Ericsson introduces first WAP solutions for Service and Content Providers
Ericsson announces its first two products supporting WAP (the Wireless
Application Protocol). Shown for the first time today are a WAP Gateway and a
WAP Service Developers' Kit for Service and Content Providers, which allow the
development of massmarket access to Internet services from small-screen mobile
phones.
Demonstrated at the GSM Asia-Pacific Congress in Singapore, these Ericsson
solutions will help create applications that provide users of mobile phones
and other small-screen handheld terminals with direct access to Internet
services without a laptop PC.
At present, if mobile phone users want to access on-line services they usually
have to connect a laptop computer or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) to their
mobile phone. With WAP-enabled terminals, many datacom applications will be
accessible from the terminal itself, using a built-in browser.
Ericsson's WAP Gateway for GSM operators is a network node providing direct
connection between the mobile network and dedicated Internet application
servers. It acts as a "client" of these servers, and can be accessed through
USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Services Data), SMS or any IP bearer, for
example circuit-switched datacoms or GPRS (General Packet Radio Services). The
WAP Gateway will be further field trialled later this year and will be
commercially available from mid-1999.
Ericsson's WAP Service Developers' Kit is a suite of design tools for
Providers wanting to develop WAP-compatible on-line services, for instance in
e-commerce, messaging, info provisioning or gaming. Services can also be
combined with telephony to offer users sophisticated call handling and
control, for instance immediate callback to a voice-mail.
The kit contains tools enabling design, simulation and customization of WAP
applications. The terminal's graphical user interface can be simulated,
applications developed without the need for a detailed knowledge of the
protocol's Wireless Markup Language (WML) or existing HTML-based applications
can be made WAP-compatible. The Service Developers' Kit will be commercially
available from November 1998.
Ericsson's 100,000 employees are active in more than 130 countries. Their
combined expertise in fixed and mobile networks, mobile phones and infocom
systems makes Ericsson a world-leading supplier in telecommunications.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Per Ocklind, WAP Co-ordinator
Ericsson Wireless Internet
Phone: +46 8 404 9571, +46 705 927 567
E-mail: per.ocklind@ewi.ericsson.se
Johan Wiklund, Press Relations Manager
Ericsson Business Area Mobile Systems
Phone: +46 70 560 0134; E-mail: johan.wiklund@era.ericsson.se
Wireless Application Protocol
WAP works across many different wireless network technologies, since the
protocol is a global, open standard intended to encourage the rapid
development of advanced, differentiated wireless services by operators and
content providers. This will attract new subscribers and open up the mass-
market for wireless datacom services. The WAP Forum, with Ericsson as one of
the four founding members, now has more than 60 member companies.
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