It's a Go

This story appears in the April 2005 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »

You might recall the early days of AvantGo, when you could download things like maps and city restaurant lists to your PDA. AvantGo now features a variety of free informational and entertainment channels for PDA and smartphone users. Content can be synced via your desktop cradle or through wireless internet access. Some of the mobile websites of interest to entrepreneurs are Accu-Weather, American Airlines, MapQuest, The New York Times and a restaurant guide. Those are just a few of the thousands of channels available.

The hardware requirements aren't too taxing. AvantGo works with most Palm OS, Pocket PC, Symbian and Windows CE devices. You'll need to download the software to your desktop or laptop to get set up and take advantage of the service. One bonus is that AvantGo's channels are optimized for the small screens on mobile devices. You will have to view advertising, much like with standard web pages, but it's hard to go wrong since the service is free.

If you're a PDA or smartphone user, give AvantGo a whirl and see if it makes your business day roll along more smoothly, whether you're on the road or checking the weather from the office.