Palm reading made easy

Mobile phones are getting ever more complex but the one thing they haven't done well so far is to access the internet. 
 
This isn't surprising as most web pages are designed for computer screens at least 800 pixels wide and many mobile phones have only 128 pixels. There are only a handful of browsers for computers that designers need to tailor their pages for, but there are over 10,000 different varieties of mobile phones and handheld computers. 
 
Designing for these small devices is complex, but one Bath graduate, Stuart Scott, has a solution. He has automated the process so that web editors can enter their data simply on a normal web browser, and send the information to his company, 
Intohand, which turns it into coding that all mobiles and other small devices can process properly. 
 
There are 500 million personal computers in the world but four times as many mobile phones, so the market is huge. If mobile phones can easily access the internet and GPS satellite capability, they can be used in innumerable ways, including giving users a real-time guide to the latest bargains in the shops, as well as a tracking device for finding their way there. 
 
Intohand was set up in 2006 by Stuart, who has worked in semiconductors and also for Orange. He has invested £75,000 of his own money to get a team of software writers to develop the system and expects worldwide demand. Customers include Excite Japan Co Ltd, a leading internet service provider. 
 
Stuart is based at the University of Bath's Innovation Centre, and he said this had iven him not only office facilities but also "a network of interesting people to meet, some of whom are also invaluable business contacts."