WAP
and WML
What are
WAP and WML? If you are not yet involved with this technology,
you can be excused for not being familiar with it. If you are
an HTML author or make your living on the Internet, then now
is the time to learn something about WML and WAP. It will not
be long before they are as familiar to many people as the Internet.
WML stands
for Wireless Markup Language and is used to create the equivalent
of a web page on a Wireless Device such as a Digital Cell Phone.
Where WML is basically equivalent to HTML, WAP, which stands
for Wireless Application Protocol, is roughly equivalent to
HTTP or Hypertext Transfer Protocol.
So what
makes this technology so special?
I have seen
quite a few references to WAP becoming as big or bigger than
the Internet. I see that as something of an oxymoron. For me,
WAP is a natural extension of the Internet that will make the
World Wide Web available for applications and technologies in
places that it is difficult or impossible to access using existing
Internet technology.
The key
to WAP is its portable nature. You don't need a
keyboard, monitor or cable connection. Simply open your cell
phone and dial into the service you want. A miniature web page
will be displayed on the LCD of your Wireless Device. Even laptops
do not provide this level of convenience.
The highly
portable nature of a WAP device is also its biggest limitation.
Unlike a large computer monitor with a fast Internet connection,
a WAP device has a tiny monochrome screen with a relatively
slow digital connection. Those big interactive, animated web
pages will be impossible to display on a WAP device.
What
will WAP devices be used for?
Well, that
is where your imagination could make you very rich if you have
the business savvy to put it together. There are many WAP startup
companies raising a lot of capital right now on little more
than their ideas. Applications for WAP range from Online banking
and Investing, Stock tracking, GPS navigation (where are you
and how do you get home?), shopping, email, etc. Maybe someone
will actually use them for making phone calls.
The fact
is WAP, is currently only at the level of development that the
World Wide Web was seven or eight years ago but it promises
to catch up very fast. Estimates are that WAP use will increase
to 36 million users by 2003.
Where
does that leave the HTML author?
With a lot
of opportunity. WML is similar to HTML in many ways and a good
HTML author will be able to create the equivalent of a Web Page
without too much trouble. That is provided the author fully
appreciates WAP's limitations.
Article
by Steve White of IMSWebTips.com,
Virtual Mechanics offers DHTML tools and information, and also
publishes a web tips ezine with lots of great ideas, snippets
of code, and HTML and DHTML tutorials for any webmaster, regardless
of experience.
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