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WAP WAP WAP WAP WAP - there I just wanted to say thatWhat is WAP?

You might have known that WAP has something to do with getting the Internet on your mobile phone. This article explains WAP and what you need to do to make your web site ready for it.

Definition: Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is an open, global specification which gives mobile users with wireless devices the opportunity to  access and interact with information and services. 

The protocol is developed by WAP Forum http://www.wapforum.org an organization of some of the most powerful Internet and telecom companies.

Will people prefer WAP to surfing the net on a computer?

You won't get access to the WAP services before you buy a WAP phone. They are an International technology that is not too expensive, and the telecom experts predict that WAP phones will be better, faster and cheaper very soon. (I guess they would though:) 

Limitations

  • Mobile Phone calls in Australia are still very expensive
  • Mobile phones are small and the display area is limited, the WAP screen has to be small.  
  • Sending pictures will be problematic with WAP
  • The keypad on a mobile is smaller and sending email will be a drag
  • The WAP phones will need to carry more memory
  • Data transfer over the existing mobile phone network in Oz is about 9600 kbps

Who will use them?

  • Trading stocks will be big business on WAP
  • People on the bus that do not have a book :)

I am a techno junkie where can I get a WAP enabled mobile?
An Introduction to WML (Wireless Markup Language) and how to set your existing site up for WAP

WAP uses a browser interface just like we are familar with, but obviously with far less room and resolution. Yes - there are WAP browsers

On the existing Internet, a web page sits on a server and users access it via the server that they are connected with. With WAP there is another device involved called a WAP gateway. This basically sits between the server and the mobile phone allowing the two devices to communicate.

So to set your web site up for WAP the first step is to talk to your web site host to arrange this to be set up. (They should know all about it:)

Writing WML is similar to writing HTML (more fun right?) except the code is far more strict and there is little room for error. This is because the WAP Gateway converts your script into a "compressed" format to send to the WAP browser.

A nice resource for learning WML can be found at www.wap.netSo they look like this.................... 

Images for WAP are saved in a special WAP format .WBMP 

By far the best solution to converting an existing web site to a WAP enabled one is to look at XML (Yeah I know, another one). XML is fast becoming the common way of storing content for the web. With XML as a base, it is fairly easy to reformat content using XSL, or eXtensible Stylesheet Language. The XSL transformation is done on the server side, and the user will never know that the content was stored in XML format and not in plain HTML, WML or any other format for that matter.

Want to know more about XML???

Better SUBSCRIBE because coming soon in an article on XML