includes news, sports scores, and stock quotes. Nextel’s Mobile E-Mail ($7.50 per month) is compatible with Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes and works best with Motorola’s iBoard folding keyboard ($99), which plugs into the bottom of some Motorola phones. Sprint PCS Business Connect Personal Edition ($2.99 per month) works with Web-enabled phones to provide e-mail and on-the-go access to calendar and contacts.

MESSAGING

Are you any good with your thumbs? Actually, let’s put that another way: “R-U-N-E good with your thumbs?” You will be, once you start text-messaging through SMS (Short Message Service). It’s similar to instant messaging but lets you bang out phone-to-phone notes to your pals, using their phone number as their address. Of course, you have to school yourself in the shorthand lingo first.

SHORTHAND AT&T Wireless’s mMode service posts some of the most useful shortcuts online at mMode Magazine [mmodemagazine.com]. They range from the obvious (SIT = stay in touch) to the somewhat more cryptic (ICCL = I couldn’t care less). The point is that you spend less time typing and more time thinking up ways to be clever.

MESSAGE FLIRTING Want to know whether the person you just met is HOT4U? Check out Cingular Wireless’s Shoutout [shoutout. cingular.com] portal, which includes a flirting game called KISS. A flirt types K-I-S-S, a space, and the phone number of a crush; the recipient then gets to guess who puckered up.

SAY IT WITH PICTURES Despite all these bells and whistles, though, only 10 percent of U.S. cell phone users have even tried SMS. That’s because until recently, one carrier’s system wouldn’t talk to another’s. That problem is going away, however, and with faster Net connections, multimedia messaging (MMS) may take off, with phone maker Sony Ericsson leading the charge. Imagine taking summer vacation pics with your phone’s built-in camera and then sending them to a friend’s e-mail address. Or receiving a belated birthday greeting—complete with a “jolly good fellow” jingle in the background—from your forgetful aunt. Better L8 than never.

SIGHTS AND SOUND

What’s the easiest way to personalize your cell phone (other than snapping on a leopard-print face plate)? Download a unique ring tone and your phone will sound like no other. Sure, most phones include a dozen or so melodies that everyone has played to death, but the endless supply of available ring-tone ditties means that everyone can make a unique musical statement, be it with “Camptown Races,” “All Along the Watchtower,” or (if you must) Beethoven’s Fifth.

PAY TO PLAY Most ring tones obtained from carriers cost 99 cents apiece, although sometimes demo downloads are free. Beyond the sites of the carriers themselves, sites such as Ringtones.com and Zingy [zingy.com] offer a good selection of sounds. Just select a new ring tone and the service will call your phone to add the sound to its repertoire. The whole process is wireless.

SCREEN GEMS Next up is on-screen graphics, a good way of sprucing up your display and hanging up on that tired old phone company logo. Pick your alma mater’s emblem, the Little Mermaid, or anything in between. With Sprint PCS, an extra four bucks a month gets you eight ring tones or screen savers. Other carriers that currently offer graphics for their newest phones include AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless, and VoiceStream Wireless. As you can probably guess, the hot screen saver of the moment is the U.S. flag.

QUALITY TUNES As for downloading a hi-fi version of “The Star- Spangled Banner,” that’s at least another year away. But the carriers have already struck several deals with major record labels, such as Sony and EMI, to bring short clips to phones so you can preview CDs in the store before you buy. Supposedly this capability will be in place by the holidays.