Cingular Wireless introduces Cingular Mobile Email service for non-business users. This service, powered by OZ Communication inc., lets user to get BlackBerry-like mobile access to their personal e-mail accounts from AOL, Yahoo and MSN Hotmail on a cell phone. It is already designed to adapt the look and capabilities of a Web portal or e-mail program such as Outlook to the limited screen size, keyboard and processing power of a garden variety handset.

Users have to download a Java-based email application to be able to use the Cingular’s service. Initially, starting Monday, it will be available for 5 Motorola Inc. mobile phone’s models and one from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Particular new phones will also get the software pre-installed.

There’s no monthly charge for Cingular Mobile Email, but users will need to subscribe to one of the company’s wireless Internet plans with a monthly allotment of data usage. Jim Ryan, a Cingular vice president, said a $5 monthly data plan should provide sufficient capacity to check one’s e-mail a few times daily.

Fetching e-mail on a cell phone has been possible for some time, generally by using a mobile Web browser or a downloadable third-party application. But the process is often cumbersome: Users need to click through multiple menus, type in Web addresses, sign in using a telephone keypad, and scroll about to read poorly formatted messages on a small screen.

[ Source ]