Internet form factors

One of the things that I`ve been getting quite excited about during the last few months has been the increasing stability and availability of different form factors. For those of you who don`t know this term: form factor refers to making computing platforms available on different kinds of hardware - moving away from the traditional desktop or laptop PC, to handheld PCs, palm-top PCs, in-dash car computers, mobile phone screens and the like.

One of the key issues around different, portable form factors is how they will connect to each other.

Many people still treat this as future technology, but my Casio E-11 palm-top PC running Windows CE already has a nifty feature built in that brings the future home: in its Pocket Streets mapping application, there is a menu entry that says "Send Address to Auto PC". At first, I couldn`t figure out what that meant (it was also greyed out on the menu), but of course the idea is that if you`ve found your destination address on the map in your palm-top PC, you could "beam" it across to your in-dash Auto PC, which would then presumably read the instructions to you over your car`s stereo system. Nifty. And very convincing - sadly, I don`t actually own an Auto PC. But that`s just a question of time.

One of the key issues around different, portable form factors is how they will connect to each other. Right now connectivity in most devices is confined to infrared or simple serial cable - using a simple serial protocol and whatever application layer networking the manufacturers care to implement. This means that a Windows CE device won`t talk very well to a PalmOS machine - they see each other`s infrared ports but fail to exchange data; at least that`s what happened when a Pilot-using friend and I tried to exchange virtual business cards. I`m sure that with a bit of tweaking and downloading the right software, this could be made to work eventually.

But it serves to highlight a fundamental issue: in the world of mobile computing platforms, there are precious few standards that have universal buy-in from OEMs. Palm/3Com are working on a new version of their palm-top computer that will have network connectivity built in. Of course, this will only be available in selected cities in North America and won`t be much good for us South Africans. Most devices that are currently available in the market can establish an Internet connection for simple Web browsing and e-mail, as well as general synchronisation with a desktop PC, using an add-on modem. Most of these are currently analogue modems, with a few venturing into the cellular/mobile phone arena.

Which brings me to the next topic: the fact that mobile protocols aren`t the same the world over is actually starting to have a real effect on the proliferation of computing form factors. While most of Europe as well as SA and the Middle East are using the GSM cellular protocol, the North Americans - now well on their way to joining the world of digital mobile telephony - are using mostly PCS or other standards. And while PCS, as I understand it, has some fundamental compatibilities with GSM, they aren`t the same (there are dual system, dual frequency phones, but they are very expensive at this point).

The Internet-connected Palm Pilot, as I understand it, won`t be using either of those fundamental network protocols, but 3Com will be rolling out its own wireless Internet protocol standard, trying, I would imagine, to leverage off its current high market share in palm-top devices.

There are moves afoot to rectify this situation. A consortium of mobile device manufacturers and OEMs is working on a standard specification for wireless access to mobile computing devices called WAP (wireless access protocol). Recognising the fundamental need for a unifying protocol, similar to what IP did for the Internet in the first place, these good folks are working on a specification that will enable mobile devices to talk to each other and the Internet as such, in most places in the world. This can only be a good thing.

Right now, there are severe limitations, even in GSM. GSM basically has two ways in which wireless devices can connect to anything. Using a GSM data modem or adapter, you can connect your laptop or PDA to an ISP using the slim 9600bps that the network provides - it`s just enough for e-mail, but Web browsing isn`t a winning proposition at that speed. I understand from people who work at the two South African mobile networks that the speed issue is being looked into - technically, it`s apparently possible to make higher speeds available to the end-user. It`s just a question of time.

The other way to use a data service on the current GSM spec is SMS (short messaging service). This works well, uses spare/idle bandwidth and is in daily use everywhere - every time your cellphone beeps at you to tell you that you have a new voicemail message, it`s using SMS. SMS has one serious, fundamental limitation, however: it`s basically one-way, or more accurately off-line. A message is sent and then the next transfer takes place. There is also a character limitation in SMS (160 characters, if I`m not mistaken). So SMS is good to send little text message to your friends, but Web browsing using SMS isn`t a very good proposition right now.

While the WAP consortium was initially developing a non-open-standard approach to making information available on wireless devices called WML (wireless mark-up language), it recently begun to work more closely with the World Wide Web Consortium to bring its vision closer in line with an XML-based approach to making information available across all mobile computing and telephony devices. This means that anything from e-mail and Web pages as well as commerce applications will eventually be available natively on mobile devices of any kind, provided the OEM manufacturers and network providers use the WAP standard when it is published.

Personally, I like the idea of a "Webtop" instead of a desktop. In the world of personal computing, we`re rapidly moving to a ubiquitous desktop - wherever you log into the network, your PC`s desktop will be available to you, including all your documents, shortcuts, Web favourites... in short, everything you need to be a productive, well-informed individual. However, the same paradigm will soon start to carry over into the world of wireless, any place, any time computing. Perhaps this won`t be rolled out in the same time frame as the ubiquitous desktop, but it`s coming.

The example of the maps and the Auto PC that I gave above is only one instance of many to come. You could be in your car and receive your e-mail - not, of course, by fumbling around with a screen-based device and endangering traffic, but by listening to it over your car`s speakers. With voice recognition technology, you will be able to answer mail using your voice, just like a cellular car kit.

Sound good? It sounds great to me. Personally, I can`t wait for this to become a daily reality. Technology should be all about empowering people to live and work better, to be more productive in a non-intrusive way.