There are many different ways to receive e-mail on your handheld
device. These days you can be connected to your e-mail 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week, no matter where you are. Depending on what
type of mobile device you have, there are several options to
send and receive e-mail on the go.
If you have a Palm or Windows Mobile device, POP3 is the
simplest configuration to install since it is supported on both
platforms without requiring additional software. With POP3, you
can have multiple computers set up to receive e-mail from the
server. If you are receiving e-mail on a secondary machine,
there is an option to leave messages on the server. By using
this, you can receive the same messages on your primary computer
without having to synchronize with the secondary computer.
IMAP is the best way to go if your e-mail hosting provider
supports it and you have a Palm or Windows Mobile device. IMAP
e-mail can be set up on multiple computers without the
synchronization problems that occur with POP3. Because IMAP
e-mail is stored on the server, you can easily save e-mail
history in folders and be able to access it wherever you go. For
the Palm OS, Iambic Mail (www.iambic.com) and SnapperMail
(www.snappermail.com) support IMAP. For Windows Mobile,
Microsoft Pocket Outlook supports IMAP e-mail.
If you are trying to use e-mail on a PDA, you may be wondering
how you can connect to the internet. If you have a
Bluetooth-compatible PDA and cell phone, you can connect your
PDA to your cell phone for an internet connection either through
your cellular provider's data network . Most cellular service
providers offer internet access for newer handsets at an
additional service cost. If you are near a hotspot and your
mobile device has WiFi built-in, you can connect via a wireless
internet connection.
Another method made popular by the Blackberry device involves
"pushing" an e-mail message to the phone. In this scenario, you
will use a new e-mail address specifically for your cell phone.
When this e-mail account receives a new message, the mail server
will send a text message notifying you that you have new e-mail.
You can then view the message with your e-mail client. With this
service, you would need a corporate office with a mail server
that supports Blackberrys or an outside e-mail provider.
Using e-mail on your mobile device will likely be slower than on
your computer. Unlike computers, mobile devices don't have
multi-gigabyte hard drives. It will also be more difficult to
view e-mail attachments because of the tiny screen and more
modest performance. For these reasons, it is recommended that
you disable graphics for e-mail messages and do not download
file attachments. Some PDA e-mail clients have options available
to write e-mails in your own handwriting as opposed to inputting
it with handwriting recognition.
In addition to retrieving new messages, you can often
synchronize your mobile device with the e-mail client on your
computer so that you will have certain settings and messages
available on your mobile device at all times. Conduits for
synchronization are available for most major e-mail clients.
Most cell phones are now capable of receiving e-mail messages of
a few lines called SMS messages. SMS messages are just becoming
more standardized between different cellular providers. SMS is
mainly for quick text chat conversations and is not sufficient
to replace mobile e-mail.
Although SMS is a different technology from e-mail, most cell
phones can receive e-mail messages through a gateway. If you
want to send a brief message to your cell phone, choose your
provider below and substitute the number for your cell phone
number.