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Curious About WAP/WML?
By Joe St Sauver (joe@oregon.uoregon.edu)
By now you may have seen advertisements for special cell phones that allow you to access the Internet in addition to making regular cell phone calls. Many of those phones are WAP (wireless access protocol)-enabled devices, and use an integrated microbrowser to display decks of WML (wireless markup language) cards.
Some of you may view the tiny monochrome-only screens, input device limitations, and slow transmission speeds with skepticism, but it's estimated that there will be 100 million WAP-enabled devices in circulation by the end of this year.
If you don't have a WAP/WML-enabled cell phone but would like to try viewing some WAP/WML pages, you can preview them from your regular web browser by going to http://www.wapsilon.com/ and typing in the WAP URLs from there.
If you're on a Windows 95/98/NT PC and would rather have a dedicated WAP browser, you may want to try Slob Trot's WinWAP, instead (http://www.winwap.org). (Note that after a 30-day evaluation period expires, there is a $35.00 fee if you'd like to continue using WinWAP.)
At this time, WAP/WML content is actively being developed by many sites. A nice directory of WAP sites is at http://www.cazac.com/hotlinks/ (unfortunately, this page itself is not accessible via WAP; so for the time being, you'll need to use a conventional browser to see it).
In the meantime, if you want to dive into some WAP pages, here are a few you can try. (Note: These are WAP URLs. Remember, you'll need to view them on a WAP phone or via WinWap or Wapsilon on your browser):
123Jump (financial information)
http://www.123jump.com/wap
BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/mainmenu.wml
Fast WAP Search
http://wap.fast.no
WapWarp
http://www.wapwarp.com
WappyMail
http://www.wappymail.com/wap
As you begin to browse these sites, you'll note that in many cases obvious niche markets for WAP content are still largely unfilled by American sites. Many of the major U.S. corporations haven't yet climbed on board the WAP bandwagon.
In many ways, this is reminiscent of the early days of the World Wide Web. (Attention, budding entrepreneurs: millions of WAP users will soon be looking for your content! Ébut of course be sure to remember not to use your UO account for commercial purposes.)
If you're interested in learning more about WAP/WML, here are some additional resources:
The Independent WAP/WML FAQ
http://wap.colorline.no/wap-faq/
Open Source WAP and SMS gateway
http://www.kannel.org/
Serving WML Files
http://www.wapdesign.org.uk/server.html
Underwhelmed by WAP
http://www.osopinion.com/Opinions/MikeBanahan/MikeBanahan1.html
WAP Forum
http://www.wapforum.org/
WAP Tutorial
http://www.wapdesign.org.uk/tutorial.html
Will WAP Wireless Live Up to Hype?
http://www.pcworld.com/pcwtoday/article/0,1510,17007,00.html
WinWAP Browser (for Windows 95/98/NT)
http://www.slobtrot.com/winwap/index.htm
WML Tutorial
http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/training/WAP/WML.html