by John Ochwat
07/28/2000
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The good news is that WAP is an open standard. Like HTML, anyone can start using it to develop applications. Even better, since there are at least three handset manufacturers with a lot of pull and dozens of smaller ones, no one company will be able to subvert the standard, like Microsoft and Netscape did with HTML.
The good news is also the bad news. Since there are so many devices, developing applications gets difficult. It may look great on one phone, but not on another. And then there's all the excitement of understanding how a wireless network is different than the Internet. And don't forget: Phone replacement cycles are faster than computers, so development needs to be faster.
The other bad news is you can't stop at WAP. As Gigaweb.com wireless analyst Carl Zetie says, "It's pretty much a given that WAP's not the only game in town. You've got to do more than WAP. Even if you assume it will be the standard -- and that's not a given -- there's VoxML and all kinds of other things that will be used. WML (the wireless mark-up language used with WAP) is not going to be the last word."
Where do you turn for help? Fortunately, Phone.com, Nokia, Motorola, and Ericsson all have WAP developer programs that are eager to help. Not only that, all four offer free software toolkits you can download (and probably will). As Ericsson's Director of Mobile Internet Solutions Tim Connolly notes, "People download everything; then they decide what to do."
To help you with that decision, here's a look at programs from Phone.com, Nokia, Motorola, and Ericsson.
Phone.com
Phone.com's revenue model is based on selling and servicing WAP gateways to telecom carriers. In order to sell them, the company evangelizes the promise of WAP applications to add value. As a part of this, they have been aggressive about building their developer training program to encourage more applications and thus more WAP phone users (and thus more WAP gateways).
Accordingly, the developer program went from 6,500 registered developers in June 1999 to 100,000 in mid-June 2000.
Phone.com's UP.Browser is the de facto standard in the U.S. (U.S. network operators decided to keep things simple and asked Nokia and Ericsson to use the Phone.com browser in the U.S. to simplify development.) One small hitch is that developers need to code for the UP.Browser in HDML (Handheld Markup Language), which is proprietary to Phone.com - and is similar to, but slightly different from, WML, the open standard.
According to Carl Zetie, the difference between the two is an annoyance. "If you design your app correctly, then basically taking care of the differences between the two is just a last twist on the web content," he says.
Today it's a glitch; you've got to deal with a lot of HDML today, but the replacement cycle will mean they all become WML phones.
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Phone.com Conferences: |
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Participating in Wireless Developer 2000
Unwired Universe 2000
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Motorola
Motorola has actually had a developer support program for over two years, "although it may be somewhat of a well-kept secret," says Lee Robinson, manager of Motorola's developer relations group.
For the first six months of its existence, Motorola's program supported only PageWriter, a Motorola device that used ReFlex, a Motorola protocol, and had a keyboard. Robinson admits that at first Motorola didn't put a lot of oomph behind the program, in part because network operators were concerned with how users were going to use it.
Now that network operators are more comfortable with users having devices, Robinson says Motorola is promoting its support program "heavily."
That's not to say the program has been finalized, however. Motorola just sent out a comprehensive survey, asking for developer input, and the results of the survey will shape the developer program.
Some of what's taking shape is apparent on the Web. The company opened an Application Development Center in Sweden this June, and has stated it will open more and will announce those locations in August.
Motorola has also partnered with Cisco to open four "Centres of Excellence" in Stockley Park, England, San Jose, California, Fort Worth, Texas, and Tokyo, Japan.
The Centres will work with operators and Motorola's Internet application centers; they will be outreach points for developers to test on a variety of devices as well as get technical assistance in various forms, consult business development experts, and certify their applications.
Although Robinson says, "Motorola is very supportive of standards, not just WAP but J2ME and Mix," Motorola is not bending over backward to support development on every single device. For example, Motorola's Mobile ADK supports WAP applications and, according to Robinson, "You could use that toolkit to write WAP applications for any WAP device." However, Motorola offers simulators for Motorola phones but not competitors' phones. And as the company comes out with additional phones, it will provide bitmap images and configurations (screen size, buttons, etc.) to add to the simulator. Whether that will be free or not is still under discussion.
For now, the minimal level of support (downloads, knowledge-base articles, and newsgroups) is free. In the future, developers will probably pay for better support. Robinson indicated that Motorola hasn't published the cost structure but said, "At this point, the strategy is unfolding in that direction."
| Motorola Conferences: |
USA Application Developer Conference 2000 European conference Asian conference
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Nokia
At the moment, Nokia's developer program is organized very similarly to its appearance on Nokia's Web page: a bunch of elements, not linked together and hard to track down and make sense of.
Nokia does have a WAP toolkit (free), with device simulators, WML and WMLScript editors, and several sample applications, and a free developer forum.
Nokia sells a WAP Server that runs on Windows NT and Unix platforms as well as two marketing support programs (Nokia OK Logo Program and Nokia Communicator Friendly Site Program).
Nokia also has its Artus Developer Program, which allegedly offers a forum with Nokia product and technology info, developer support, and co-marketing. However, according to a company spokesperson, the program is presently run out of Finland and is "not a formal program, but a preliminary piece."
A more formal program is in development, the spokesperson says, which "will be an umbrella program with three levels, and fees."
Nokia does offer a three-day course on WAP Server Application Development (course fee: $1,800 US), which covers Java servlet development, the use of servlets in the Nokia WAP Server environment, and Nokia WAP Server-specific programming interfaces and their use.
| Nokia Conferences: |
Nokia WAP Developer Conference for Germany
Nokia Mobile Internet Conference |
Ericsson
Ericsson's value proposition (warning! marketing term!) for developers is based on the fact that Ericsson's position is unique in the wireless market. While Phone.com is after the gateway, and Motorola and Nokia are the big device companies, Ericsson owns cell sites, base stations, and billing systems -- as well as a good piece of the device market. Add to that the company's R&D efforts (they invented Bluetooth, for example), and you have what Tim Connolly, Director of Mobile Internet Solutions, calls "the whole enchilada."
Since the term "WAP developer" includes everyone from Chase Manhattan Bank to two guys in a garage, Ericsson segments the field. Joining the developer program and getting a set of tools (for example, WAPIDE SDK, an integrated development environment with a WAP browser, an application designer, and a server toolset) is free. The program, which is six months old, has 60,000 registered users.
Ericsson offers a range of technical training courses, from a Web-based WAP overview course (about $80 US) to in-house training for developers at its Competence Centers to a five-day certification program. The Competence Centers are all over the world: Australia, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, England, and the U.S.
The U.S. center, Cyberlab in New York City, is a tangible example of what Ericsson offers its bigger customers (and an example of the alliance-making that is so common in the wireless industry). Ericsson founded Cyberlab two years ago along with the New York City Investment Fund and other local companies to bring more tech business to New York. Cyberlab has three functions: the first is to run Ericsson's North American developer program; the second is to be an incubation program for mobile Internet startups by offering housing, parenting, and business support; the third is to run Ericsson's mobile Internet applications and customer services.
Since Ericsson believes wireless development is far more inclusive and complicated than Web development -- and will involve more technologies than just WAP -- it also offers help in Bluetooth, wireless packet data networks (CDPD, CPRS, Edge, etc.), mobile positioning, and EPOC/Symbian.
The company has business relationships with 400 network operators and 140 companies. "We're so overwhelmed by companies that we can't come close to supporting all of them directly," says Ericsson's Connolly -- though he adds that that's better than being underwhelmed.
| Ericsson Conferences: |
Ericsson will have its first North American Internet Developer Conference at the Wireless Developer Conference |
John Ochwat is a former editor for Upside magazine and contributes to numerous tech publications.
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