Mobile e-mail heading for the masses

Accessing e-mail from a cell phone is no longer just for corporate bigwigs. New services are arriving that make it easier and more affordable for everyone, from soccer moms to college students, to check and send messages from regular mobile handsets.

On Thanksgiving Day, a start-up called Berggi will launch a service that is intended to make accessing e-mail and sending instant messages easier on low-cost mobile phones.

Babur Ozden, chief executive of Berggi, said the service aggregates all personal e-mail and instant messaging clients into a single interface, for simpler access. And the service can be used on just about any handset, offering a less expensive alternative to corporate-based e-mail services from companies such as Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry handheld messaging device.

Berggi isn’t the first company to promise easy access to e-mail on cell phones. Mobile operators have been integrating mobile e-mail and IM clients into their phones for more than a year. And access to mobile e-mail Web sites, such as those offered by Google and Yahoo, has also been available through a mobile WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) browser that offers stripped-down versions of the sites, specially designed for mobile phones.

Full article: CNET News.com