Mobile Email Using Voice Channel

Berggi will offer a "Pull" email alternative to the Blackberry "push" service, a move that extends email mobility to just about any mobile phone for about $4 a month, without requiring a data plan. Consumers will be able to send and receive email on their phones from Internet services such as Yahoo, Microsoft or Google, along with popular instant-messaging services. Document attachments will not be viewable, though. U.S. consumers can sign up on the company's Web site at http://www.berggi.com.

Mail access already is among the most frequently used apps on smartphones, so there is reason to believe email access using the voice channel also will prove popular. Weather sites are hit by about 22 percent of mobile smartphone users. ESPN is popular with nearly 18 percent of users. Mail services provided by Google, Yahoo!, MSN and AOL are used by 65 percent of smartphone users, according to a recent survey by MobileWeb Metrix.

And, of course, email is the leading enterprise mobile application as well.