It's not commonly known, but you can use your Windows Mobile phone as a wireless modem to connect to the Internet. I first saw this documented on Omar Shahine's blog in early May. We use the Samsung Blackjack here at Vertigo, but the process should be the same for any recent Windows Mobile smartphone.

All you need is the following:

• Windows Mobile 5.0 or 6.0 phone
• USB cable or Bluetooth
• ActiveSync (Windows XP) or Windows Mobile Device Center (Windows Vista)

Here's how to set it up:

1. Launch Applications\File Explorer
2. Navigate to the \Windows folder on your phone
3. Scroll down to "Internet Sharing"
4. Launch "Internet Sharing"
5. Select "PC connection" type (I usually do USB cable)
6. Press the "Connect" button

And that's all there is to it. You can see screenshots of the process at Jason Langridge's blog. Unfortunately, the Internet Sharing shortcut is rather hard to find. You can move it to the Start Menu using your PC, though:

1. Connect the phone to your PC
2. Use Windows Explorer to browse your Smartphone file system
3. In the folder options, turn off "Hide protected operating system files" and select "Show hidden files and folders"
4. Navigate to the \Windows folder on your phone
5. Copy the "Internet Sharing" shortcut to your PC desktop
6. Navigate to the \Windows\Start Menu\ folder on your phone
7. Copy the "Internet Sharing" shortcut to the \Windows\Start Menu\ folder on your phone

Once you do this, the Internet Sharing app will show up on the Start Menu alongside all your other applications.

One warning: the phone does charge over USB—albeit slowly. But it barely charges at all when you're using the Internet Sharing functionality. So be sure to click "Disconnect" when you're done with internet sharing so the phone can charge!