Yes, You Can Talk, Too

You stumble across it when you're fiddling with your cell phone. Click, click, click. And then there it is, like the door to a mysterious, unknown land. It may have a name like "Web" or "browser." Maybe, once or twice, you even took a few steps into this foreign territory. But then you got lost or frustrated with how long it took to get anywhere. Or perhaps you became concerned with what you were going to get charged for the Weather Channel's extended forecast for your town. After all, why use your cell phone when you could just look in today's newspaper?

Okay, forget the paper for a moment. Time for a guided tour of the data services you can get on your mobile phone. It's worth a few minutes of effort. Today more than ever, cellular carriers are offering up a variety of useful -- and downright fun -- wireless extras. There are ring tones and mobile games, picture-mail and Web browsing, even television clips and what are known as location services. The latter lets you find things like what street a co-worker is standing on and whether there's a Starbucks (SBUX ) nearby where the two of you can meet.