So, using a borrowed HP hand-held computer, I walked up the road from our hotel and started taking pictures. The HP handheld runs a slimmed down version of Windows the combination is known as a Pocket PC and has a slot at its rear for a variety of add-on cards, or in this case, a small digital camera. So I pointed the device at the windows and hit the touchscreen to capture the image. I then 'synched' it with my laptop and e-mailed the snaps home. It took a 10-minute walk, four minutes of synching and e-mailing, and all I had to do was wait for a reply, by SMS, of which shoes she preferred.

All this was done using a range of wireless technologies that have finally arrived at consumer level and will revolutionise our lives. The benefits are immense. With the increasing mobility of the world's workforce, wireless connectivity will enable un-thought of advantages. Handhelds, once thought of as merely electronic diaries and known as personal digital assistants (PDAs), are now so much more. They are the new growth area because they enable sales and field staff to use a computer without lugging a laptop around.

Sales reps particularly are mostly on the road, as are engineers and technical support staff, but they need to read their mail and interact with the office computer network. Giving such staff a handheld is a step in the right direction certainly, but it necessitates a way for them to plug into the network.

For this a variety of wireless technologies are available. Currently the most prevalent wireless technology is Wi-Fi, a default technology for wireless local area networks (LANs), which are taking over from wired corporate LANs. Many offices run these wireless networks, which have a range of 100 metres, so if your device is Wi-Fi ready, it can log on there and you can pick up your e-mail or check the database.

There are also public 'hotspots' say, an airport where users can, with this technology, wander into range and check their e-mail or flight details. The most obvious means of connecting field staff is via cellphones, and many manufacturers are building cellphone-PDA combos. For the time being, though, cells and handhelds will remain separate devices, but one wireless technology that will allow them to talk to each other is Bluetooth.

It is known as a 'wire replacement technology' and is designed to unencumber our lives from the multitude of cables that connect all this technology. A Bluetooth wireless card can be slipped into the expansion slots of most handhelds or the PC card slot in laptops, and can communicate freely with either a Bluetooth network or a cellphone such as the Sony Ericsson T68i; and through it get onto the internet. While the small screen of a cellphone, frankly, sucks for any web surfing, the more powerful, colour screen of a PDA is well suited. But current cellular networks are designed to transmit voice well, not data.

A range of upgrades will make it possible to access the internet or send data at super-fast speeds - and would have let me send my wife the pictures of her shoes directly from my cell to hers. Another upgrade will let me send a video or audio clip of the shoes.

The first of these is called general packet radio services (GPRS), a super-fast "always-on" connection that MTN is already offering.

Ultimately video conferencing will be possible, so I can show them to her and argue over the price. In the end, I didn't buy the shoes because her reply came too late but the gadget demonstration had the desired effect. In her words: 'You get a full year's worth of brownie points for your innovative use of technology to make your wife happy."

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