Unless you have been stranded on some remote desert island for the past couple of months, you would have noticed a newly hyped acronym going around in the Cell phone industry and Press lately, namely WAP. If, like most people, you still believe this is some sort of commercial vacuum
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is simply an attempt to define the standard for how Internet content is filtered for cell phones. In essence, allowing an individual to access the Internet (web pages) via his/her cellphone. Originally, Motorola, Nokia and Ericsson teamed up with an American software company, called Phone.com in mid 1997 to develop this. Digging deeper into the history of WAP, it transpires that a US network operator, Omnipoint issued a tender in early 1997 for the supply of mobile information services. Nokia responded with Smart Messaging (SMS) and Phone.com responded with HDML , both of which was unacceptable to Omnipoint, owing to the fact that they were both proprietary approaches. These events were the momentum required to force the joint development of WAP with Ericsson and Motorola, joining Nokia/Phone.com to establish the WAP Forum. (www.wapforum.org)
South Africa used the Global System for Mobiles (GSM) which is fully compatible with WAP technology , but in addition to this, WAP will work with all the other legacy cell phone networks in the States and Europe, including CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone System). Wireless companies such as AT&T and Japan`s NTT DoCoMo already support the WAP protocol.
The Wireless Application Protocol Forum today, consist out of more than 200 different member companies, representing more than 100 million cellphone subscribers. According to The Strategis Group in the USA, the number of cellphone users will break the 1 billion mark in 2004, or just about 1 in every 6 people on the planet. Each of these new multimedia phones will enable the user to "push" and "pull" information to and from the Internet, as well as receive and send emails in real time. In essence, WAP is aimed at turning a mass-market cell phone in a network-based smartphone, with its own mini-internet browser. Owing to this, it is envisaged that any mobile phone (from one line displays to a smart phone) will be WAP enabled in the future, allowing users to have access to the Internet from just about anywhere!
For the average man in the street, several key factors needs to be kept in mind, before considering using your cellphone to surf the Net.
For starters, cellphones are limited in their use as a computing devices, with limited memory, processing power and battery life, not to mention a teeny little screen to look at. Even the input device differs from a normal computer, in that keypads and voice are used, as opposed to a keyboard. On the other side of the coin, network service providers such as MTN and Vodacom are constrained by low bandwidth, high latency and in some cases, unpredictable availability and stability. The question thus begs, why would I want to use WAP and for what services?
The profile of a WAP (cell phone) user, differs from the requirements of a desktop or notebook Internet user, in that WAP devices would be used to deliver timely information such as share prices and weather reports and accept transactions or inquiries, while the user is moving around. A good local WAP website, is www.waphome.co.za, providing you with a free personalised WAP Homepage with a number of service offerings and features, including information how to set up your existing WAP cell phone to access the Internet. Vodacom is currently piloting their WAP site, including such diverse services such as news, sport, weather, live share prices and entertainment. Right now, with some local financial companies already hosting WAP enabled websites, you can access the following live from your cell phone via the Internet:
Live Market Information from the JSE (quotes, indices, gainers, losers) & JSE News Headlines
International Market Information
Commodity Prices and Currency Exchange Rates
Currently Nokia, Alcatel, Ericsson, Motorola, Siemens and Samsung provide WAP cellphones in South Africa and just needs to be configured by the user for Internet access. Happy Surfing!
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