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The next generation of wireless networks is rolling out at a glacial pace. That is forcing a major shift in strategy from the valley's large community of wireless application developers.
Last year, most wireless application companies worked on sexy and far-out products that would allow users to access graphics-rich Web pages and video. Today, they have gotten the message that the new networks required for these applications are coming along slowly very slowly.
With impatient venture capitalists breathing down their necks, local firms such as Everypath Inc. have shifted gears. Now they want to wring every penny of profit they can out of today's limited networks.
Currently, wireless carriers in the United States use second-generation - so-called 2G - networks that lack fast enough connections to handle the data traffic. Thus, carriers are in midst of slowly upgrading to interim 2.5G and eventually 3G networks that will offer greater capacity to handle voice calls and faster connections. However, 2.5G networks are just being introduced overseas and won't appear in the United States until the end of this year. 3G...