Wireless Application Protocol
Summary Description WAP is an acronym that pops up everywhere in IT, but what does it stand for? Newswire's 5 Minute Guides looks at the future of wireless information services.
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Roullas Top10 Simon Vandore

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Editorial InformationArticle Location http://www.newswire.com.au/0006/5mgwap.htm
Article Topic 5 Minute Guides
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Story Group 000611
Post Date 08/06/2000 09:16 AM Status Posted Entered by Simon Vandore on 07/06/2000 03:47 PM


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Introduction
WAP is an acronym that pops up everywhere in IT, but what does it stand for? Newswire's 5 Minute Guides looks at the future of wireless information services.

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What does WAP stand for?
WAP stands for Wireless Application Protocol, a set of standards for transferring Internet-style content to wireless devices. Due to the simplicity and small size of screens on mobile phones and PDAs, using regular HTML and email formatting is not practical and manufacturers initially came up with proprietary methods of solving this problem. But Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson and Unwired Planet formed the WAP Forum in June 1997 to bring conformity to the industry, bringing WAP results in clearer, quicker formatting which is suited to a small screen. The WAP Forum now has over 117 member organisations.
Despite its name, WAP is actually a group of protocols based on Internet standards. The Wireless Application Environment (WAE) is the development standard for WAP applications. Wireless Markup Language (WML) is similar to HTML, but is used to create decks of 'cards' for on-screen display rather than lengthy Web pages. WMLScript is similar to JavaScript, but relies more heavily on preset client-side routines. Wireless Transport Layer (WTP) and Wireless Session Layer handle communication between server and client. WTP's counterpart, Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS) provides a secure means of transferring information across wireless networks.
What does WAP do?
The aim of WAP is to bring information services to wireless devices in a consistent format that makes good use of bandwidth. Mobile phones become email clients, PDAs run information micro-browsers and so on. WAP supports hyperlinks and secure transactions just like the Web, so the combination of small, remote devices and Internet-style communication creates new possibilities for online shopping. For example, air ticket sales, hotel bookings and online auctions can all potentially take place via WAP.
The advantage of sticking to a standard is that such services can be accessed from any wireless device that conforms with WAP. Compare this with SMS (Short Messaging Service) where text can usually only be sent between mobile phones linked to the same network provider.
What WAP services exist today?
WAP phones were initially slow to appear on the Australian market, but two carriers have now taken the plunge. Optus launched a WAP gateway for its mobile phone network in late 1999, providing news, weather, horoscopes, stock quotes and email. Telstra Mobile has one too, and recently added online shopping via wishlist.com.au for a range of 100 gifts. Optus offers shopping via dstore for books, CDs, videos, games and sporting goods.
Internet payment gateway provider Pure Commerce has extended its services to WAP devices, providing instant credit card transactions over wireless devices between online stores and their customers -- the company claims this turns a mobile phone into "a virtual EFTPOS terminal in the palm of your hand".
The WAP Forum predicts there will be more than 100 million compatible devices shipped worldwide by the end of 2000.
Is there anything wrong with WAP?
Critics say WAP is difficult to implement as it doesn't use true Internet standards. Complex applications are hamstrung because current GSM digital mobile phone networks in Australia offer data rates of only 9,600bps or 14.4Kbps, which is very slow compared to copper wire modem speeds of up to 56K.
Only those people with very new phones containing WAP technology are able to access current WAP services and access prices are still very high; for example, browsing dstore via Optus' network costs 20 cents for 30 seconds.
Meanwhile, some companies have produced mini-Web browser applications which live on the SIM cards in mobile phones and compete with WAP browsers. SIM cards are a type of smartcard which can store a number of applications, any of which could also end up being extended via WAP.


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WAP is an acronym that pops up everywhere in IT, but what does it stand for? Newswire's 5 Minute Guides looks at the future of wireless information services.

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5 Minute Guides: WAP

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