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 "Catch The Wave, Dude!"
If you spend any time at all building in WAP, you’ll find Openwave at the center of your work. These folks really stay on top of the WAP community, building new software, offering up-to-the-minute SDKs, and they stay focused on industry standards. Their latest creation? The Openwave Mobile Browser with a color GUI (graphical user interface) that even allows for pen and voice input.
Openwave’s new Mobile Browser!
Afterall, life isn’t monochromatic!
Previously, we touched on the Openwave Developer’s area. Here is where you find answers and support to technical issues concerning WAP. For example, one challenge you may already be experiencing is how do you keep up with all the new WAP devices and services that carriers are sending out to market? The list of details seems endless, but Openwave has resources available to help you sort through it all, and find ways to deploy your WAP applications. Check out their list of phone references and you’ll find gadgets from companies you’ve probably never even heard of (unless you’re in the Telco industry)! Everything from Alcatel to Samsung is listed, and which phone(s) you choose to develop for, will be a matter of preference and requirements.
Another helpful area is the "Choosing a Markup Language" page. Believe it or not, knowing the browser type/version that you are programming for can make a difference in the version of WML you’re coding. Openwave makes it easier to decide if your UP.Browser 4.x will read WML 1.1 and the like.
 COOL KROW CLUE
If you haven’t already done so, it might be a good idea to sign up for the Openwave Developer Newsletter. It’s mighty convenient to have the latest WAP news come right to your desktop, when you find demand for your WAP services have increased your workload! Think about it. You’re deep into a project, and so….when was the last time you got to go out and surf? It’s so much easier to have the "good" stuff come to you!
 "Mach 3, 3G’s….It All Sets Your Hair On Fire!"
3Gnewsroom.com is the place you’ll want to keep an eye on! Although the name 3G actually stands for "Third Generation", this group could very well be tagged for giving the wireless industry its "mach speed" capabilities.
Though current wireless devices (even global system for mobile comm) transmit at a very low bandwidth, it’s the demand for more function from these devices that force the industry to create more robust equipment and applications. This is where 3G comes in.
Relatively new, the 3G networks and devices are estimated to allow speeds between 384 kbps and 2mbps. And though still not as prominent in the U.S., most wireless providers overseas are already working towards this common standard. 3G combines high speed mobile access with IP-based services, thereby creating new ways to communicate. What right now is a rather cumbersome task of getting audio or video just to web, 3G opens the door to a level where bandwidth is no longer an issue (there’s a sigh of relief for the multimedia gurus out there)!
The dev community is where 3G really comes into play because the move forward isn’t just about cool applications (that used to take up lots of bandwidth), it’s now about the convenience of those applications and the speed a task is accomplished. Be sure to keep that in mind when you’re building in WAP!
For more information about how 3G came to be, check out:
"How The 3G Alliance Was Formed".
 "Hit Those Books!"
And you thought the school year was almost over! Well, since many of you already work in this industry, I’m sure you realize that keeping on top of the latest trends, hardware, software, and programming languages, is a constant task. And it’s the same in the world of WAP.
The good news is, as the WAP industry continues to "gel"; it’s doing so by picking up some good "habits" of our current technologies. For example, we mentioned how WML and XML are already being closely tied together in the WAP world. That’s great for those of us who already learned our XML! But, is there any hope for the larger group of people out there who know something like…say…Java??
Now that would be something to get excited about! And the better news still is, YES…..JAVA is working in the wireless world very well. And, it’s quickly becoming the mainstream in putting functionality into wireless devices.
If so far, you’ve been a bit overwhelmed at the thought of creating cool apps for cool devices like we’ve mentioned so far, don’t worry. As you’ll see next, you may already have the working knowledge it takes to make WAP work for you!
 "I’ll Have A Cup of Java With My Telecon"
Here’s a word you might not have heard of before: JAVA PHONE.
Of course, companies have their own fancy little names for them, but these phones actually function in Java programming!
Now, you may be wondering how we got from WAP to Java phones. But it’s worth checking them out since we’re already starting to see the worlds of web and wireless move closer and closer together. Did you think a year ago, you’d be writing Java apps for telephones? Well then, there ya go! So, let’s take a look at some of the latest and greatest:
Samsung’s Web Video Phone
This little goodie has more features than you could imagine on one phone! With this phone you’ll surf the web, send and receive email (including graphics as attachments) and a host of other things. Want a few of the techie specs? How’s this:
- Internet Protocols: HTML 4.0, HTTP 1.1, HTTPS
- Java Support: p-Java, Java Applets, Java Script
- E-mail: POP3, SMTP
- E-mail Attachments: ASCII / HTML, GIF / JPEG
- LAN: 10-Base T
- More!
Samsung Web Video Phone. Are you "007-ing" yet?
Pingtel’s xpressa
Though this phone may not be as "fancy" as others, it does boast being the world’s first VoIP phone and it runs Java! Some specs here include:
- Up to 1024 simultaneous calls per phone
- Graphical and audio prompt helpers simplify both traditional and next-gen features
- PC application integration
- Java Naming and Directory Interface™ (JNDI) and Java Database Connector (JDBC™) for directory and database integration
- Quality of service support - IEEE 802.1 p and IP ToS bit marking for DiffServe and MPLS networks
- Compatible with Cisco-powered LAN products
- More!
Pingtel’s "xpressa" Java phones!
Even more interesting here is the vast resources in Pingtel’s "AppDevZone". There you can join their community and keep up to date on the latest information in this part of the industry. Pingtel’s another site you’ll probably want to keep an eye on over the coming months!
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