Web Phone: Sizzle But No Steak
by Chris Oakes
Wired News
3:00 a.m. 25.Feb.99.PST
The arrival this week of the Internet-enhanced
cell phone represents an important
communications milestone. But the future of
wireless information depends on what users are
able to do with the device.
The absence of compelling content may be a
serious obstacle to the wide adoption of smart
phones and alternative handheld devices.
Nokia has introduced the Nokia 7110, a cell
phone that can access and display
Internet-based information on the same screen it
uses for voice functions. The new phone is
targeted at the European market, but US
models are expected by the end of the year.
"The technology is good, the wireless part is
good. The problem is you can't go to just any
Web site -- and that decreases the value," said
Andrew Seybold, editor of wireless industry
newsletter Outlook.
"It's about enabling your phone to be a powerful
productivity tool," said Ben Linder, vice president
of communications for Unwired Planet. "They
are meant to give you access to important
information that has value when you're mobile."
Unwired Planet is a founding member of the
Wireless Access Protocol Forum, an industry
consortium working to establish the industry
protocol (called WAP) for Internet-enhanced cell
phones.
"Trading stocks, electronic commerce -- those
are all services that will emerge, but it will be a
distinct segment of the Internet," Linder said.
The WAP vision encompasses cell phone
access to news, weather reports, stock prices,
flight schedules or wireless banking, plus
access to corporate and ISP email.
But such services don't yet exist.
Linder said Nextel and Motorola have already
announced plans to roll out WAP-compatible
systems later this year that will provide access
to Netscape's Netcenter content. Phones from
dozens of other manufacturers are also
expected by the end of 1999.
On the content side, just two companies were
on hand for Nokia's announcement on Tuesday.
CNN and Reuters said they plan to deliver
WAP-specific news and information services.
To Seybold, that does not exactly add up to
momentum. "I don't think there's a whole lot of
value to news, weather, and sports. News,
weather, and sports are free."
Many sites that built content for an ill-fated
predecessor to the WAP technology will easily
be able to convert their content for the new
phones, Linder said. "Thirty or so existing [but
unannounced] sites are getting ready for this."
In addition to founding member Nokia, the WAP
forum's 91 member companies include Nortel,
Bell Atlantic, Motorola, Sony, and Qualcomm.
Handset manufacturers representing over 75
percent of the world market have committed to
shipping WAP-enabled devices, according to the
forum.
The WAP technology has a history dating back
to 1997, with the launch of the "handheld device
markup language."
Dubbed HDML, the spec was meant to serve as
a counterpart to HTML and bring Web content to
constrained devices and their small screens.
But the need to develop content and a lack of
phones with big enough displays helped quash
HDML.
Advocates like Linder say the later-generation
technology will fare better, especially now that
more phones have displays.
Seybold sees the form-factor problem as going
beyond screen-size. The wireless industry, he
says, has been struggling to find the right form
factor to add wireless information to voice, and
the cell phone is not it.
He sees a better future for a diversity of form
factors, the coming wireless PalmPilot foremost
among them.
On its surface, the Nokia 7110 looks to be a
Palm VII killer, also due later this year. The
Palm VII is positioned to provide wireless
access to information, such as flight schedules
and news headlines, and to be a means of
conducting online transactions, such as
movie-ticket purchases or online stock trades.
"The Palm platform does not have nearly the
penetration that mobile phones do," Linder said.
"Over 200 million phones will be sold this year...
Fifty percent of the population of industrialized
countries will carry wireless phones. The
number is forecast to reach a billion by year
2003."
Bringing Internet capabilities to a commodity
device is a much different prospect than a
wireless PalmPilot. Phones with data are a
low-cost addition to an already-inexpensive
consumer product. The Palm VII, meanwhile, is
expected to cost nearly US$800.
"Palm will appeal to those who are data-centric
and feel the need to go to any Web site in the
world," said Linder.
That's the key difference, said Palm Computing
spokeswoman Elizabeth Cardinale. "Having
[two-way information] features -- and working
with everything out there -- is a different thing."
Early signs show the PalmPilot is drawing much
more enthusiasm in the way of content
providers. Twenty-two major Web sites have
announced plans to provide Palm VII
compatibility out of the box, including ABC
News, ESPN, The Wall Street Journal, USA
Today, ETrade, Visa, and Mastercard.
What's more, there is no need for new content
compatible with the format. A content provider
needs only to build a small, downloadable
"query application" for the Palm VII to make
standard Web content available to the
PalmPilot. Users with HTML knowledge will be
able to write query applications for sites that
don't provide them, if they choose.
At least on paper, Seybold sees greater
potential for the Palm VII. "If the Pilot can pick
from the Web's diversity of sites and not lose
users in a sea of information, then the Palm VII
will continue to draw users."
Linder is not concerned. "I fully expect the
portals to get into this business very quickly. I
expect you'll see quite a few dozen of the major
sites starting to support WAP content."
wired.com:80/news/news/technology/story/18120.html
|
