Mobile commerce Value Chain  

There are seven links in the m-commerce value chain.

  ..At the bottom is transport: the maintenance and operation of the infrastructure that provides for data communication between mobile users and application providers.

  ..The second link consists of basic enabling services, such as server hosting, data backup, and systems integration. Vendors wishing to target wireless customers need these services to make products available via mobile telephones.

  ..Transaction support is the third link of the value chain. Many wireless services will require some form of payment—usually from the user to the service provider to pay for, say, books or CDs—but possibly also in the other direction, for refunds or customer reward schemes. Transaction sup-port provides the mechanisms for assisting those transactions, for security, and for billing users.

  ..The fourth link is presentation services. Providers convert the content of Internet-based applications, which are formatted in a standard known as HTML (HyperText Markup Language), into a standard such as WML (Wireless Markup Language), an HTML subset suitable for the small, low-resolution screens of wireless devices. Content that isn’t already on the Internet can be formatted directly into a wireless standard.

  ..Personalization support is the fifth link of the chain. One of the main value propositions of m-commerce is its ability to personalize applications for individual users. Providers that wish to offer the best m-commerce services need information such as the user’s name, address, location, and billing details (the number of a credit card or a bank account, for example) and even—because the size of the screen affects the kind of information that can be viewed—the type of device used to connect to the service. Companies that can provide such information will form a valuable link.

  ..User applications are the sixth link of the value chain. Possible applications range from those currently available on the wired Internet (including banking, book purchasing, e-mail, news, and travel) to new services designed specifically for mobile consumers (information about where to find the nearest coffee shop, for example, or the automatic notification of nearby friends).

  ..At the highest point in the chain are the content aggregators: businesses that design and operate portals, which provide information in a category or search facilities to help users find their way around the Internet. This function is particularly important for m-commerce because mobile telephones have small screens and limited input mechanisms—notably, no mouse and a non-QWERTY keypad. Users will want portals that simplify the search, avoid throwing up too much information, and require minimum input.

  One another peception of mobile value chain is as follows:

 Technology platform vendors. The technology platform vendors provide operating systems and microbrowsers for mobile devices.

 Infrastructure equipment vendors. The infrastructure equipment vendors supply solutions for mobile data, mobile Internet and thus mobile commerce.

 Application platform vendors. The application platform vendors deliver middleware infrastructure, i.e. WAP gateway (Wireless Application Protocol gateway).  

Application Developers. One is in charge of developing applications for mobile environment.

Content providers. Content providers provide content for mobile environment.

Content aggregators. The content aggregators repackage available data for distribution to wireless device.  

Mobile portals. Mobile portals are formed by aggregating applications (e-mail, calendar, instant messaging, etc.) and content from various providers.

  Interactions among businesses, supply chain partners, consumers, and smart appliances create M-commerce opportunities.

  Practical Steps to M-commerce

If you're hesitant about instituting an m-commerce program at your company, you might want to start out small by first wirelessly enabling your network for users if your network is essentially still wired. Start by implementing an office-wide LAN and cut your teeth on that.

"Most wireless technologies are based on the same simple assumption," says Mittag. "Start with your current enterprise, and once you have experience with PCs, then you can move to smaller sets, like PDAs. Try them out wirelessly, and they'll give you a good feel for what customers will want for m-commerce applications."

Here are a few practical steps you can take now to prepare for M-commerce.

  Example:

Virtual City has recently launched the 1st mobile commerce solutions in East Africa and signed on the first clients who will automate their sales forces with mobile devices exchanging information with head office via the GSM mobile network. Mobile Commerce is a natural extension of the knowledge management solutions Virtual City provides extending the solutions to the points of service.

Virtual City's M-Commerce Solutions enable Information Access, anytime, anywhere using a mobile device. With the passing of each competition-charged day, corporate IT mandate grows clearer. Successful companies know that a well-trained, highly motivated and efficiently connected field force is critical to their continued growth and success.

Virtual City enables organizations to automate functions that will boost will boost sales/field force productivity, ability to deliver extraordinary customer service, increased customer loyalty reduced administrative costs, expedited billing and cash flow, improved inventory management. Mobile Commerce Solutions enable organizations to extend the knowledge systems within the organization to wherever they are needed in the field. The resulting benefits include:

Some of the other uses are:

1.Achieving Greater Business Efficiency

Mobile applications available today can also help companies achieve greater efficiency in carrying out B2B commerce. Using notification and monitoring applications, companies can keep track of the fulfillment side of the B2B equation.

In a speed-conscious, constantly changing world, these technologies offer huge cost savings over the traditional communication method of gathering groups of employees in a room to explain the changes in person. Workers could then wirelessly access specialized sets of instructions on the Internet to guide them step-by-step through the required procedural changes.

2.Tracking Progress

Company-specific software will be developed and used to ensure deliveries are on track and to anticipate and avoid scheduling problems. Even people could be tracked.

3.Coming: Constant Connectivity

The future promise of mobile technologies is even more interesting. With technology currently being developed in companies like British Telecom (BT), the mobile phone will become the engine for "always-on" Internet connections.

EX: An executive who is in critical Web-based negotiations could unhook his cell phone from a terminal in his office in San Jose, check the phone display on the drive home to San Francisco—when it is safe to do so, of course— and on arrival hook the phone back up to a large-screen terminal, without ever having to turn off his broadband flow of time-sensitive, money-making electrons.

4.The B2B Transaction

Still none of these mobile solutions completely addresses the heart of B2B eCommerce—the transaction between two companies.

M-commerce applications for pure B2B transactions are available, though many are still in their infancy. And not surprisingly, emerging applications will be in commodity or near-commodity industries where buyers are rarely sitting in offices hooked up to broadband networks.

Bizbots, for example, is developing a wireless application protocol-enabled Internet agricultural marketplace. Using this mobile technology, a farmer sitting astride his John Deere tractor will be able to make buy and sell decisions in the grain or pork belly markets.

When most business purchasing is done over wireless devices by those with the most knowledge and understanding of the products and services needed at that moment, B2B M-commerce will have reached its potential

Use of M-commerce applications in various industries:

1. Mobile games may do for the wireless Internet what e-mail did for the       wired one.  Mobile gaming is expected to generate significant revenue for the wireless phone industry. Mobile games are the wireless Internet’s killer app, and that 3G handsets with color displays are its killer devices.

 2. Mobile financial services strategies will open a significant channel through which oranisations can add value to service offerings and differentiate from competitors. 

3. One of the major problems with old-fashioned paper coupons is that people forget to bring them. The way out is e-coupening. Short-lived coupons meant to fill seats that will otherwise go unused. But Coupon retrieval is also not as streamlined as it could be. Although the new system may mean no more paper coupons littering up the bottom of a purse, it also means scrolling through messages which are stored in date order on most systems, one at a time, to find the "buy one get one free" offer. "We have no control over how [devices] present the messages that are received,"says  Dusig.

4. Ring tone in the mobile phone : Experts point out that early m-commerce efforts have not been a total bust. several cell phone makers and wireless providers already are making money by selling a variety of customized ring tones. "The most successful m-commerce services to date are downloadable ring tones. "This makes sense because ring tones are digital, not physical goods."

"The ring tone is tied to your phone, so it is logical for the cost to be on your phone bill. "They are delivered via SMS, not the Internet."

5. Travelocity: "You're obviously mobile when you're traveling.

Travelocity alerts customers when a flight is delayed. And it lets them book or change a flight, car or hotel reservation. Few are buying airline tickets: Keying in departures, arrivals and cities can be tough. But a growing number are making simpler rental-car and hotel reservations.

Products, Services Suited for M-Commerce

The criteria for m-commerce services or products

·                                 Limited but precise choice

·                                 Predictable availability

·                                 Does not require lengthy and in-depth decision making (appeal to impulsive buying behavior)

·                                 Convenience

Examples:

·                                 Tickets to popular entertainment events, such as concerts, live theatre, movies, sports events, trade shows, public forums .

·                                 Mircro-transactions: purchasing a fast food items, such as a soda pop from a vending machine;

·                                 Payment of bills, banking, restaurant bill

  M-Commerce Applications

According to Ovum’s research, there is a lot of uncertainty about which mobile commerce applications will be successful and make money. The research/consulting firm classified m-commerce applications into three categories.

  The general m-commerce applications are categorized as transaction management, digital content delivery and telemetry services. The applications can be further subdivided into passive and active m-commerce applications. Active application relates with the applications in which the user has to take the initiative on his wireless device. In contrast, the passive applications themselves get activated towards accomplishing the assigned jobs or facilitate the users to carry forward.

  Active Applications :

Transaction Management

..On-line shopping tailored to mobile phones and PDAs

..on-line catalogs

..shopping carts

..back office functions

..Initiate and pay for purchases and services

..Micro-transactions - subway fees, digital cash

Digital Content Delivery

..Information browsing

..Weather information

..transit schedules

..sport scores

..ticket availability

..market prices

..Downloading entertainment products

..Transferring software, high-resolution images, and full-motion video

..Innovative video applications

     Telemetry Services

..Wide range of new applications

..Transmission of receipt of status, sensing, and measurement information

..Communication with various devices from homes, offices, or in the field

..Activation of remote recording devices or service systems

  Passive Applications :

               This type of applications seems manifold and exciting. Instead of using dedicated cash cards for automatic collection of toll charges, digital cash can be used by integrating cash cards with mobile devices.

         Mobile users can easily pay and record payment of toll, mass-transit, fast-food, and other other transactions .

             Nowadays mobile users can send and receive short text messages up to 160 characters that show up on the user's display screen. As digital convergence becomes more commonplace, all kinds of mail, such as e-mail, fax documents and digitized voice mail, can be received passively. Thus it is felt that in near future there will be many novel services for mobile users for a fixed fee. Further on, users may be tempted for some services free of cost for viewing audio or video advertisement delivered to their wireless devices. Any kind of security breach, illegal intrusion, unusual event or unacceptable condition will trigger automatic notification to users irrespective of location.

             Passive m-commerce telemetry is the foundation of still another form of interactive marketing. Stores will be able to market their products and services by constantly transmitting promotional and inducing messages and doling out something towards getting the attention of both passers-by and remote mobile users.

Some other applications are:

1.Messeging in the wireless village :

The Wireless Village initiative, led by Motorola, Ericsson, and Nokia, could bring the message of peace and harmonious interoperability where no messaging system has gone before.

2.The m-Commerce Lifestyle: Order, Purchase, Reserve Stuff Wirelessly :

Depending on whom you speak to mobile commerce can mean anything from maintaining customer loyalty to offering convenience to conducting a secure transaction to a combination of all three. In essence, it is another channel for merchants to reach their customers.

At present, a host of m-commerce applications are undergoing field trials or implementation and among them is one that makes ordering pizza a breeze, another that aims to eliminate the paper tickets, and yet another that makes reserving a restaurant table effortless.

3.Pizza to Go
Motorola, Inc. along with Domino’s Pizza, and Verizon Wireless have launched a two-month "Pizzacast" trial in Las Vegas. Verizon subscribers can order a meal using their wireless phone. Via Verizon Wireless Mobile Web, they can select their favorite pizza, toppings, side orders, beverages, method of payment, and delivery address.

By participating in the Pizzacast trial, the companies are hoping to learn what is needed to make m-commerce a time-saving and compelling experience for customers, and as such are exploring a portfolio of m-commerce solutions including

·                                 Point-of-sale and point-of-purchase m-commerce applications

·                                 A proprietary database management system

·                                 An order profiling system

4.Two for "Traffic"
The U.K. company mTicket has launched a new service enabling moviegoers or club goers to pay for cinema seats or club passes by credit card using their wireless phone or PC. users can enter the vendor’s site to make their purchases. They will receive a ticket message on their cellphone, which acts as a substitute for the traditional paper ticket. Just show the SMS message at the venue as proof of payment.

According to the company, the mobile ticket delivery service via SMS cuts the cost of printing and issuing paper tickets to a fraction.

5.Table for Two
Customers can check real-time availability and book a table from any mobile location. Reservations are registered with the restaurant and confirmed immediately.

Handheld devices are being used for medial applications in the West. Doctors carry and update patient records on their PDAs, enter clinical information such as test reports, and much more. Another popular application is carrying medical books on PDAs, If your PDA doesn’t have enough memory to hold a complete book, you can carry relevant portions of it. For instance, a doctor can carry link portions of a book to a particular patient’s record.

They’re currently not being sold in India because of the sluggish growth in the PDA market.

  With the introduction of 3G technologies, many M-commerce applications can be launched, some of them are:

  v                            Mobile shopping. With mobile terminal at hand, customer can buy anything at anywhere he wants.

v                            Mobile Ticketing. Customer can purchase or reserve ticket for cinema, train, airplane without going to booking office.

v                            Mobile Reservation. Customer is able to make remote reservations for restaurants and hotels that suit personal taste and relevant criteria.

v                            Mobile Auction. Gaining benefit of mobile terminal, bidder can participate in auction action while he is not in front of it.

v                            Mobile Advertising. Because of personalization feature of mobile telecommunication, it is more than conventional advertisement. It is a customer awareness advertisement.

v                            Mobile Gaming. Customer can play multi-player games through wireless network.

v                            Mobile Video. Customer can select any movie he likes then enjoys it.

v                            Mobile Music. The mobile terminal can play a role as customer’s portable music player.

v                            Mobile Betting. Customer can make a bet on his favorite horse in a horse racing while betting on his favorite football team in a football match while doing other things.

v                            Mobile information provisioning. It can provide customer his interested information like sport news, political news.

             Thus as m-commerce applications and wireless devices are evolving rapidly, one will take forward the other one towards empowering innovation, versatility and power in them. There are a number of business opportunities and grand challenges of bringing forth viable and robust wireless technologies ahead for fully realizing the enormous strength of m-commerce in this Internet era and thereby meeting both the basic requirements and advanced expectations of mobile users and providers. But there are many limitations in the technologies that Once its relevant technologies get matured, widely available and competent, the host of portable devices will be ready to handle the bigger transactional activities not envisioned so far successfully apart from these minor activities.

Mobile Tool Kits

            Tool kits for developing  mobile software are :

Page Gate :

A network paging gateway that allows text messages to be sent to cell phones, pagers and PIMs from any combination of six different  interfaces. Both the commandline/ASCII and the serial interface are frequently used to integrate PageGate in to existing applications.

WebGate :

WebGate is a fast, easy, and  reliable way to stay in contact with your out-of-office personnel.Individual webpages or group webpages and webpages with drop-down lists can also be automatically created and maintained by WebGate. Messages sent from these web pages can be received on cell phones or pagers. Email messages or notification of newly received email can also be sent.

Composer for ring tone

Composer for Ringtone is a tool converts MIDI files, RTTTL or melodies composed by you to mobile telephone ring ,or part of                                              music into mobile telephone ring Itcan exports 2 types of ring tone  formats :key-press sequence ring  tone , RTTTL ring tone . You can   key-in the key-press sequence or send RTTTL ring tone to your phone via SMS(Short Message Service). No cable or infrar interface is needed. .

Logo wizard

Logo Manager allows you to customize your phone with graphics and ring tones. You can even design your own. It includes phonebook management,  and backup and restoration features. The program supports most GSM Nokia phones. LogoWizard is a fully functional graphics and ringtone editing tool for Nokia mobile phones. LogoWizard consists of a logo editor, as well as

all the tools you need to edit your phone's functionality. These tools allow you to: change the phones Welcome message once its switched on, change the network Operator logo, change the Caller group icons which can appear when different people call you, create and send new ringtones and play them back on your PC or phone, capture or take 'snapshots' of images on your Logo Manager for nokia phone design your own graphics for your Nokia. The following types are supported: -

Caller Group Graphics

Operator Logos - Startup

Graphics - Picture messaging

Unlike other tools, LogoManager enables you to upload the graphics directly to your phone without the need for specially enabled SMScentres and without extra messaging costs to the user.

Development aspects

With the new generation of smart cell phones and handheld devices Mobile users are fast becoming a major part of the web scenario, having a mobile website can open your services and products to the millions of mobile users being added to the world wide web everyday this means more and more people can access your services and products irrespective of the way they connect to the internet.

From information about orders, to learning about products and services, to database access, customers are increasingly demanding access to information and services from mobile devices.

v                            PALM Software Development

Palm software can be as functional as desktop applications, they are excellent for mobile users who need to collect data or run customized applications, using new wireless networking technologies these applications can interact with central web or corporate databases.

v                            WAP Applications Development

Wireless Access Protocol or WAP applications can be accessed from hundreds of millions of WAP-enabled mobile phones. These can be simple but powerful applications allowing mobile phone users access to vast databases of information. Some of the most common applications are Order Tracking, Stock Availability, Directory Services, and Accessing Product Catalogs

v                            SMS Applications Development

SMS applications have become very attractive due to simplicity of use and wide acceptance, applications include 2 Way SMS chat, SMS quiz, SMS Voting and SMS Order tracking.

Application Development Strategies & Issues For the Enterprise

The following issues should be addressed while selecting application development tools:

·                                 Application design should be based on the concept of "mobile-aware" nature of user's work profile and business processes. 

·                                 "Client-agent-server" or "thin client-mobile server-enterprise server" architectural paradigm should be seriously considered for mobile applications for the enterprise.

·                                 Security should be addressed in greater detail because wireless networks are more prone to data leakage, theft and fraud than wireline networks.

·                                 In the current environment where the Internet is the focus, mobile applications should also be based on the Internet development tools, especially modern application servers.

You should evaluate pros and cons of Java based independent-platform development versus platform-specific development.

Key Requirements of M-Commerce Systems

v                            Device Independence

To be successful, M-Commerce systems typically need to run on a variety of mobile device platforms. Examples include conventional phones (WAP, SMS), Smart Phones (Running the Java MIDP platform), PDAs (such as the Palm), Communicators (Such as Symbian ìQuartzî and ìCrystalî devices). A browser-based architecture such as WAP might be sufficient for

some m-commerce solutions, but others will require the deployment of a mobile application (for example a trading user interface) onto the mobile device.

v                            Bearer Independence

This also means that different wireless bearers need to be supported: WAP, SMS, GPRS, and possibly UMTS.

v                            Security

Identification, authentication (via the Security Authority), access control, and end-to-end data encryption must be supported for any m-commerce solution to be acceptable.

v                            Reliability

What happens if a device has weak or intermittent network coverage while an m-commerce purchase is performed? Guaranteed, exactly-once executionof m-commerce transaction is another important requirement, especially when stocks or other expensive items are purchased

from a mobile device. This feature is not supported by WAP, typically the deployment of a special piece of software on the mobile device is required. 

v                            Notifications

Another requirement is being able to send notifications to the customer to inform him/her that the merchandise has been shipped, that the supplier is out of stock, or that the credit card could not be charged. Such notifications typically occur after the user has issued a purchase transaction

Steps for M-commerce further development:

Customer education. Because many people in developing countries are not

familiar with ECommerce and so-called M-commerce. Then, it is worth to train the customer ECommerce and M-commerce. Especially, the network operator should focus on the youth and leader of enterprise people think that they do not know computer then they do not have to know ECommerce. This idea is false because ECommerce is commerce in every sense; it just takes advantage of computer network.

Non-uniform subscriber distribution. This is really a big problem because economically we cannot cover 100% area while we want to satisfy advanced features of next generation mobile technologies, which include ubiquity, reachability and localization. One possible solution is to cover area along national high way where thedensity of subscriber is low and cover full area in big cities . Another possible solution is to provide more flexible pricing model which should be location-based or likewise.

Youth. Business model should concentrate on the youth because they are very potential customers of M-commerce.  The youth is very sensitive with advanced technology then they want to own a mobile phone. The more number of subscribers will lead to the more customers of M-commerce.

Nice price rather than quality of service. Because the income in developing countries is low , they are not willing to pay the same amount of money for mobile service as people from developed countries. So, in some sense, service provider can think of nice-price services rather than high-quality (and of course more expensive) services.

2G and 3G migration. It is natural that some customers are not ready to move to 3G services. Also, straight forwarding to 3G may adventurous and expensive. So a 2G and 3G migration should be considered.

Network

A wireless network - this may be either a private network that police agencies and emergency health services use or a public shared network. While wireless network provides true mobility, you may utilize a wireline network for those mobile users who need occasion connection from hotels, motels or airport lounges of airline's regular patrons. Some of these airports are now offering wireless LAN connectivity to wireline backend networks.

Technical Aspects 

Current access technologies transmit at 9.6 to 19.2 Kbps

TDMA - Time Division Multiple Access

CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access

GSM - Global System for Mobile Communication

These speeds are much slower than the dial-up rates of desktop PCs connecting to the Internet.

M-commerce is possible at these rates, but not very attractive for business

By 2002, 3G (third generation) wireless technology with speeds up to 2 Mbps.

How Bluetooth Technology Works

"Connective convenience"

Bluetooth wireless technology is a specification designed to enable wireless communication between small, mobile devices. The inspiration behind this was the elimination of the need for proprietary cables, for device connectivity. So now if you want to communicate between devices

like laptop PC there is no need for cables to transfer data. Expanding that idea to include all the hand held mobile electronic devices is, in a nutshell, the Bluetooth wireless technology vision.

Characteristics of bluetooth technology:

1.Bluetooth is a high-speed, low-power microwave wireless link technology,

2.it is designed to connect phones, laptops, PDAs and other portable equipment together with little or no work by the user.

 3. The technology uses modifications of existing wireless LAN techniques but is most notable for its small size and low cost. The current prototype circuits are contained on a circuit board 0.9cm square, with a much smaller single chip version in development. The cost of the device is expected to fall very fast, from $20 initially to $5 in a year or two.

 4.When one Bluetooth product comes within range of another, (this can be set to between 10cm and 100m) they automatically exchange address and capability details. They can then establish a 1 megabit/s link (up to 2 Mbps in the second generation of the technology) with security and error correction, to use as required. The protocols will handle both voice and data, with a very flexible network topography.

5. Bluetooth can support an asynchronous data channel, up to three simultaneous synchronous voice channels, or a channel, which simultaneously supports asynchronous data and synchronous voice. Each voice channel supports 64 kb/s synchronous (voice) link. The asynchronous channel can support an asymmetric link of maximally 721 kb/s in either direction while permitting 57.6 kb/s in the return direction, or a 432.6 kb/s symmetric link.

Working of Bluetooth Technology:

This technology achieves its goal by embedding tiny, inexpensive, short-range transceivers into the electronic devices that are available today. The radio operates on the globally-available unlicensed radio band, 2.45 GHz (meaning there will be no hindrance for international travelers using Bluetooth-enabled equipment.), and supports data speeds of up to 721 Kbps, as well as three voice channels.

The bluetooth modules can be either built into electronic devices or used as an adaptor. For instance in a PC they can be built in as a PC card or externally attached via the USB port.

Each device has a unique 48-bit address from the IEEE 802 standard. Connections can be point-to-point or multipoint. The maximum range is 10 meters but can be extended to 100 meters by increasing the power.

Bluetooth devices are protected from radio interference by changing their frequencies arbitrarily upto a maximum of 1600 times a second, a technique known as frequency hopping. They also use three different but complimentary error correction schemes. Built-in encryption and verification is provided.

Bluetooth devices are classified according to three different power classes, as shown in the following table.

Advantages of the technology :

 1.Bluetooth devices won't drain precious battery life. The Bluetooth specification targets power consumption of the device from a "hold" mode consuming 30 micro amps to the active transmitting range of 8-30 milliamps (or less than 1/10th of a watt). The radio chip consumers only 0.3mA in standby mode, which is less than 3 % of the power used by a standard mobile phone. The chips also have excellent power-saving features, as they will automatically shift to a low-power mode as soon as traffic volume lessens or stops.

2. Bluetooth radio technology provides a universal bridge to existing data networks, a peripheral interface, and a mechanism to form small private ad hoc groupings of connected devices away from fixed network infrastructures.

3.Designed to operate in a noisy radio frequency environment, the Bluetooth radio uses a fast acknowledgment and frequency hopping scheme to make the link robust.

 Bluetooth radio modules avoid interference from other signals by hopping to a new frequency after transmitting or receiving a packet. Compared with other systems operating in the same frequency band, the Bluetooth radio typically hops faster and uses shorter packets. This makes the Bluetooth radio more robust .

4.Bluetooth guarantees security at the bit level. Authentication is controlled by the user by using a 128 bit key. Radio signals can be coded with 8 bits or anything upto 128 bits. The Bluetooth radio transmissions will conform to the safety standards required by the countries where the technology will be used with respect to the affects of radio transmissions on the human body. The Bluetooth module will not interfere or cause harm to public or private telecommunications network.

The do’s & don’ts for developing bluetooth application:

Dos
DO keep your apps to the point. Remember, Bluetooth apps will probably run on constrained platforms and mobile devices.

DO make usability your main aim. Bluetooth is a complex technology, don't be under any illusions. Any application you write should remove layers of complexity, not add them.

DO use a cross-platform language with excellent original equipment manufacturer (OEM) support - J2ME is aimed at the same devices as Bluetooth. If you want broad appeal, use a broadly recognised standard. (For example, Standard API's for Bluetooth, www.jabwt.com.)

DO use solid practise from mobile programming. A crash on a mobile phone is utterly UN-acceptable, and will make God (and the user) cry. § DO use standards EVERYWHERE, i.e. vCard, XML, http, the more common the better. Like a rarely seen mushroom, a rarely used "standard" is most likely poisonous.

The DON'Ts

DON'T steal battery power from the device, keep to sniff (low-power), hold (very-low power) and park (super-low power) modes as much as possible.

DON'T look for a killer app. Just sit down and code. Remember that a very simple application was the Internet's killer app (email). You don't need mobile Unreal Tournament or a cabaret-synchronisation-manager to make it compelling.

DON'T use cryptic words like "Remote Device" at a UI level. Bluetooth has coded Major\Minor device class names there to help you, which can be obtained with a general inquiry access code (GIAC).

DON'T forget to check out mailing lists for support, there's an abundance of very good information out there...use it and add to it at will.

Division of Bluetooth technology :

1.Bluetooth Baseband Protocol :

The Bluetooth baseband protocol is a combination of circuit and packet switching. Slots can be reserved for synchronous packets. Each packet is transmitted in a different hop frequency. A packet nominally covers a single slot, but can be extended to cover up to five slots. The core provides a

configurable interface to a standard Bluetooth radio module, and has been successfully tested with various third-party radio chipsets for interoperability.

Applications

• Mobile Phone

• Dialup Modems and LAN Access Points

• Hands free Car Gadgets

• MP3 players, Set-Top-Boxes, Cameras, Printers

• Laptops, Desktop PCs, Handheld devices

2. Bluetooth Software Baseband controller

 Software baseband controller is a source code implementation of the

Bluetooth™ baseband functionality. To boost performance, certain portions of the design are implemented as hardware accelerators. These include encryption block, correlation logic and interface to the radio module that are implemented in synthesizable Verilog. The radio module interface readily supports different third party radio chipsets.

Applications

• Diagnostic Equipment and Protocol Analyzers

• Rapid Prototyping

3.Bluetooth Protocol Software Stack and Profiles

Software Stack

Wipro Bluewave™ protocol software stack can be deployed in a broad range of embedded

applications, be it custom Bluetooth™ system design or IC implementation

Bluetooth profiles :

The following is the list of profiles:

GAP, SDAP                   Generic Access Profile, Service Discovery Application Profile

Serial Port Profile            Dial up network Profile, Fax Profile, Headset Profile,LAN Access profile, Car Profiles (Hands free, Phone Access)

OBEX                            Generic Object Exchange Profile, File Transfer Profile, Object Push Profile, Synchronization Profile, Printer Profile

TCS Profile Cordless Telephony Profile, Intercom Profile

Bluetooth with its advantage of wireless communication and its region of operation in the 2.4 GHz ISM band which is globally available and no specific licenses are required will be applied in Varied field such as :

 • Automotive: Hands free kit, Car-kit

• Office use: Laptop and desktop computers, fax machines, wireless LAN access points, printers, wireless modem

• Consumer Devices: MP3 players, gaming machines, mobile phones, Internet appliances, Set-top-boxes, cameras

 Modes of operation

..An interesting aspect of the technology is the instant formation of networks once the bluetooth devices come in range to each other. A piconet is a collection of devices connected via Bluetooth technology in an ad hoc fashion. A Piconet can be a simple connection between two devices or more than two devices.

 ..Multiple independent and non-synchronized piconets can form a scatternet. Any of the devices in a piconet can also be a member of another by means of time multiplexing. i.e a device can be a part of more than one piconet by suitably sharing the time.

 ..The Bluetooth system supports both point-to-point and point-to-multi-point connections. When a device is connected to another device it is a point to point connection. If it is connected to more that one (upto 7 ) it is a point to multipoint connection.

..Several piconets can be established and linked together ad hoc, where each piconet is identified by a different frequency hopping sequence. All users participating on the same piconet are synchronized to this hopping sequence. If a device is connected to more than one piconet it communicates in each piconet using a different hopping sequence. A piconet starts with two connected devices, such as a portable PC and cellular phone, and may grow to eight connected devices. All Bluetooth devices are peer units and have identical implementations.

..W.hen establishing a piconet, one unit will act as a master and the other(s) as slave(s) for the duration of the piconet connection. In a piconet there is a master unit whose clock and hopping sequence are used to synchronize all other devices in the piconet. All the other devices in a piconet that are not the master are slave units.

Building Compelling Services for the Wireless Market Using Java[tm] Technology

Emerging wireless technologies are opening up a brand new market for new styles of applications and services targeted at consumers and enterprises. Java[tm] technology provides a comprehensive foundation that allows next-generation devices to offer new capabilities such as enhanced interactivity, rich user interface, off-line processing, local data storage, and networking. By utilizing these new capabilities, developers and enterprises can create new exciting services in the wireless market.

J2ME Application

• Developed by Ergon (www.ergon.com) foryoutrade.com (Credit  Suisse)

• Uses JBed VM from Esmertec

• Requires persistent data connection (TCP) throughout session

The Java Platform

Java[tm] 2 Standard Edition (J2SE[tm]) targets desktop systems, and Java[tm] 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE[tm]) targets the server backend applications, J2ME is a collection of APIs focusing on consumer and embedded devices, ranging from TV set-top boxes, telematics systems, residential gateways, to mobile phones and PDAs. Within each edition of the Java 2 platform, there are different Java Virtual Machine¹ (JVM) implementations that are optimized for the type of systems they are targeted at.

The following characteristics are shared among the three Java editions:

·                                 Write Once Run Anywhere: because Java technology relies on Java byte-code that is interpreted by a virtual machine, applications written in Java can run on similar types of systems (servers, desktop systems, mobile devices) independent of the underlying operating system and processor. For example, a developer doesn't need to develop and maintain different versions of the same application to run on a Nokia Communicator running the EPOC operating system, a Compaq iPAQ running PocketPC, or even a PDA powered by the Linux operating system. On mobile phones, the variety of processors and operating systems is even more significant, and therefore the wireless community in general is seeking a solution that is platform agnostic, such as WAP or J2ME.

·                                 Security: while on the Internet, people are used to secure data transactions and downloading files or email messages that may contain viruses, Java technology features a robust security model: before any application is executed by the Java virtual machine, a byte-code pre-verifier tests its code integrity. Once an application is running, it cannot access system resources outside of a 'sandbox,' preventing applications from acting as viruses. Finally, Java applications can take advantage of standard data encryption solutions (SSL or Elliptic Curve Libraries) on packet based networks (for example CDPD, Mobitex, GPRS, W-CDMA), providing a robust infrastructure for M-commerce and enterprise application access.

·                                 Rich graphical user interface: you may remember that the first demonstration of Java technology was done using an animated character on a web page. While animated GIF files have made this use of the technology obsolete on desktop systems, mobile devices can benefit from richer GUI APIs that allow for differentiation of services and the development of compelling applications.

·                                 Network awareness: while Java applications can operate in disconnected mode, they are network-aware by default, allowing applications to be dynamically downloaded over a network. Additionally, Java is network-agnostic, in the sense that Java applications can exchange data with a backend server over any network protocol, whether it is TCP/IP, WAP, i-mode, and different bearers, such as GSM, CDMA, TDMA, PHS, CDPD, Mobitex, and so on.

The J2ME Application Cycle

Contrary to the web browser model, which requires continuous connectivity and offers a limited user interface and security experiences, J2ME allows applications to be dynamically downloaded to a mobile device in a secure fashion. J2ME applications can be posted on a Web server, allowing end users to initiate the download of an application they select through a micro browser or other application locator interface. Wireless operators, content providers, and ISVs can also push a set of J2ME applications and manage them remotely. The Java provisioning model puts the responsibility of checking the compatibility of the applications (such as version of the J2ME specification used, memory available on the handset) on the handset itself, allowing the end user to ignore the intricacies associated with typical desktop systems.

Once a J2ME application is deployed on a mobile device, it stays there until the user decides to upgrade or remove it. The application can be operated in disconnected mode (such as standalone game, data entry application) and store data locally, providing a level of convenience that is not available on current browser-based solutions. Because the application resides locally, the user doesn't experience any latency issues, and the application can offer a user interface (drop-down menus, check boxes, animated icons) that is only matched by native C applications. The level of convenience is increased because the user can control when the application initiates a data exchange over the wireless network. This allows for big cost savings on circuit0switched networks, where wireless users are billed per minute, and allows a more efficient exchange of data, since many applications can use a store and forward mechanism to minimize network latency.

J2ME Benefits on Wireless Devices

Let's look at how Java technology fits in the wireless service evolution. Originally, analog technology was sufficient to handle voice services, but the quality of the calls was sketchy and multiple radio networks competed with one another.

Today we take advantage of the second generation of networks and services (2G networks), which use digital networks and web browser technologies. This provides access to data services, but markup languages present some limitations. Markup languages are a step in the right direction, but browser-based applications don't work when out of coverage-require air time for even simple operations (such as entering appointments in browser-based calendar) - offer a limited user interface paradigm (character-based, static black and white images, cumbersome navigation interface).

When Java technology is added to this environment, it brings additional benefits that translate into an enhanced user experience.

Instead of plain text applications and latency associated to a browser-based interface, the user is presented with rich animated graphics, a fast interaction, the capability to use an application off-line, and maybe most interestingly, the capability to dynamically download new applications to the device.

For application developers, this means that you can use your favorite programming language and your favorite development tools, rather than learning a new programming environment. There are over 2.5 million developers who have already developed applications using the Java programming language, primarily on the server side. Once these developers become familiar with the small set of J2ME APIs, it becomes relatively easy to develop small client modules that can exchange data with server applications over the wireless network.

The challenges that remain the same for Java, WAP, or native APIs is that small screens and limited input interfaces require developers to put some effort into the development of the application user interface. In other worlds, small devices force developers to abandon bad or lazy programming techniques.

Bringing the benefits of Java to Bluetooth

(how an API can be useful for easy integration. )

How an end user will use Bluetooth wireless technology varies from person to person. Two people with the same model of a Bluetooth enabled phone might want to use it for different purposes. One person might want to be able to download video games to the phone or use the phone as a TV remote control. The other person might want to use the same model phone to unlock car doors or operate kitchen appliances and garage doors.

One way for both people to achieve their goals is to make it possible to download Bluetooth applications onto your PDAs and cell phones to customize those handheld devices. To make downloading applications a viable possibility you need a standard API that will let programmers write Bluetooth applications that work across many different hardware platforms.

The Bluetooth specification defines the over-the-air behavior to assure compatibility of Bluetooth devices from different vendors. The specification does not standardize a software API to Bluetooth stacks for use by Bluetooth applications. Java Specification Request (JSR) 82, Java APIs for Bluetooth Wireless Technology, helps solve this problem by defining the first standard API for Bluetooth application developers.

JSR-82 goals and design

The goal of the specification was to define an API that could be used by all devices that support the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME).

J2ME is intended for embedded devices, and the expert group felt that these devices would be the first to implement the Bluetooth API. Hence, the API was built using standard J2ME APIs and the Generic Connection Framework defined in J2ME.

Many companies have started to implement the JSR-82 APIs. This is not surprising, as every handset is expected to be Java-enabled in a few years, and many handsets will incorporate Bluetooth technology. Every technology needs a boost, a catalyst to proliferate. We believe the Java APIs for Bluetooth Wireless Technology is a key that will help unlock the potential of Bluetooth wireless technology.

With hundreds of millions of mobile phones in use all over the world at the moment, the market for services targeted at mobile users is mindbogglingly immense. Even simple services find plenty of users, as long as they're useful or fun. Being able to get news, send e-mail or just be entertained wherever you are is extremely attractive to lots of people.

Goals of the Java Bluetooth API Specification

The goal of the Bluetooth API is to allow third party developers to develop and implement applications making use of Bluetooth functionality in java. The specification caters to mobile devices and hence assumes the availability of the CLDC (Connected Limited Device Configuration) layer.

On the device side, it is assumed that the device contains the lower level Bluetooth stack, the J2ME virtual machine with support for the CLDC or CDC layer and minimum memory of 512 KB including ROM/Flash and RAM but excluding space for applications.

The specification assumes that there is a "Qualified" Bluetooth protocol stack with support for Service Discovery Protocol (SDP), RFCOMM (Bluetooth emulation of the serial port) and Logical Link Control And Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP). It also assumes the presence of a Control Panel, discussed later, where settings for Bluetooth can be done.

Scope of the specification

The scope of the java API specification is as follows

The API caters only for data transmission. There is no support for voice or TCS-Binary profiles.

The API supports protocols such as L2CAP (Connection-oriented), RF-COMM, SDP, OBEX.

Profiles supported are Generic Access Profile (GAP), Service Discovery Application Profile (SDAP), Serial Port Profile (SPP) and Generic Object Exchange Profile (GEOP).

Java API Package hierarchy

Based on the scope, the java API for Bluetooth is broken down into two packages - javax.bluetooth and javax.obex. The two packages come under the javax extension package. The javax.bluetooth package contains the core API for Bluetooth implementation while the OBEX functionality is placed in a different package. The two package classification indicates that the API can implement either of the two packages without the need to implement the other.

Both the two package make use of the javax.microedition.io package.

The figure below shows the position of the Bluetooth API in the layer structure of a Bluetooth device.

The orange block shows the underlying operating system and the Bluetooth protocol stack. The CLDC/ KVM runs on the operating system and provides the java API for limited device configuration. The MIDP/ Bluetooth API sit on top of the CLDC configuration. The top layers show a combination of application that can be categorized into the following classes

Application that directly run on the native platform (green block)

Application that run on top of the MIDP/ Bluetooth API and use Custom OEM specific classes (light blue block) and

Applications that run on top of the MIDP/ Bluetooth API as well as the underlying CLDC API (gray block).

The specification promises complete cross platform compatibility for those applications that fall into the third category represented by the gray block.

SMS GATEWAY

SMS Gateway is a 32 Bit Windows utility that enables you to send and receive text and binary "Short Messages" over GSM digital cellular telephone networks. The package consists of both an interactive messaging application (with full source code), and a stand alone messaging gateway to other Windows applications through the use of DDE, OLE, and Command Line Interface. SMS Gateway also supports POP3 for message transmission, and SMTP for message reception, so it may be used in almost any environment without need for custom development. SMS Gateway allows for scalable access to advanced SMS message types such as Ringtones, Graphics, Message Waiting notifications, WAP and many others to handsets that support such messages.

System Requirements:

Sms gateway by gpa technology

Hardware

SMS Gateway requires a connection between the PC and Mobile Terminal. The interfaces generally come in one of two forms, being a PCMCIA Card (PC Card), or a direct Serial Cable.

PC Cards, are credit card size devices designed to be used with portable computers. These cards generally act like modems, they enable you to make and receive data calls (i.e. to the Internet), send and receive faxes, and send and receive Short Messages. If you have a desktop PC, that does not support PC Cards, and you would like to connect a PC Card to it, you can purchase PC Card docking bays, or modulettes that will enable you to use them.

The PC Cards are usually vendor specific, i.e. if you have a Nokia mobile phone, you must use a Nokia Cellular DataCard (and the right one for your model).

Mobile phone manufacturers now generally offer special serial cables that enable you to connect your mobile telephone to your PC through a normal 9 pin serial (COM) port. These cables are usually supplied by the device manufacturer as an after market option, and sold through larger equipment dealers.

Another type of Mobile Terminal, specifically designed to connect to computers, have now been introduced. These devices are "black boxes" that have easy to use connections for Power, Antenna, and a 9 Pin Serial Cable port suitable

for direct connection to a PC "COM" port. These type of devices are well suited to environments where SMS Gateway would be used, as the need to use the terminal as a phone is in this case is not likely to ever be a requirement.

The rest of this page is divided into two main sections, PCMCIA Cards (PC Card) and Serial Cables . With each section then divided into the various manufacturers with devices to offer. 

Please note, this is not a full list of equipment that SMS Gateway supports, just a small selection. SMS Gateway will work with any GSM handset or modem that conforms to the ETSI 07.05 and 03.40 standards, please check you equipments specifications to see if it will work with SMS Gateway.

PC CARD INTERFACES: 

Ericsson:

Compaq:

Modulettes:

SERIAL CABLE INTERFACES: 

Nokia:

Nokia Cellular Data Suite:

Falcom:

Wavecom:

Siemens:

What is GSM?

GSM stands for Global System for Mobiles. This is a word-wide standard for digital cellular telephony, or as most people know them Digital Mobile Telephones. GSM was created by the Europeans, and originally meant "Groupe Special Mobile", but this didn't translate well, so the now common more globally appealing name was adopted. GSM is a published standard by ETSI(European Telecommunications Standards Institute)., and has now enjoys widespread implementation in Europe, Asia, and increasingly America.

What is SMS ?

SMS stands for Short Message Service. It is the ability to send and receive "Short Messages" to and from GSM handsets, or as they are named by ETSI 'Mobile Terminals' (MT).

A "Short Message" can contain up to 160 characters in one message, which is quite allot when you think about it, most messages are simply a call me back, or pick up the parcel from here. The biggest problem with SMS is getting a screen big enough on the mobile phone to be able to read them easily.

SMS is a really nice feature of GSM, increasingly people are hard to get hold of (even with a mobile telephone), being able to give someone a message without actually speaking to them is a great time saver, and results in less mis-understandings, it's kind of like e-mail in your pocket!

For developers, SMS Gateway leverages the common DDE and OLE specifications to allow the transmission and reception of SMS messages directly from any application supporting these standards. Applications supporting DDE & OLE Automation include; Delphi, Paradox, FoxPro, WordPerfect, Excel, Word, Access, Visual Basic, and many more.

SMS Gateway is suitable for dispatch, field access to databases, telemetry, vehicle tracking, and many more such applications. While there are other SMS software packages, generally marketed by the mobile phone manufacturers, these applications are designed purely as personal messaging systems, SMS Gateway is both this, and a powerful tool that enables your existing business systems (Dispatch, Workforce Management, Alarms), to communicate with remote GSM handsets (using built in messaging menus) or other PC's running SMS Gateway GSM stands for Global System for Mobiles. This is a word-wide standard for digital cellular telephony, or as most people know them Digital Mobile Telephones. GSM was created by the Europeans, and originally meant "Groupe Special Mobile", but this didn't translate well, so the now common more globally appealing name was adopted. GSM is a published standard by ETSI(European Telecommunications Standards Institute)., and has now enjoys widespread implementation in Europe, Asia, and increasingly America.

TECHNOLOGIES BEHIND M-COMMERCE

NETWORKS TECHNOLOGIES

 Figure. The wireless operating model

In general all the mobile protocols are very similar to each other, being client-server based, enabling a continuously increasing amount of services to be provided to the users.  At the moment, although very similar to each other, the variety of protocols is introducing some challenges to the adoption of wide spread M-Commerce since it is more difficult to get a certain critical mass of subscribers to use an universal technology to enable frictionless service providing.  The future will show which of the following protocols is going to deliver the strongest commercial value at any point in time and will be supported by the largest number of attractive applications. 

Protocols of m-commerce

GSM

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) operates in the 900 MHz and the 1800 MHz (1900 MHz in the US) frequency band and is the prevailing mobile standard in Europe and most of the Asia-Pacific region. GSM is used by more than 215 million people (October 1999), i.e. representing more than 50% of the world’ s mobile phone subscribers. North America has only about 5 million GSM users in late 1999, while the majority of subscribers are using a variety of technologies for mobile communications, including pagers and a high percentage of analogue devices. Additionally, the North American mobile market development is handicapped by the “Called Party Pays” principle, which has led to a low usage of mobile phones. In Europe, the common GSM standard provides the critical mass to make it economically feasible to develop a large variety of innovative applications and services. Thus, it seems likely that Europe and Asia will be at the forefront of the development in m-commerce and about 2 years ahead of the US.

HSCSD

HSCSD (High Speed Circuit Switched Data) is a circuit switched protocol based on GSM. It is able to transmit data up to 4 times the speed of the typical theoretical wireless transmission rate of 14.4 Kbit/s, i.e. 57.6 Kbit/s, simply by using 4 radio channels simultaneously. The key problem in the emergence of this market is that there is currently only Nokia who can provide PCMCIA modem cards (CardPhone 2.0) for HSCSD clients, which offers a transmission speed of 42.3 Kbit/s downstream and 28.8 Kbit/s upstream.  It is therefore likely that HSCSD is never going to reach widespread popularity except in some regions as means to connect laptops to the Internet.  The situation that the system is facing is typical to all the wireless network options as the technologies develop at such a great speed that few operators wish to invest into a system, which is going to be outperformed by others in a very short period of time.

GPRS

GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) is a packet switched wireless protocol that offers instant access to data networks. It will permit burst transmission speeds of up to 115 Kbit/s (or theoretically even 171 Kbit/s) when it is completely rolled out. The real advantage of GPRS is that it provides an “always on” connection (i.e. instant IP connectivity) between the mobile terminal and the network but the actual capacity would be consumed only when data is actually transmitted.

EDGE

Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) is a higher bandwidth version of GPRS permitting transmission speeds of up to 384 Kbit/s. It is also an evolution of the old GSM standard and will be available in the market for deployment by existing GSM operators during 2002. Deploying EDGE will allow mobile network operators to offer high-speed, mobile multimedia applications. It allows a migration path from GPRS to UMTS, because the modulation changes that will be necessary for UMTS at a later stage will already be implemented. While a number of mobile operators are considering implementing EDGE as an interim data technology between GPRS and UMTS, the success of EDGE depends very much on the timely availability of the products and applications.  The opportunity window for EDGE will be very short, unless major delays occur during UMTS deployment.

3G / UMTS

·                                 2.5G Networks

·                                 ..2.5G will mean the incorporation of packet-data capabilities onto       existing network circuit-switched networks, such as GPRS on GSM

·                                 ..Better suited for Internet applications

·                                 ..Provide higher data speeds (25-35 kbps)

·                                 ..Enable ‘always on’ connectivity

·                                 ..Most operators will be upgrading but service is not expected to 2000

·                                 ..Cost per users/session is expected to be lower

·                                 3G Networks

·                                 ..Support high-speed applications up to 144 kbps while in motion and 2 mbps while stationary

·                                 ..Provides increase in network capacity through new spectrum

·                                 ..Allows subscribers to access their services while roaming

3rd generation (3G) is the generic term for the next big step in mobile technology development.  Actually all the steps between GSM and 3G seem to have less of a role of their own but instead they seem to be facilitating the arrival of the 3g / UMTS.

UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone System) is the third generation mobile phone system that will be commercially available from 2003 in Europe. It has a maximum capacity in metropolitan areas of 384 Kbit/s.

Regardless of the few year delay that has to be waited before the 2 Mbit/s transmit speed the system will offer live video / audio capabilities and will be the first system that will strip the limitations of M-Commerce .  Naturally the size of the devices will still be an issue, but very creative solutions by handset vendors are enabling fitting remarkably large screens to them.  Also, the more “intelligent” the devices become the less problem the size becomes. 

SERVICE TECHNOLOGIES

SMS

Since 1992 Short Message Service (SMS) has provided the ability to send and receive text messages to and from mobile phones. Each message can contain up to 160 alphanumeric characters. After historically finding it tough going in the GSM markets, during the year 1998 SMS started suddenly to explode. In October 1999, there were about 2 billion SMS messages sent per month within the GSM world, doubling the number six months earlier.

About 90% of SMS messages are voice mail notifications or simple person-to-person messaging. The rest is mobile information services, such as news, stock prices, sport, weather, horoscope, jokes etc. Additionally, SMS e-mail notification, SMS chat and downloading of ringing tones has been offered recently in some markets.

Although SMS is the backbone of current Mobile Commerce it has certain limitations to it.  In a way using SMS is like conducting E-commerce by typing in HTML code each time a purchase is made.  Some knowledge is required by the user as specific requests have to be typed in to receive the service.  Using text-based services is made easier by the introduction of the WAP protocol and devices.

USSD-SMS

Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD) is a means of transmitting information via a GSM network. It is to some extent similar to SMS, but in contrast to SMS, which is basically a store and forward service, USSD offers a real-time connection during a session. The direct radio connection stays open until the user or the application disconnects it. A USSD message can have up to 182 characters. It is relevant for real-time applications, such as mobile stock trading, where a confirmed information transmission is needed. USSD is a WAP bearer service.

CELL BROADCAST

Cell broadcast (CB) is a technology that is designed for simultaneous delivery of short messages to multiple mobile users within a specified region or nation-wide. CB is similar to SMS, but it is a one-to-many service rather than a one-to-one or one-to-few. At the moment, only those users that are within the broadcast area when the message is sent can receive the messages. It is a mass distribution media mainly for news and generic information and the user has to turn on the particular channel in order to receive the news.

 Cell broadcast might become a technology to be used in convergent offerings for Internet communities or followers of sticky local ‘passion center’ content such as football, music, or cars. It could also be used to provide a city information service fed by a local newspaper.

SIM APPLICATION TOOLKIT

SIM Application Toolkit (SAT) technology allows network operators to send applications over the air as SMS or as Cell Broadcast message in order to update SIM cards with changed or new services.

Security is a key feature of SIM Toolkit, since data confidentiality and integrity are already included in the standard. Mobile banking has been the trial application with the strongest demand for SAT, but mobile e-mail and mobile information services have been also helping the demand for it. SAT is available now and it enables numerous trial applications today that can be tested for demand and impact in the market. SIM Toolkit helps to create the market, awareness and business models for mobile commerce, but many operators are directly implementing WAP.

WAP

WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) is an open, global standard for mobile solutions, including connecting mobile terminals to the Internet. WAP based technology permits the design of interactive, real-time mobile services for smart-phones or communicators.

WAP is compatible with GSM 900, GSM 1800 and GSM 1900, CDMA and TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) wireless standards as well as the proposed 3G communication systems.

In order for WAP to make an impact on the market, the following three criteria must be met:

1.  The penetration of WAP terminals must be sufficiently high

2.   Relevant WAP applications, which really provide added value should be made available

3.   WAP gateways must be installed at operators or service providers in such a way that users can access WAP based services

WAP based information is also optimized for GPRS, so that the transition will be very smooth to the “always on” mode.  The protocol enables true value adding services to the mobile environment and the big challenge is to utilize this new technology.  So far the system as a whole is suffering somewhat from the technology push effect as the handsets and system are advertised but no one seems to know what it can offer that the plain GSM does not. 

Effect of change in technology on IT Professional:

We've got to sympathize with executives these days. Just when they thought they were getting their arms around eCommerce, someone came along and said things were about to change—again. The new challenge, they were warned, was to figure out what to do about M-commerce.  

Of course, just about everyone is aware of the explosive growth in the use of cell phones and other handheld devices that underpin mobile commerce. But CEOs around the world are right to wonder if there is anything here beyond the hype that promises consumers they can operate vending machines with their cell phones or trade stocks while jogging. They want to know what M-commerce means for their businesses and how urgent it is to embrace this latest technology-driven change.

We believe that mobile commerce is simply the next step- a very big step-toward something even more encompassing: universal, everyday, around-the-clock interconnectivity. The buzz today may be about cell phones and personal digital assistants that can connect to the Internet. In fact, a much more sweeping change is under way-the emergence of a world of seamless, continuous economic and social interaction.

Ready... Or Not? IT Professionals Find Promise and Problems With the Wireless Web

A truly wireless Internet experience that would allow IT professionals to perform the same tasks currently conducted on the wired Internet is yet to come. Among the reasons technology professionals are reluctant to embrace the wireless Internet are costs, nascent technology, and the complexities of the hardware-user interface. Yet IT professionals are buying and plan to buy wireless access devices in anticipation of a more rewarding wireless experience, and are following adoption patterns similar to those seen with wired Internet access.  

Wireless users 

People want wireless, but not to read news headlines on little screens.

People are getting a lot less than they were promised from their wireless services, and they are not happy about it.

They have an experience they are used to with the Internet — with the fast connections and the nice colors — and they expect that that is what they will get on their cell or their Palm, and that is not happening."

Moreover, no one is telling them how to get there. "People are just mystified by the marketing that they see. It's like seeing an ad in a foreign language for a brand you don't know. They feel like they don't have the language and the codes to decipher this marketing. They just don't understand it,the biggest lesson is that the carriers need to do a much better job of educating their consumers about he possibilities of mobile commerce,

“I personally am somewhat of a geek, and it took me a month of having a Verizon WAP phone before I could figure out how to configure it”said John.. They do a terrible job of explaining these things, at the same time that they are promoting the promise of the Web in your pocket,"

That mismatch between the promise and the goods does more than just frustrate consumers. It undermines the possibility for long-term acceptance of mobile commerce.

"I think that if there is a realism about what companies can deliver, people will respond better. If companies continue to over-promise, people will eventually just become completely dissatisfied," said Blinkoff.

"we saw people buying actual little chairs for their cell phones, so that could sit their cell phone in a little recliner on their desk. That suggests that people want to make these devices more human, to make them more of a companion."

"They want to be able to turn on their appliances from their wireless devices. They want to be able to push a button to summon a taxi to their exact location," said Blinkoff.

"They want their wireless device to be a helper a companion," said Carton,

Wireless advertising  

Analysts have said that wireless advertising faces at least one major obstacle. That is: People on the go don't want their important business interrupted by marketing messages. Solution? Interrupt their unimportant business.

Another big concern about wireless advertising has to do with user acceptance — or lack thereof. Analysts and ad execs repeatedly have raised the concern that people just won't tolerate marketing messages cluttering up their personal devices. Advertisers must make sure their message reaches only the target audience of potential consumers.

The key to a successful wireless ad effort is to make the campaign permissions-based and highly personalized.

wireless is a very captive medium. "If your phone rings with an ad, you'll look at it."

 Unlike in the desktop arena, ads in the wireless world "must be unobtrusive, add value to the user and complement what the user is doing at that time, rather than interrupt it."

Adertisers will be able to produce tailor-made campaigns that target users according to where they are, their needs of the moment, and the device they are using." While it may be "technically complex" to produce such advertising, he said, the online format could in the long run offer "a                                 compelling alternative to traditional advertising."

Preventing wireless spam

The Wireless Advertising Association (WAA) based on the premise that wireless push advertising should only be sent to customers who have asked for it. The WAA also declared that wireless spam would serve neither the needs of consumers or the wireless industry, and that "Confirmed Opt-in" should become the de facto standard for wireless push advertising.

Atttracting teenagers towards m-commerce

The "Phone-as-Billboard" Theory of Mobile Marketing Can't manage to squeeze a useful ad down the narrow end of a cell phone and into the ear of teenager? No problem. Turn the phone itself into an ad. Turn teens into walking billboards!

That's pretty much what GitWit has in mind. The firm makes inter-changeable "skins" for cell phones, and spokeswoman Cindy Smith says these snap-on fronts have tremendous potential as a marketing tool.

"Teens are all about relationships, entertainment, and fashion.

So you take a cell phone and slap Brittney Spears' smiling mug on the front. Install her latest single as a ring tone, and have her record the voicemail greeting to welcome all the friends-of-teen who call. "Now you have intersected all those three aspects of teen identity," said Smith.

  Commercial Aspects

Retailers must look beyond transactions. For example, mobile phones reach consumers anywhere. They can cultivate loyalty through personalized alerts, create opportunities for location-based services that advance consumers toward purchases, and build brand awareness through opt-in ads.

Finding Location-Based Ads May Take Some Searching

What truly makes m-commerce different from plain old e-commerce is the ability to sell to users based on their location. Location-based ads have not yet replaced standard banner ads on mobile devices, but they are just over the horizon.

Wireless consumers are in the crosshairs of technology trying to "turn cell phones into sell phones."

Wireless networks look at location-based advertising not only as a way to change their image as just a big fat dumb pipe, but also to recoup the billions they will spend to upgrade their location ability.

Location-based advertising works by sending mobile device users discount coupons or directions to bricks-and-mortar businesses based on their current location.

..For location-based ads to reach you, wireless networks must fine-tune their rather basic location technology. These upgrades are expensive and take time.

..Also, stung by worries the wireless networks will be deluged with spam, companies are requiring users sign-up before getting any of the ads.

          Aside from manually entering your location, advertisers have two ways to contact you:

·                                 1.Through the network

·                                 2.Using the Global-Positioning System (GPS)

Both camps are hard at work modifying present technology not only to save lives but to give direction to mobile commerce.

Network

Networks can use the cell ID assigned to each active cell phone to obtain very rough estimates of users' locations. These estimates are sometimes only accurate to within 30 kilometers.

The major advantage of using network-based location technology is that the system works with all cell phones. Problems include privacy, cost and networks straining under exponential growth.

GPS

The second location technology puts the power in individual handsets using GPS. GPS is the Defense Dept.-funded satellite array now commercially available. This answers many privacy concerns by allowing users to manually disable the ability to locate them. However, the chip needed for this would have to fight for scarce space on handsets that are already crowded with voice-recognition and Internet access functions.

Location Services to Grow Quickly

          Location services will be at the core of m-commerce, causing the location industry to grow quickly in the next few years, a new study says.

          The mobile location services market will be worth $20 billion annually by 2006, according to a new study by consulting company Ovum.

          The growth will come because location services will be a driving force behind mobile e-commerce, according to the study. Besides m-commerce services such as advertising and the ability to purchase items, location services will include services such as providing location-relevant information and redirection of inbound and outbound phone calls.

To maximize revenue and provide differentiation, wireless operators and content providers must personalize data by using location services. However, so far, no dominant location technology has emerged.

"Although no clear-cut business models have emerged, it is still important that companies involved in mobile location services get the ball rolling now," said Jeremy Green, Ovum's principal consultant.

  Estimates:

·                                 The number of mobile phones is expected to surpass landlines by 2004. By 2005, there will probably be more than one billion mobile phone users worldwide. (Sources: Dataquest, Nokia, and Ericsson)

·                                 Globally, 240 million people are predicted to use their phones for wireless data exchange by the end of 2004 - up from 26 million in 1999. (Source: Allied Business Intelligence)

·                                 The global mobile data market is estimated to grow by 75 percent annually and be worth $80 billion by 2005. (Sources: British Telecom and Microsoft)

·                                 The global revenues from wireless Internet portals will rise from US $747 million in 2000 to $42 billion in 2005. (Source: Ovum Research)

·                                 Non-PC devices will account for 40 percent of online time by 2005 vs. 4 percent in 2000. (Source: Ovum Research)

·                                 International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that there will be 40 million U.S. Web subscribers by 2003, more than 11 times the current 3.5 million subscribers.

·                                 Other industry projections estimate as much as a $500 billion U.S. market by 2005 - and twice that in ten years.

Consumer pereption of wireless devices

Survey by pogo.com 

In the context of a survey that, taken as a whole, seems to show a rising willingness among consumers to take their surfing off the desktop and out into the streets.

In what many will see as a heartening statistic, consumers showed a marked interest in potential wireless-Web applications. Some 62 percent anticipate using a wireless device to send and receive email; 45 percent expect to surf the Internet; 23 percent said they expect to play online games and 12 percent anticipate trading stocks on a wireless device.

How much will consumers pay for wireless devices? No big surprises here: 44 percent would be willing to pay $50 to $99, and the number drops at the price climbs. Only two percent would pay $300 or more for a wireless device.

Of those who responded to the survey, 17 percent already own a wireless device. Moreover, 13 percent of consumers under age 25 said they would buy a wireless device within the next year and 15 percent of Internet users age 25 to 34 expect to do likewise.

It's clear that the hardware vendors have some work to do, if they want to ease the way for future m-commerce apps. While 38 percent of wireless-device users said they were able to master their devices easily, fully 23 percent said it took longer than they expected to get the basics down; 12 percent said that use ought to be simpler; and fully 19 percent said that use was so complex, they were not taking full advantage of their devices' capabilities.

How much time do consumers who own a cell phone spend on Internet activities versus phone calls?

65% - spend less than 1/4 of their cell phone time on the Internet.

19% - spend from 1/4 to 1/2 of their cell phonne time on Internet activities.

  How important is a wireless device to owners?

44% of consumers with wireless devices say it is vital for staying in touch, or very useful for staying in touch.

28% say their wireless device is important but prefer their computer.

Security App Aims To Than M-Commerce

Although recent studies forecast a boom in mobile commerce (m-commerce), wireless transactions still represent just a tiny fraction of all online purchases. One key roadblock to an m-commerce surge is mobile security.

But a new security product from Stockholm, Sweden-based Blueice Research promises to protect and store sensitive information for handheld device users, reducing the risk of unauthorized persons viewing private data.

Cross-Platform Security

The Multipass security product, based on open Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) standards, is a cross-platform technology designed to bring encryption to a range of mobile devices and PC platforms, Blueice said. The product aims to let users, corporations and service providers perform secure transactions online.

For example, when Multipass is used to access corporate information online, it makes the encryption functionality available to the most commonly used Web browsers on various devices via plug-in mechanisms. As a result, the digital credentials in the Multipass can be used for user authentication, Blueice said.

One-Time Password

A key feature of the Multipass platform is its one-time password (OTP) functionality, which lets a handheld device user perform a higher level of authentication than a simple password would allow. The product uses a challenge-response mechanism to ensure the authentication.

"Due to their high availability and their small size, mobile devices are prone to being lost or stolen. This places a strong requirement on the protection of sensitive information stored in the device."

It is unlikely that the current level of security of the Internet will be sufficient for m-commerce to experience widespread acceptance. The primary reason for this is that the Internet is not a safe arena in which to do business today. The second reason is more an issue of perception that airwaves are not secure

 The growth of digital commerce, both mobile commerce and on the web, must build a harmonious relationship between seller, buyer, financial institution and service provider. The customer experiences this relationship on a very emotional level: a combination of confidence in all the parties involved in the transaction and in the technology that stands behind it.

There are two schools of thought concerning security for mobile commerce. One is “keep it on the net”, where the operator guarantees that only authorized users have access to sensitive information. The mobile telephone becomes a sort of remote control. The other school of thought, “put it in the telephone”, believes that the best place for security is in the cell phone itself using the full potential of SIM, PIN, etc. The market is working intensively on both approaches, testing, which is most practical and, even more importantly, which will find the strongest emotional acceptance with customers.

Current status of M-COMMERCE IN TODAYS WORLD

Why Consumers Are Not Buying M-Commerce

Despite an onslaught of marketing hype, consumers remain cool to the idea of shopping via their mobile phones and wireless handheld devices. It could be because mobile commerce involves new technologies that bring a host of unique problems yet to be solved. Or, the resistance could be more fundamental.

Industry analysts  says that infrastructure concerns, coupled with more general, consumer adoption issues, have created a nearly insurmountable obstacle to widespread m-commerce -- and that the concept itself is flawed.

"Selling physical goods through this channel makes no sense," . "The phone user interface is ill-suited to the shopping experience, and users are motivated to use their phone by urgency -- which is at odds with having to wait for delivery."  

Billing Problem

Experts also say the wireless industry has yet to resolve billing and pricing policies to cover m-commerce transactions between customers and companies in various calling zones. The resolution, if it ever comes, could add more complexity to phone bills that many already find hard to decipher.

"Customers are averse to uncertainty about their bills, and payment solutions that aggregate charges on phone bills increase this uncertainty.  

Usual Suspects

As with e-commerce, analysts said the slow economy and overarching concerns about privacy and security are impeding m-commerce's progress.

Technology issues -- including incompatible systems and devices -- likely will need to be addressed first before the consumer protection problems are tackled.

 The infrastructure is not yet in place to support wireless commerce, so customers have little to try out, but without some evidence that demand exists, why make the investment?  

Yet a Dream

M-commerce is still a bit of a pipe dream at this point.

Consumers are waiting for more compelling applications and a better user experience,

"I don't want my phone beeping at me all the time,".

Disinterest snags mobile commerce

Experts predicted they would buy books from Amazon while waiting at the doctor's office, trade stocks from the golf course and order CDs of the songs on the radio while stewing in traffic.

Yet books and CDs are not working for mobile commerce because "they're not time-sensitive," says Yankee Group's Adam Zawel. He says carriers should make it easier to buy time-sensitive products on the go, such as stocks, concert tickets and flowers and to get local-store prices for comparison-shopping.

Why not spread

Maybe the "m" in m-commerce should stand for "minor." "Minuscule." "Marginal."

Usually, slow adoption of mobile data and m-commerce is blamed on the lagging rollout of data-capable devices. But that is a cheap excuse.

Wireless might be more a medium of message than of purchase.

Frustration levels among mobile e-commerce users is high, but most still think it will become a major part of their lives in a few years, a new study has found.

"There is a big gap between what the technology can do today and what the consumer has been led to expect," "The good news is that these sources of consumer frustration -- slow transmission speeds, difficult user interfaces and high costs -- are being addressed by operators and equipment manufacturers."

They must do a much better job of providing consistent interfaces that allow users to move seamlessly between mobile applications, the fixed-line Internet and traditional brick and mortar offerings."

Wireless consumers act quite differently than standard online users,  Most wireless users spend less than five minutes using m-commerce applications and only eight percent use m-commerce services for more than an hour a week

One of the biggest reasons consumers failed to adopt m-commerce is because no compelling applications were offered by service providers. 

 "Weather, sports scores, stock quotes -- those are the kinds of things that people aren't going to pay for because anywhere there's a television, you can get them for free,"

Mobile Commerce Must Jump Hurdles To Fulfill Potential

Promising technology needs easy-to-use applications and wide coverage to deliver revenue

No one, including a growing group of wide-eyed business and IT managers, can deny that mobile E-commerce shows potential. But challenges continue to keep the burgeoning market from making it to the big leagues.

The biggest obstacles: painfully slow wireless networks, most of which run at 14.4 Kbps, lack coverage in key areas, and don't have enough capacity to meet demand in others; a lack of standard protocols; and the amount of time, money, and expertise it takes to incorporate wireless technology in a company's IT infrastructure.

 Future of M-commerce (Which hurdles should M-commerce overcome-to grow in future)