Further development of three new mobile technologies will persuade consumers to shed their previous indifference towards wireless application protocol (WAP) technology, a senior telecoms expert claimed this week.
The developments would offer mobile users speedy connections to the internet, ease of use and more valuable applications, said Mr Nigel Oakley, director of corporate marketing for Openwave.
Mr Oakley, who works for one of the biggest worldwide developers of mobile browser software, was in Dublin to demonstrate Europe's first graphical user interface. The interface, incorporated in Siemens's new S45 mobile phone, uses pictures and symbols rather than simple text.
"The useability factor is much higher with this phone," said Mr Oakley. "This enables people to click through to the applications and services they want much quicker."
Highly intuitive graphical interfaces have been available in Japan for some time but are just appearing in Europe. Colour should also be available in Europe next year, says Mr Oakley.
The Siemens handset, which uses the Openwave browser, is one of the first developments to come from a mobile services initiative organised by the GSM Association earlier this year. Under the initiative, certain hand-set vendors are committed to commercially shipping m-services phones using Openwave's browser.
According to Mr Oakley, the introduction of general packet radio services (GPRS) is also a crucial element in the campaign to make WAP services relevant. GPRS offers an "always on" internet connection at speeds much faster than traditional dial-up WAP. It is expected to be introduced commercially in the Republic shortly.
The third pillar in the drive to make consumers adopt WAP is the development of applications that are valuable to individual users, says Mr Oakley. "GPRS services will enable mobile users to use instant messaging services similar to that on a PC," he says.
The most popular service on Cellnet's Genie WAP portal is a travel site, Kizoom, which gives irate rail users up-to-the-minute information on delayed departure times and late arrivals, according to Mr Oakley.
Meanwhile, mobile phone firm Eircell said it still had no plans to introduce its own high-speed GPRS mobile internet service until sufficient numbers of handsets became available.
Eircell had indicated earlier that it would introduce GPRS in August.
