Back when the economy was roaring, software developers and content producers for mobile devices saw a future filled with dollar signs. They envisioned phones equipped with GPS technology, and users embracing a number of m-commerce concepts. They saw a day, for example, when you might be passing a Starbuck's and a coupon for a tall latté would be beamed into your Palm. If you bit, the phone carrier, Starbuck's and maybe the guy who devised the coupon would all get a cut. And you'd get the latté.

Think of it as a slow-drip process.

But along with the downturn in the economy came new realities. Companies that once were willing to put money into business models that wouldn't emerge for two or three years are no longer in position to wait.

They want and need a workable model now. The only problem is, nobody has quite figured out what that model might be.

Some mobile advertising and transactions exist today, but there is very little activity in the United States.

Nevertheless, mobile content providers see tremendous growth in their future. Ovum, a research firm, expects mobile advertising to be a $16 billion industry by 2005.

But what about now? Mobile providers understand they can't wait. So figuring out how to make money now will be the main topic of discussion at a two-day conference, beginning Wednesday.

MforMobile, a British mobile commerce analyst firm, is hosting its first conference in the United States. The company says U.S. companies could use some tips and contacts to stay alive in this business.

"Without content there is unlikely to be much commerce, but in the same vein content on mobiles is most often aimed at promoting commerce," said Jonathan Gardner, who helped coordinate the event. "With the downturn in the content market, however, the mobile industry is feeling the effects of a lack of money. Because of that, they are turning to more lucrative areas to make money as soon as possible.

"One of these areas is business use, and so M2001 USA aims to pick up on that trend ... and answer the question, 'How can we make money now, by looking to providing services and content for businesses?'"

Gardner admitted that unlike Europe and Asia, the United States will have to settle on one standard and convince long-time desktop computer owners to use their phones other than to make calls, in order for mobile commerce to take off.

In a perfect world, though, he sees ways in which WASPs (wireless access service providers) and content providers would make money: charging a subscription fee for content, for example, or striking deals with carriers that charge users for the time they spend browsing certain content. Or the placement of location-based advertisements, of course.

Location-based services, or being able to take Web content anywhere in your pocket, provides the industry with its clearest advantage over deskbound computers.

"Telematics has to be the main application of wireless technology in the States ... because of the number of cars you have and the lack of mobile phones in comparison to Europe," Gardner said. "As for m-commerce, true buying and selling on phones is a year or more away."

Companies banking on mobile devices weren't discouraged by Gardner's scenario. If anything, they have already begun back-peddling on past predictions.

Patrice Peyret, CEO of MobileWay, doesn't see people browsing on their phones and then punching the cumbersome numbers keypad to make a purchase. He predicts the phone will be used like an "m-wallet," where a store could scan the phone like a credit card since it would include his credit card number.

"Mobile commerce, which is fairly over-hyped now, will happen in a slightly different way than people expect," he said.

The main reason Americans probably won't make purchases on their phones is that the content they find there is easily obtained elsewhere. They're also not paying for popular applications on the Internet like MP3 files.

"One thing people say your phone can be used for is (buying) pizza when you're lost," said Arnaud Saffari, vice president and co-founder of ArrayComm. "These are applications you get for free on the Internet. There's no real notion how this will make money for wireless operators."