Third, you need support for Hayes-compatible modem commands. In fact, to your Palm device, your cell phone needs to look just like a PalmModem for you to be able to use it to connect to the Internet.

If your phone doesn't meet the three conditions above, you won't be able to use it with your Palm device. In that case, you might want to put aside this article and start looking for a new phone!

Cell phones that work with Palm devices
On Palm's Web site at http://www.palm.com/software/mik/phone.html, you'll find a list of phones that are known to work with Palm devices. This list was actually created for use with the PMIK (Palm Mobile Internet Kit), but you don't actually need the PMIK to use a cell phone with your Palm device, although one good reason to buy the PMIK is if you want to use Web Clipping Applications, also known as PQAs (Palm Query Applications).

Alas, the above-mentioned phone list is far from complete. For example, although it doesn't appear on the PMIK list, my old Samsung SCH-2000 works just fine with my Palm IIIc. It doesn't have a built-in Web browser, but it does support data calls over the Sprint PCS CDMA network, and it responds to Hayes-compatible modem commands.

Getting a data cable
My Samsung SCH-2000 has a data cable interface. In order to connect my phone to my Palm IIIc, I needed to buy a data cable and null-modem adapter. There are multiple sources for these.

If you're a Sprint PCS customer, you can buy the Sprint PCS Wireless Web Connection Kit (at http://www.sprintpcs.com/wireless/wwconnect.html) made for your particular phone model. It will cost you at least $99, and it will include a phone data cable and the null-modem adapter. You'll connect both of these to your cradle cable or a HotSync cable and then to your cell phone. The Wireless Web Connection Kit also contains a CD with software for using your PC with your cell phone.

Syncable Solutions (at http://www.syncablesolutions.com) sells very nice cables for directly connecting a Palm unit to a Motorola CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) phone. This elegant solution allows you to avoid having to use a cradle or HotSync cable, null-modem adapter, and phone data cable all together to connect your phone to your Palm computer. Instead, you end up with a single, short cable. They charge $79.95 for their cables. Unfortunately, I don't own a Motorola phone, so I can't use one. They also sell null-modem adapters.

Another possible source of data cables is your phone manufacturer. Many of them will sell you data cables for the phones they make.

Finally, there are a host of small, specialized cell phone accessory firms on the Web. You can often find phone data cables from them at extremely reasonable prices. I bought mine from one such firm for only $35. These firms tend to come and go rapidly (the one I dealt with doesn't seem to exist anymore), so it's hard for me to recommend any one in particular. I simply suggest you do what I did: use your favorite Web search engine and search for "cell phone data cable" and see what turns up. Of course, "buyer beware" is the watchword when dealing with small, unknown companies.