WAP
Insight Vol: 3 Issue 9 March 11th 2001
i-mode
subscriptions top 20 million
The number of subscribers
to arch WAP rival, NTT DoCoMo's i-mode service topped 20 million on March 4th
2001. The service now has 828 companies providing services. Plus there are
around 1,480 official i-mode Web sites including 59 'i-appli' compatible sites
along with another 40,053 independent sites, according to the OH! NEW i-search,
an i-mode search engine. The service, which was first launched on February 22nd
1999 reached 5 million just over a year later and went passed 15 million In
November 2000.
www.nttdocomo.com
Kodak
& France Telecom go WAP imaging
Believing
that mobile imaging will become the ‘next SMS’, Kodak has joined forces with
France Telecom Mobiles to show how wireless access to full colour images can
work. The system is based on Kodak’s PhotoNet online service and is intended
to be GPRS ready. The service enables users to view their save images via a
wireless device and then forward the results to friends and colleagues as
‘digital postcards’. The system allows users to view images using a colour
PDA equipped with a regular (HTML) browser or via a WAP enabled device.
According to Guy LaFarge, marketing director with France Telecom Mobiles,
“This new service developed with Kodak precedes forthcoming evolutions of
WAP.” WAP Insight discovered
that uploading pictures to PhotoNet using existing GSM data connections
was somewhat problematical, although viewing them was easy.
www.kodak.com
YourWAP CeBIT Planner
For the second year running YourWAP.com is providing
users with its popular service, the CeBIT planner, that helps WAP users find
their way around the CeBIT exhibition which will be held in Hanover, Germany
later this month [March 2001]. This facility allows users to do the following: -
search for any exhibitor by name or category and obtain their hall and booth
location; schedule and store appointments directly in their own personalised
YourWAP agenda; plus receive
notifications prior to set meetings. As an added bonus it will be possible to
instantly dial an exhibitor’s booth directly from a WAP enabled phone.
www.yourwap.com
Celltick
provides SMS push
Israeli
firm, Celltick, is offering network operators a content streaming platform which
works over the standard GSM control channel. It supports click-throughs so users
can request more information or partake in m-commerce applications. Content can
be location-based, using Celltick's management tools. Content is continually
streamed to the user's GSM handset when the phone is in standby mode but the
content is stored on the SIM, no the handset. Although available immediately for
existing GSM networks, the system claims to be GPRS and 3G ready. It does,
however, require the operator to install Celltick application on the user’s
SIM. However, Yossi
Wellingstein, CEO of Celltick, claims 50 per cent of GSM users change their SIM
card every 12 months.
www.celltick.com
Conduit
uses SMS for m-commerce
The latest addition to Conduit’s Mobi range of solutions
aimed at GSM networks is Mobi Pay. The company claims 95 per cent of all
handsets now support SMS so it makes an ideal alternative while the industry
waits for GPRS. A major application for Mobi Pay will be for pre-paid customers
to top up their airtime. The system can warn users when their remaining units
are running low and accepts an SMS response requesting that a further payment be
deducted from a debit card. Once the payment has been received the user receives
another confirmation SMS.
www.conduitsoftware.com
Snippets
The days of GPRS phones melting their batteries may be over. Toshiba claims to have produced 1mm thick Advanced Lithium Batteries (ALBs) which can replace current 5-6 mm lithium-ion batteries and cost only about 20 per cent more. The Toshiba batteries aren't due until 2002 which may give Ultralife a chance with its rival lithium-polymer batteries
www.ulbi.com . . .
Amazingly scare stories about high voltage power lines still persist. A report [March 6th 2001] from the UK's National Radiological Board produced by Sir Richard Doll concluded that perhaps 1 into 250 cases per year of childhood leukaemia might have a
casual link with ELF (extremely low frequency) electromagnetic radiation. However, only 20 per of homes with high ELF (over 0.4 micro-Tessla) are close to overhead power lines. Sadly the report didn't consider HFR from mobile phone transmission masts
www.nrpb.org.uk. . .
Cellguide claims to combined the benefits of satellite based GPRS technology with GSM location techniques in its PinPointer product. It is claiming accuracy to within 5-50 metres. Its system can locate GSM handsets inside buildings or other obscured areas. The company list WAP based applications as a major outlet for this system. It also quotes the Strategis Group (April 2000) as saying the market for location services will bring revenues of US $81.9 billion to European operators.
www.cell-guide.com . . .
Brightcom is intending to launch its BIC2101 two chip Bluetooth module at CeBIT on March 23rd 2001. Irs ARM based product can work with RF chips from Temic,
Silicon Wave or Broadcom. According to Brightcom's Yuval Ben-Ze'ev, the module can be embedded in a multitude of intelligent devices but will cost significantly more than the $5 pricepoint originally envisaged by Bluetooth's founders. Although unable to reveal any incompatibilities experienced at recent Bluetooth UnPlugFests, he was able to confirm compatibility with DigiAnswer's technology
www.brightcom.com . . .
WAP Insight has considerably upgraded its Events listings section. There is also a new section giving the URLs for WAP Forum members Forum URLs. Some URLs are still missing, however. Anybody know the whereabouts of Basic Six Integration, for example?
WAP Site of the Week
(By Geoff Dennis)
This week’s theme is . . . 24-hour entertainment!
If you're out and about and want to find out what's on, particularly if on unfamiliar territory, try the listings at ENTS24. This site provides listings of clubs, live music, cinema, theatre and comedy events for a specified area. It gives a glimpse of what location-based services might be able to do for you in the near future when the network will identify where you are and show what there is to hand. For now, you have to select a town by area, then take your pick of the listings. There's a postcode search (although it didn't seem very successful on WAP) and a band search too. Visit
http://www.ents24.com/uk/wap
