A Core Competence Product Evaluation

GoAmerica Wireless Data Services

It's a little before 8 pm on a Friday evening at Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, NC. I've joined the crowd of road warriors who fill the gate area, sitting hunched over laptop computers, pecking away at keyboards, making the best of otherwise wasted travel hours. The crew of US Airways Flight 1170 stands gathered around me, the captain peering intently at my laptop, his face a mixture of incredulity and fascination.

Despite whispered concerns expressed by my fellow travelers, the image displayed on my LCD screen reveals that my activities pose no terrorist threat. I'm simply sending email. Right here, as the crew and I watch. Untethered by telephone cord, a dozen miles from the nearest Internet access provider, over 700 miles from home. My report will make it onto my client's desk before the close of business today, hours before I reach home, an entire weekend before I return to the office.

What makes it possible for me to conduct my business far from the nearest outlet or telephone jack?

Mobile computing solutions from GoAmerica.

Many wireless data services constrain application functionality in order to survive the low bandwidth, high bit error rate, and intermittent connectivity afforded by wireless networks. This "thin client architecture" typically supports short ASCII text-based messaging services on two-way alphanumeric pagers and "smartphones". (See our companion evaluation of AT&T's PocketNet service.)

But we can do so much more over wireless! GoAmerica represents a departure from this "thin client" approach by enabling true mobile network computing.

GoAmerica provides nationwide access to the global Internet and corporate Intranets from any Windows 95 laptop or Windows CE palmtop equipped with a wireless modem. GoAmerica's suite of AirBoss™ services enable applications such as mobile messaging, email, web access, and real-time highway traffic reporting over your choice of wireless network: RAM Mobile Data or Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD).