Just when you thought you knew what the next hot electronic frontier would be, market research proves you wrong. Here’s fresh data and commentary about what’s really been happening in the mobile phone and PDA markets that will disspell some of the hype:

Worldwide consumer enthusiasm for using mobile phones to make Internet purchases is all but non-existent, less than two years after one in three users said they had such plans, according to results of a study released today.

And as more Internet-enabled mobile phones go into service, fewer users have even tried the capability, said the latest Mobinet Index by the A.T. Kearney consulting firm.

On the other hand, short text messaging (SMS) has been embraced by much of the world mobile-phone community, with 80 percent usage in some European countries.

Only 1 percent of mobile-phone users in 14 countries said in January that they intend to buy something online via handset, compared to 12 percent at the same time last year and 32 percent in July 2000.

Penetration of Internet-enabled cellular phones grew 41 percent since the June 2001 study, but the number of those actually accessing the Net by mobile telephone was "flat," Kearney said in a news release. Fewer than half have never used their phones’ wireless Internet capabilities, the study found.

"The Mobinet Index recorded high numbers for intent to use mobile phones to access the Internet 18 months ago," said Paul Collins, who led the study. "Those numbers have fallen drastically, primarily because the mobile community hasn’t provided consumers with enough reasons to access the Internet with their phones."

The Kearney research team also found that 44 percent of cellular phone users said they intended to use their handsets for the little-known practice of mobile-cash (m-cash) purchases. More surprising, they said, was that just 2 percent had actually made m-cash transactions.

The potential of m-cash buying could be wiped out if the industry doesn’t take steps to develop the market, especially when considering the sharp decline of enthusiasm for Internet-enabled mobile phones, the firm noted.

"Consumer tastes in the mobile arena are fragile, so it is imperative that the community of mobile phone makers, carriers, content providers and financial services companies rally quickly to provide mobile cash capabilities before consumer interest wanes," Collins said.

SMS use, however, is attractive enough on its own merits to generate once-a-month user rates of more than 80 percent in the U.K. and Finland, and 35 percent in all countries studied. At the bottom of the SMS heap is the U.S., where just 5 percent of mobile-phone users engage in the practice.

Advertisers have noticed. Nearly a third - 31 percent - of study respondents said they’ve received some type of ad via their mobile phones compared to 1 percent last June.

A.T. Kearney, a subsidiary of Electronic Data Systems, studied 5,600 mobile phone users on four continents and for Mobinet Index reports every six months.

The Mobinet Index is at http://www.atkearney.com/pdf/eng/Mobinet_4_S.pdf.

Newfangled browsers that radically change the face of toolbars soon will pop up all over the Web, thanks to the latest in online ad technology aimed at capturing surfers’ attention., will be launched "soon," company officials said, without specifying a launch date. And the new ad form is unlikely to get unanimous approval of Web surfers, some of whom have had it with pop-up and pop-under ads for everything from pitches for financial publications to Web casinos.

The demo of Ooqa Ooqa, a creation of United Virtualities, shows a standard, battleship-gray toolbar give way to a version displaying the client company’s logo in the background. Toolbar mainstays such as "Edit," become sponsored links.

Surfers who encounter Ooqa Ooqa have options, starting with the power to go back to their usual browser with a simple command, said Michelle Ross, strategic alliance director of New York-based United Virtualities.

"You can opt out for the session, or you can opt out and never see Ooqa Ooqa ever again," Ross said. "So we give the user the ability to choose if they want to see this type of branding." A user who initially opts in can opt out later, and is able to do away with some functions while retaining others, the company said.

Another type of ad laucnhed in 1999, Shoshkeles ,is an animation that moves across a user’s computer screen, usually accompanied by sound effects. It lasts only long enough to communicate its message before settling into a stationary ad on the page. Most do not cover the entire screen.

The idea behind Shoshkeles is to more readily catch the user’s eye than other online ad forms. AT&T, Purina, Reebok, Home Box Office and Volkswagen are among the Shosh-keles clients. Auction Web site Ebay used the technology to promote Valentine’s Day-related merchandise.

Ooqa Ooqa, like Shoshkeles, is far more effective for the advertiser and less annoying than the much-maligned pop-up and pop-under ads, the company says. And the browsers can be made into shapes other than square, the company said, hinting that a cloud-shaped version is in the works.

Users have complained that pop-up ads are too invasive, and require time to get rid of, and that the pop-under variety plays a frustrating game of hide-and-seek by loading behind a browser instead of emerging on the computer screen.

In contracts to pop-up ads that must be closed every time they open, Ooqa Ooqa’s opt-out-forever feature requires action just once.

The company believes that users will want the advantages offered by a customizable browser. It beats the "uniformity" of Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers, a company executive said.

"Your browser becomes contextually active to your browsing," the executive said. "You choose what to see, you choose how to see it, you choose when to see it. This is a totally opt-in environment."

United Virtualities is at http://www.unitedvirtualities.com.

While it may not be unique on the Web, the local ABC affiliate in St. Paul, Minn., is offering an unusual news video-on-demand service its general manager hopes will lead his local TV station to the leading edge of Webcasting.

KSTP-TV today debuted its 5Cast service, which allows Web site users to select video segments from archived TV newscasts in any order they choose, giving them, in some sense, the keys to the editor’s desk.

"It allows an individual to create his or her own newscast," said Ed Piette, KSTP’s general manager. "If they want to look at one news story, they look at one news story. If they want to look at 23 stories, they look at 23 stories, in whatever order they’d like to do that."

Equally important to Piette, he said, is that the software from Man-kato, Minn.-based Dayport preserves high-quality video from the newscasts, especially when seen over broadband connections on the Internet. "It far surpasses anything in the Twin Cities," he said.

Dayport’s software uses an automated process to scoop up KSTP news stories and to process them digitally so they are Web-ready. By investing in the software, Piette said, the station had to hire no new employees. As a result, he expects the video venture to be profitable for his station within three months.

The KSTP service is now online at http://www.kstp.com/.

One note of caution: because of conflicts between Internet Explorer and the Netscape Navigator 6, the video service does not work for Web users operating Navigator 6 browsers.

The Internet continues to transform politics, and now is antiquating door-to-door petitioners who gather signatures for issues of local or national import. PetitionOnline.com, calling itself "the new marketplace of free ideas," offers free hosting of public petitions for responsible public advocacy. The idea is to facilitate grassroots democracy and all issues are acceptable except those that advocate violence, extreme hostility, that use foul language, or are otherwise irresponsible or anti-social. A petition writer simply writes the text of a petition, posts it online, and solicits signers to log in and sign it. Petitions are then delivered electronically or physically printed for the original author to disseminate to the responsible parties. To validate signers, the service logs each signature and e-mail address for possible statistical validation, rejecting duplicates. Find out more here:

World Wide Web: http://www.jura.uni-tuebingen.de/~s-bes1/lcp.html

Add your voice to the debate over the FTC’s proposed change to the Telemarketing Sales Rule at this site, where the feds are soliciting public opinions on the matter. The controversial change creates a national "do not call" registry. Under the FTC’s proposal, it would be illegal for telemarketers to call consumers who place their phone number on the national registry. Whether you are a consumer or represent a business, the FTC wants your opinion about the proposed changes. An e-mail address is provided for comments, as well as an address for postal mail.m | Privacy Agenda

World Wide Web: http://www.teens4hire.org