GPRS is an emerging technology that adds high speed Internet access and e-mail services to GSM cellular phones. It is seen as the precursor to the developing 3G services and is expected to drive consumer demand for high-speed data services while on the move.

The new Samsung GPRS phone has been designed to be compact and light but also includes a high-resolution graphic LCD screen and dedicated Internet key for direct access to the world wide web. In addition the phone has four-way directional navigation with a toggle key to allow easy screen scrolling and movement of the cursor.

In its initial phase, the Samsung GPRS phone supports up to 56kbps although ultimately, the GPRS service will allow data connection at speeds of up to 115kbps.

As well as Internet access, the Samsung GPRS phone offers voice dialling, voice memo, Predictive Text Input, Personal Information Management (scheduler, diary) and has a built-in IrDA (Infra red Data Access) port to allow wireless connection to PDAs and laptop computers.

The Samsung GPRS phone uses next generation technology to increase data speed and capability. It has been developed by Samsung and incorporates Lucent's technology. It is a multi-slot class 8 device that uses packet switched technology for sending and receiving data.

In a class 8 device, there are four times as many receive channels, as there are transmit channels, to accommodate the higher bandwidth demands of data reception. The phone is a class B terminal which means that in the idle mode, there is a choice of whether to make a voice call, which would be with a circuit switched connection or whether to transmit data, which would be sent in a packet format.The first GPRS services are expected to come into operation this year giving consumers an opportunity to try a wide range of mobile data applications which are quick to access and easy to use. Retrieval of e-mail, for example, is quicker because there is no need to log onto a network; the e-mail is always available to be accessed.

GPRS will allow network operators to provide services such as videoconferencing, web browsing, mobile electronic commerce, file transfer, database access, e-mail access, multimedia messaging, e-banking, interactive shopping and access to information. GPRS is a packet-based service, which can be overlaid on existing GSM networks to ultimately provide a migration path to 3G.