The way in which mobile wireless devices are used differs dramatically from the way we use PCs. On a PC we may spend hours constantly connected to the Web hunting for information at work or playing complex, immersive games at home. On a wireless device, we tend to be away from home and "online" for relatively brief and unpredictable periods of time.

More of this Feature • Part 1: Introduction to WAP • Part 2: WAP and WML    Join the Discussion "How long will it be before mobile wireless networks with WML-based content offer something really interesting to the general public? One year? Five years? Never??" AB_COMPNETWK     Related Resources • Wireless Networking Directory    Elsewhere on the Web • WAP Forum Home Page

The wireless industry hopes that WAP devices will become popular for ecommerce applications like online banking in the not-so-distant future. In the short term, it is more likely that useful WAP applications will simply extend the functions of telephone and allow us to answer a phone message with an email, for example. The early WAP applications have featured news feeds, stock quotes, and weather forecasts -- hardly compelling content. Significant backlash against the hype and optimism surrounding WAP has certianly occured as a result of the uncertainly about its future.

Google and WAP Gateways

The popular search engine Google claims that fewer than one percent of Web sites include WML published-content today. Nevertheless, Google offers a slimmed-down version of its engine and an index of “WAP only” sites, and it also implements a service that translates pages from HTML to WML on request.

So-called WAP gateways like Google's are currently a fashionable way to provide content on wireless networks. A WAP browser sends requests to a WAP gateway that in turn forwards the request to a true Web server. The WAP gateway generates WML based on the HTML pages delivered from the Web server. Then, the gateway sends decks back to the browser.

The Long-Term Future of WAP

WAP today is tied to the Web mindset in many people's minds. These people see WAP as just a technology that gives mobile devices access to the Net directly or through gateways. They find it confusing that so many new network protocols, similar but different from the Web protocols, have been developed. However, it is possible that WAP will enable a new and completely different kind of content network in the more distant future.

Conclusion

In responding to the backlash against WAP, advocates are quick to point out that WAP technology exists today in a very early, primitive form compared to how it will evolve.

WAP defines an alternative to the Web for content delivery networks. The WAP model was optimized for the following constraints, that are very different from the constraints found on today's Web:

• Wireless devices like cell phones and pagers have relatively small displays. Some displays support graphics but some only support text.
• Wireless devices usually have no mouse and a limited keyboard; keyboards are often used one-handed.
• Wireless devices contain relatively little memory and processing power.
• Wireless networks tend to have intermittent network connectivity -- dropping connections due to temporary signal loss, for example.
• Wireless networks ofen feature limited bandwidth (9600 bps or less) and long latencies (delays between requests and replies).
• Wireless networks may or may not support IP.

As wireless devices grow in power, it is possible that someday the WAP and Web models will merge into a single standard. It is also likely the models will diverge, as the way in which we use small mobile network devices will probably always be specialized. Because WAP is based on a layered design, it should be more easily adapted to future needs -- whatever they may be.

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