I have long been a proponent of PDAs (Treos, BlackBerrys, etc.) and, to a lesser extent, high-end cellphones like the Samsung BlackJack. These give you on-the-go access to e-mail and calendar functionality and to other productivity applications.

These units started as standalone devices that synced with a PC. With the addition of cellular radios users got access to mobile voice and data functionality, but they were still designed to be plugged into a PC for data backup and easier management of functions like address books.

A company called Dashwire has stepped in to make mobiles truly mobile. It currently has a service in beta which mirrors cellphone content to the Web, backing up data such as contacts, text messages, calls, photos, videos, speed-dial numbers and wallpaper. This sync happens over the air, on a constant basis. And Dashwire's service is free.

Functionally, this means that if you enter an important new business contact into your handheld and then immediately leave the device on an airplane, the contact details (and all your other data) can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection.

The service is also bi-directional: enter that same new contact on your PC and it is automatically sent to your phone.

Dashwire currently works only with Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6.0 devices and it is in limited beta, but this is certainly one to keep an eye on. Check out www.dashwire.com.

Peter Wolchak