[From Ray Ghazarian] Hi, Our company, ENR Technologies manufacturers a wireless IrDA 56k modem used in the data collection industry. It allows handheld devices such as Pocket PCs and Palm OS devices to transmit data via internet using a standard telephone line and it interfaces with the handheld device via the IrDA (infrared port). It works by simply aligning the IrDA ports together then you can wirelessly sync and connect to the internet to transmit or receive data to and from a server or central database.
One of the benefits of using the built in IrDA port (included on most PDAs) is that you do not need to install any drivers to use it with our IrDA 56k modem (called Pocket IR Modem). The Pocket IR Modem works by simply setting up your dial up account number and login information into the PDA and thats it, setup takes less than a minute and you are ready to go. Unlike SD/Compact Flash card modems, our modem does not contribute to the added wear and tear of addon cards. Furthermore our device doesn't drain the handhelds battery the way addon card modems or bluetooth modems do.
We have hundreds of units out in the field already and have received positive feedback from everyone so far. We do have some universitys using the Pocket IR Modem for their clinical trials using Palm handhelds. They like the idea of being able to send the data straight from the job site using a telephone line rather than having to go back to the office to use the cradle. We have also received feedback which suggested most companies will not allow access to their wireless network for security reasons so they are very pleased that they can just use their phone/fax line to transmit the data.
The Pocket IR Modem is built using the latest Conexant modem technology and is FCC certified for use in USA.
A product brief and pictures can be found here http://www.pocketirmodem.com http://www.enrtech.com/docs/PIR5600PB.pdf .Pricing for the modem starts at $80 for volume quantities. I was hoping you guys could write about it.