Wireless ISP YadaYada has struck a deal with PDA maker Handspring to sell a package that includes a Visor Platinum PDA, a wireless modem and a Internet service contract.
The package costs $599, or $449 after a $150 rebate. It includes a Visor Platinum, a Novatel Wireless Minstrel S modem and YadaYada's browser software, optimized for the Palm operating system, Version 3.5.2H. YadaYada's wireless Web browser - in beta-test release - allows users to access any HTML-created Web site, as well as send and receive e-mail from as many as 6 Post Office Protocol 3 e-mail accounts.
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Customers also can purchase the Minstrel modem by itself for $299, or $149 after the $150 rebate. Buyers are eligible for the rebate only if they sign up for six months of YadaYada wireless Web access service at $39.95 a month, said Sarah Grossman, the company's director of communications.
YadaYada competes with rival wireless service provider OmniSky. Both companies sell identical Novatel hardware. An OmniSky modem costs $299, but OmniSky offers a $200 rebate with a six-month service contract at $39.95 a month.
Essentially, a buyer of the YadaYada package would be spending $50 extra for YadaYada's browser. It supports frames; OmniSky's does not. OmniSky's browser largely depends on Web pages optimized for wireless Web surfing, whereas YadaYada's does not.
Software, however, improves rapidly these days. The extra $50 is a bet for consumers to make on whether or not OmniSky's browser will improve before the service contract is up.
YadaYada, in Birmingham, Ala., is at www.yadayada.com. OmniSky, in Palo Alto, is at www.omnisky.com/.
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