Bookshop browsers who go home to check the prices on Amazon before committing themselves can now save a journey: the internet retailer's UK website will be available on mobile phones from today.
The biggest name in online shopping said yesterday it was launching what it claimed was the first European service that will let customers complete a transaction from their handset without making a voice call.
Owners of Nokia or Motorola mobile internet phones will be able to access Amazon.co.uk anywhere and buy books or CDs by typing in a user name and password. Calls will be charged at data rates, which Amazon said are lower than voice calls.
Although only a handful of gadget lovers are surfing the mobile internet, research quoted by Amazon forecasts 48m people worldwide will own suitable phones by 2002.
