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Gold/Mining/Energy : Infowave Wireless Messaging IW:TSE -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David Patrick O'Connor who wrote (1441)	3/6/2000 11:19:00 PM
From: axial	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1690

David - Just doing a little sleuthing here - wirelessdevnet.com A First Look At Microsoft Mobile Explorer by Bryan Morgan The Microsoft Mobile Explorer wireless communication platform includes a dual-mode (WAP and HTML), operating system-independent microbrowser to give users unparalleled access to both WAP and HTML Web sites via their mobile phone. Microsoft Mobile Explorer is an extensible and flexible platform that is a key component of Microsoft's end-to-end wireless strategy to provide mobile Internet solutions that utilize technologies such as Microsoft Exchange Server, the BackOffice(R) Server and MSN(TM) Mobile Services. The product represents Microsoft's initial foray into the wireless market and several licensees have already been announced, including Sony. Mobile Explorer is interesting in that, unlike other microbrowsers from WAP Forum members (such as Phone.com), it supports both WAP and HTML. This allows existing interfaces to be ported very quickly without requiring markup to be rewritten using WAP. In addition, no additional services are required to interface the Mobile Explorer product to back-end servers. One can envision a day in the near future where Web servers will come prepackaged with WAP support as well as standard HTTP support. The Netscape/Sun combo iPlanet has already announced wireless support in their products although Microsoft hasn't announced plans to enter the wireless server market...yet. To provide some initial details on the Mobile Explorer communication platform, we discussed Microsoft's plans with Perry Lee, Product Manager with the Mobile Devices Division at Microsoft. WirelessDevNet: With the announcement of the Mobile Explorer and subsequent partnering agreement with Ericsson (and perhaps other companies), what is Microsoft's current position on WAP? There have been references to a future WAP-enabled Mobile Explorer. Any time frame on that release? Lee: Microsoft is a member of the WAP Forum and is working on WAP-related technologies. We have announced that Microsoft Mobile Explorer for feature phones will support both Internet standard HTML/HTTP and WAP 1.1. We should see the Microsoft Mobile Explorer feature phones incorporating this dual-mode microbrowser that supports both HTML and WML later this year. WirelessDevNet: Technologies such as WAP and the Palm.net service make use of a "gateway" beten the handheld device and the back-end network (for security, bearer independence, and data compression). Could you briefly explain the architecture used by Mobile IE applications? The standard IE browser obviously requires a TCP/IP connection however this environment is not necessarily available to a wide range of handheld communications devices. Lee: Mobile Explorer will support standard TCP/IP and UDP network transport protocols. In the case of TCP/IP the software uses HTTP to connect directly to web servers, such as Internet Information Server (IIS) or Apache, and download HTML. Although a proxy server is not required it can be used in this enviroment just as it is used today in the wired world. We have also fully implemented the WAP protocol stack and application enviroment into Mobile Explorer for feature phones, so as per the specification, we will be able to connect to a WAP gateways from different vendors, including Ericsson, and download WML content using WAPs WTP/WDP protocols. WirelessDevNet: Please describe the security features built into Mobile Explorer (encryption/authentication/etc.) Lee: Microsoft takes security seriously and we regard it as a key requirement for mobile devices. We plan to support WTLS security as per the WAP specifications, as well as the standard Internet security protocol - Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), in future releases. In addition to providing support for the security protocols we will support the standard Public Key Infrastructure and work with vendors to provide trust based authentication, signing using encryption routines like - RSA, ECC, etc. in the future. WirelessDevNet: As the Mobile Explorer browser clearly competes with other handheld browser products from companies such as Phone.com, how does Microsoft differentiate the Mobile Explorer product from these competitors? What features or capabilities are inherent in the Mobile IE product that would convince developers to build Mobile Explorer handheld-accessible sites? Lee: Mobile Explorer for feature phones will include the first and only browser for mobile devices that will provide support for both Internet standard HTTP/HTML and WAP. In addition to this we are working with manufacturers such as Ericsson and network operators such as British Telecom to define specific features and user scenarios that we will deliver that will further value to our customers. We believe that Mobile Explorer is a platform that will enable Microsoft and its partners to corporate and consumer content and services to users in a very rich manner. Access to corporate data such Microsoft Exchange email, contacts, and calendar via services Wireless Knowledge Revolv, British Telecom's Nomad is already in trials with our software. In addition, consumers will benefit from using our software to access consumer services such as MSN Mobile to access MSN Hotmail, MSN MoneyCentral and Expedia. We are looking at secure e-commerce, banking, location based services as key areas where we will work with our partners to innovate on this platform and deliver increasing value to our customers. WirelessDevNet: What are the hardware requirements for Mobile Explorer? Lee: For the dual mode microbrowser supporting both HTML and WML, RAM < 100K, ROM < 350K WirelessDevNet: Does the release of a WAP-enabled Mobile Explorer imply further WAP-related enhancements to Microsoft server tools? For instance, can we expect to see IIS acting as a WAP gateway for telecomms in the future? Lee: I can't comment specifically on IIS. But I can say in general that at Microsoft we definitely listen to our customers -- and if customers begin demanding increased support for certain technologies like WAP, that we will evaluate them and do our best to meet their needs. WirelessDevNet: Are there any plans to release a client development toolkit (a la the Nokia WAP Toolkit) for HTML and WML development for the Feature Phone Solution? Lee: Microsoft already offers a suite of tools to enable developers to create content for the web. We are currently evaulating the best way to enhance those products, along with providing the right mix of documentation and support to provide developers the best toolset for Microsoft Mobile Explorer phones. Microsoft Mobile Explorer Component Features Windows CE Microsoft?s real-time operating system, specially modified for use in mobile phones Dual-mode microbrowser Capable of reading HTML and WML content, with a design path to future XML-compliant languages SIM Application Toolkit support Supports existing and future applications created with SIM Toolkit, a key element for global system for mobile communication (GSM) network operators and GSM terminal manufacturers Virtual machine Enables phones to run applications written using Java or Visual Basic, essential for downloaded Internet-based applications Telephony APIs Supports manufacturer and carrier-developed applications that require telephony APIs, including WAP APIs, for roaming Security End-to-end security for transmission of content, e-commerce and applications to the phone; support for WAP?s WTLS security protocol Location-based services Supports services tailored to the end user?s physical location at the time of use Personal information manager Calendar, contacts and related services application Synchronization Synchronization of user information (PIM, preferences, e-mail, etc.) through the wireless network with applications contained on corporate or Internet servers User interface Support for key user interface technologies and third-party plug-ins, such as Tegic T9 intelligent keypad input and voice input Server-side application provisioning and device management Adds the ability to download applications created with SIM Toolkit and applications created for the framework of the phone itself; server-side device management critical for corporate enterprises Additional information on Mobile Explorer can be found at microsoft.com.