Qualcomm offers email via phone

Qualcomm today rolled out Eudora Email by Phone, a new service that allows users to access their email via the telephone.

With the new service, email users can call a toll-free number from any touch-tone telephone, enter an assigned personal identification number, and, through digital voice technology, hear their email messages.

The Eudora Email by Phone service uses text-to-speech technology to convert email messages into digitized speech over a telephone. This service can access any Internet-accessible, POP3 email account as well as popular Web-based email accounts, including Eudora Web-Mail.

"Today's busy, mobile professionals increasingly rely on email as their primary means of communication. Having quick, immediate access to email is essential in order to remain productive and efficient," Randy Salo, director of Eudora Product Line Management for Qualcomm Consumer Products Division, said in a statement. "Sometimes a computer or a computer connection isn't readily available. With Eudora Email by Phone, professionals now have another means of accessing important information while on the road by simply placing a telephone call."

In addition to providing users access to their email, Eudora Email by Phone offers other features such as long distance calling (domestic and international), conference calling, voice mail, and speed dialing, as well as news and information services that can provide users with news headlines, top stories, and weather reports in major cities.

Eudora Email by Phone service is now available in the United States and Canada with toll-free access, and internationally, where standard phone toll charges will apply. All use of the service is billed to the customer's credit card on a monthly, per-use basis.