Emerging services

Using the Web on most cell phones has tended to be a balky, awkward experience, reminiscent of what the Internet was like on computers in dial-up 1995. So a handful of startups are trying to make it much cooler.

One such company, Bling Software Inc., uses a programming technique called Ajax to deliver Web-like modules of content to any phone with a browser, on any wireless carrier's network. Ajax speeds up Web applications by summoning snippets of data as needed instead of pulling entire Web pages over and over.

Bling will make it possible for Bonds fans to download a Bonds module to cell phones, which will show highlight clips and a running tally of his career homer total as he pursues Hank Aaron's all-time record -- assuming, of course, that he stays healthy and out of legal trouble as federal investigators probe the use of steroids in sports.