>>Where did all this WAP talk come from?

   Currently, the number of mobile phone users in the world is exploding. Globally, mobile phone users outnumber desktop PCs. Worldwide, there are about 380 million mobile phone users, compared to 200 million PC. By 2003, mobile phone users are expected to reach at least one billion, or one out of every six people on the planet. Mobile phone users have a huge user base, and mobile telephony already has a gigantic platform for communication -- and this platform is growing every day.

Now, imagine the emergence of a new technology -- one that enables all these mobile phone users to access the Internet. A mobile internet. With a thriving mobile internet, m-commerce would not be far behind.

The mobile internet exists today. It is made possible by a new technology that links wireless devices to the Internet. This technology is WAP.

>>What exactly is this WAP thing anyway?

WAP stands for the Wireless Application Protocol (by the way, most people pronounce it Whap, like "I'm going to "whap' you upside the head, boy!"). Essentially, WAP is the technology that makes it possible to link wireless devices (such as mobile phones) to the Internet by translating internet information so it can be displayed on the display screen of a mobile telephone or other portable device.

>>How exactly do mobile phones access the Internet?

Think about how the Internet currently works. In layman's terms, the Internet utilizes two types of computers -- servers and clients. Servers are the computers that host the pages that we view. The clients are our PCs, or the computers that we view these pages from.

WAP technology works much in the same way. The difference is that, instead of accessing the Internet from our PCs, we are using mobile phones. The mobile phones become our clients. Servers are still hosting the pages that we view.

There's a trick to all this, though. In order to connect mobile networks to the Internet, a WAP Gateway must exist. In addition, the mobile phone we are using as our client must be WAP-enabled, and the website one is viewing from the Internet must be in a WAP-format.

>>What is a WAP Gateway?

A WAP Gateway is an intermediary between the Internet and the mobile network. It converts our "WAP' request into a "Web' request when we send information from a mobile phone to the Internet. On the flip side, a WAP Gateway also converts a "Web' to a "WAP' request when sending information from the Internet back to a mobile phone.

>>What do you mean the mobile phone must be WAP-enabled?

Mobile phones that are "WAP-enabled' means that only mobile phones that have been built with WAP technology built into them will be able to access the Internet. Many mobile phone manufactures such as Ericcson, Motorola, and Nokia are already offering WAP-enabled phones. These WAP-enabled mobile phones do not vary significantly from conventional mobiles. The most notable physical difference is a larger screen that allows for easier use of the internet.

Chris Tull

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