AT&T yesterday launched two new gadgets which it claims will make it the fastest dial-up service in Bermuda.

They offer new cards which can be plugged into a laptop allowing access to the Internet without the use a land line.

The new modem cards and a new mobile telephone which beams an infra red signal to a laptop, were launched at a press conference with the head of the Bermuda company claiming that the service comes through three times faster than through local land lines.

?We are happy to say we are the fastest on the Island,? said Jonathan Koshar, general manager of AT&T Wireless Bermuda. ?And its a smokin? price.?

The two new products will give AT&T a total of three wireless products which can be used to access the Internet and use e-mail without the use of a land line or the need for power cables.

The third ? the Blackberry ? was launched earlier this year.

The hand-held wireless device, which is part mobile phone and part computer with a miniature keyboard, has quickly become the gadget of choice with the Island?s executives.

And now AT&T hopes that the new modem card and Nokia 6200 Edge phone will have the same kind of success in Bermuda.

Each of the new devices costs about $350, and Mr. Koshar said that AT&T kept its mark up on products very low, making its money instead through packages and airtime.

The new products can also be used in the United States and Puerto Rico, and AT&T hopes to roll out services in both Canada and the Caribbean as well as other parts of the world soon.

The systems are called the ?EDGE?, which stands, rather grandly, for enhanced data rates for global evolution, and were unveiled in Bermuda and in Las Vegas at the same time yesterday.

The system offers speeds at between 100 and 130 kbps, which is about three times faster than a dial up service using a normal telephone line. Cable transfers data at 500 kbps, while ISDN lines sends data at 60 kbps.

On a trial yesterday in Hamilton, data was sent at between 167 kbps and 174 kbps using the modem card and between 104 and 105 kbps for the Nokia infrared phone.

?Edge speeds will make it simpler for people to be as productive when they are on the go as they are in their home or office,? said John Zeglis, chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T Wireless in a press release yesterday.

The modem card is called a Sony-Ericsson GC-82 and produces download connections of between 100 and 130 kbps with speed bursts of up to 200 kbps, said the company in its information about the gadgets.

?Today?s customers demand secure mobile access to e-mail, attachments, corporate networks, Intranets, business applications and the Internet and need a reliable means to download attachments and large data files while on the go,? said Mr. Koshar.

?Only Edge provides them with the speed and coverage they demand.

?To succeed in a fast-paced world, employees must be able to access information quickly that is critical to performing their jobs and serving customers.?

Mr. Koshar said that other mobile telephone manufactures apart from Nokia are working on devices that will allow them to connect wirelessly to laptops.