More on the future of the mobile

There is no question that the mobile phone you now have in your pocket will soon be as outdated as the briefcase-size models of the '80s.

WAP - wireless application protocol - has been moving into the Japanese market since the beginning of this year. Nokia has just introduced its first WAP phone for the UK market, and Orange is predicting that about 60% of new handsets will be WAP-enabled by next year.

WAP software filters text information from web pages and displays the words on telephone screens. The result is ready access to email, news, schedules, share prices - or anything else that appears on the net.

According to BBC research, there are already more mobiles in use in Europe than PCs. Steady growth is projected - with no limit in sight.

Elliott Chase