Web Access With Fewer Hassles

Surfing the web on a mobile device is a pain. No matter how "always-on" the GPRS or CDMA network is supposed to be, the connection always seems to be in constant flux (something we've discussed before). Now, however, a researcher at IBM thinks he's come up with a potential solution. The system tries to predict which links you'll click on next and starts downloading the material in the background. This way, when you click, even if the network connection has dropped, you can still access the data. Even if the connection remains on, it should make the surfing experience seem much faster. Of course, my first thought on hearing this was that anyone on a "per-byte" pricing model plan should scream bloody murder if this plan is ever implemented. While it may make surfing faster, it will also use up a lot more bandwidth - much of which the user will never actually need.