At CeBIT this week, new services look to make mobile phones even more indispensable.

People can send each other cash, interact with MTV, flirt on a big screen or pay for a cab ride with the push of a few buttons. During the technology trade show, Singapore's Iteru.net demonstrated a communications system that enables people to send messages to a variety of devices from their phones. Iteru.net can translate any kind of message --SMS, WAP, ICQ, e-mail, or fax -- between users to simplify getting hold of one another. The services works with any existing account -- users do not have to change providers. People choose the communications services to make available through a single Iteru.net account. If you want to contact someone, pick his or her name and type of message, and Iteru.net handles the rest. SMS messages can be sent over e-mail, or people using ICQ on their computers can send a quick message to a phone. Iteru.net founder Dennis Goh said the company works alongside phone providers, and does not compete with them. The service is free to individuals. Iteru.net licenses the technology to corporations to unify communications, but the company has had the biggest success so far applying it to youth entertainment. In Nov. 2000, MTV Asia launched the interactive daily TV show U-pop which posts messages sent by SMS or WAP phones. Goh said that rather then waiting for more expensive digital TV that provides two-way communications, it's much more economical to have people use their mobile phones. Iteru.net got its biggest publicity boost during a New Year's event in Singapore where 80,000 people could see messages posted by phone on two 30-foot high screens that were attached to downtown office buildings. Goh said his company also has phone-based services for dance clubs for ordering and paying for drinks, posting messages to a large screen and interacting with the Web. Startup Paybox debuted a service at CeBIT that enables people to send money from their mobile phone to other phones or the Internet. And unlike services such as PayPal that require taking money from a credit card into a special online account, Paybox, transfers cash directly from one bank account to another. To send money, a Paybox user calls a toll-free number, and gives the recipient's mobile phone number. The sender gives the amount and enters a 4-digit pin number to complete the transaction. If the receiver has a Paybox ID, then the money shows up on in their account about 2 days later. Paybox, which is based in Frankfurt, Germany, works a variety of commercial transactions including e-commerce, bill paying, shopping in stores and even paying for cabs. For online or retail transactions, people enter their Paybox number, and the service automatically calls them to confirm the transaction. People answer the call, enter a PIN number and the payment will go through. Paybox founder Mathias Entenmann said the company has signed up 4,000 cabs in Germany, has 200,000 customers, and is used by hundreds of Websites. "It's the broadest way that exists today for cash-less transactions," he said. Paybox can send 5 currencies to banks in Austria, Sweden, Spain and starting soon in England. The company gets revenue by charging a 3 percent transaction fee to retailers, similar to credit card company rates. Paybox accounts are currently free for users, but there will soon be a $5 per year signup fee, Entenmann said. The company will be instituting transaction charges of somewhere between 20 cents and 1 dollar. Last year, Deutsche Bank, the largest lender in Germany, acquired 50 percent of the company, so Entenmann is confident that it will be around for sometime.