The idea and development of what Schwartz believes may be the newest breakthrough technology in the world occurred quite by accident during his recent recovery from an operation.

"I originally bought this cell phone so that I could drive by a house and take photos of it to send to my clients," Schwartz said. "Then I was fooling around with it while recovering from an operation and found that the information was boring, with mostly text and few graphics, and it took forever to download. I felt I could do something better."

The result was the first cell site with graphic capabilities that downloads almost instantly. Schwartz discovered the real problem was the file size and the technical aspects of making graphics clear and sharp in a file that could be downloaded faster.

"I came up with a graphically interesting website for cell phones using Wireless Apparatus Protocol, called WAP. WAP on a cell phone is comparable to HTML on a PC. The codes are similar but inherently different. I found a way to make the files download faster and realized I could create a website on a cell phone that would serve as an information source in the real estate industry," Schwartz said.

There are many applications for the new technology in marketing homes. Consumers can access contact information and a photo of the Realtor, check out open houses and see a photo of the house and get a map and directions to the house—all by cell phone. They can also take a virtual tour of the inside of the home.

That kind of instant communication is considered pure genius in the real estate industry, where marketing homes is of key importance. When Schwartz's manager at Coldwell Banker heard about it, he immediately called the president of the company. The rest is history.

Schwartz will have the Coldwell Banker cell site up within the next two weeks at www.cbwap.com, and he has already coined a new copyrighted phrase, "Let Coldwell Banker put your home in everyone's pocket."

"When Neal told me about the technology, I knew we needed to jump on it. This does what the Interned did for consumers and takes it to another level. Cell phones will become as common as laptops and are right there ready to go," said Alan Barbic, assistant manager at Coldwell Banker in Los Gatos.

Schwartz, who has a background in advertising and marketing as well as a degree in photography and film, said he started thinking about how Realtors could use the technology and became extremely excited about all the possibilities.

"A buyer will see a house and want to get a flyer but there won't be any flyers left in the box. There will be a general office number but no way to contact the agent directly," Schwartz said. "Now there will be a WAP code on the for sale sign. The buyer can type in the code and up pops the house with all the information available. The buyer can stand outside and see photos of the inside of the house on his cell phone."

Schwartz said he realized this might be revolutionary when he sat down with a CEO of a large high-tech firm, who told him that what he's done may be the rebirth of Silicon Valley.

"He told me this could commercialize the cell phone browser and what that does for cell phones is comparable to what the World Wide Web did back in 1992," Schwartz said. "The technology was there, but I believe no one had viewed it from a marketing standpoint. You talk about reinventing the wheel—this feels like inventing a new wheel."

Schwartz notes that he is probably one of the first Realtors to sell a home by cell phone after he took a photo of a house and emailed it to one of his clients, who ended up purchasing the home. He believes he will also be the first Realtor to sell a house by cell site. The first listing and open house to be marketed using the technology is a lovely Victorian at 128 Tait Ave. near downtown Los Gatos.

Schwartz believes prices on cell phones will come down in the next three to five years. His technique of producing graphics files that are extremely small will also help keep costs down for phone service. For instance, AT&T charges about $4.95 per month to download about 600 cell cards a month. Thanks to Schwartz's technology, people will be able to download files faster and keep costs down.

When Schwartz and his wife, Donna Dawson-Schwartz, formed the Dawson Realty Group a year ago after she retired as a teacher from Pioneer High School in San Jose, they never dreamed they would be in the midst of making deals and signing disclosures for cell phone technology.

Schwartz's energy and excitement are contagious. "I get a kick out of helping people in a new way," Schwartz said. "I believe everyone is going to have a cell site."