Why WAP?

IntraWeb can now create both wapplications and weblications with its support of WAP in version 7.0.

Isn't WAP dead? Or at least dying?

WAP when originally introduced enjoyed a flurry of hype, but little of the hype was realized. Since that time many people have assumed WAP is a dead and dying protocol. While the hype may have died down, WAP is still alive and poised for greater acceptance in the near future.

What is WAP 1?

WAP 1 consists of the WAP protocol (transport) and WML (Wireless markup language) for the document format. Many new phones on the market today still only support WAP 1, as well as most of the existing phones already in use.

What is WAP 2?

WAP 1 had some limitations and faults, but much of that has been addressed in WAP 2. However WAP 2 is only supported by newer, higher end phones.

WAP 2 consists of the WAP protocol (improved from WAP 1). Instead of WML however, WAP 2 uses XHTML MP (XHTML mobile profile). XHTML MP is a subset of XHTML, which is the successor to HTML 4.0.

Lack of Development Tools

Few tools support WAP on the developer level, so many WAP applications simply never get developed. With the introduction of WAP support in IntraWeb this barrier has now been overcome.

Don't newer phones support HTML?

In general no. What they support is XHTML MP. If the interpretation is loose enough this often allows phones to render some HTML 3.2 pages. Some high end phones such as the Sony Ericsson P800 can even interpret quite a bit of HTML 4.0 using Opera. However these phones are in the minority, and even in those cases XHTML MP is preferred.

Bandwidth

HTML pages are not designed for small screens, or for size. While advanced phones can view a site like CNN, even with pictures off it requires several hundred kilobytes of transfers. Mobile users either pay by the minute, or by the byte. Because of this size is extremely important. WAP provides for a smaller size, is designed for smaller screens, and provides compression. These combine to provide a much better interface, a faster response, and lower costs through lower bandwidth consumption.

Won't GPRS overtake WAP?

No. GPRS is "an Internet connection" for mobile phones. WAP can be used over GPRS as well. While GRPS also allows normal web access, it is merely a transport protocol and does nothing to address small screens, or size of the data.

GPRS can also be expensive. Some example GPRS pricing per megabyte in USD:

• Russia (Megafon, St Petersburg): $0.50 day, $0.10 night
• Romania (Orange): $1.00 to $2.00 depending on volume.
• United Kingdom: Average - $3.00
• Germany: Average - $5.00
• Cyprus (Cyta): $13.00 first MB (per month), $4.75 each additional

GRPS traffic is measured as a sum of both incoming and outgoing data. If the average web page is like CNN, and many are, the cost per click can be from $0.12 to $3.25 using GPRS.

Cheaper

Most mobile service providers price WAP separately from GPRS. Because WAP users typically do not download large audio or video files, WAP is often priced cheaper or in some cases unlimited plans are offered.

Widespread

Nearly all phones support WAP, especially those on the GSM standard which is the most widespread mobile phone protocol worldwide.

Coverage

GRPS is only available in some major metropolitan areas and on higher end phones. GPRS is typically not available when roaming, and requires reconfiguration of the connection for each network or even city that it is used in.

WAP on the other hand is nearly universal even in rural areas and requires less reconfiguration. WAP is often preconfigured by the service provider through information stored on the SIM chip.

Even as GRPS becomes cheaper and more widespread, it will only strengthen the position of XHTML MP for mobile phones.

Small Screens

Mobile phones have small screens. While bigger screens and even color are becoming more common, these larger screens are still very small by computer standards and viewing standard HTML pages produces poor results. WAP is designed to allow the developer to better adapt and fit into small screens.

Limited Keyboards

Most mobile phones are limited to numeric input. For text input they need to resort to multiple key presses which is very tedious. WAP provides for input on limited keyboards.

Industry Support

WAP enjoys continued and widespread industry support from all mobile phone manufacturers.

Summary

WAP is better suited for a variety of reasons for mobile phones. While HTML can be used, it is not well suited and has many disadvantages. WAP 2 is based around XHTML which is the coming successor to HTML 4.0. These factors combined with phones with larger and color screens will increase the usage of WAP. For more information on how WAP will work in IntraWeb 7, please see the Wireless Application Overview for IntraWeb 7.