Believe the hype: Wireless can deliver

By Cristiano Pierry

January 14, 2003 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - After years of hype, anywhere, anytime access to personal data is now a reality that wireless can finally deliver.

Looking back, the browser has served as the primary conduit for offering mobile data services to end users, both mass-market and corporate consumers. Unfortunately, cramming a browser inside a wireless device falls short on a key purchase driver for wireless data services -- usability.

Browsers, while perfect for the wired desktop Internet, fall far short for the wireless Internet. difficult data entry, small screens, and high-latency wireless network connections all contribute to the challenges of relying on a server-centric browser model for delivering mobile data.

To drive wireless data use on an everyday basis, vendors must address three key problems by doing the following:

Deliver a user experience that doesn't deter people from using the services.

Optimize device and network use so the service is convenient and affordable for the user and profitable for the carrier.

Provide relevant, rich, flexible applications that offer people a compelling reason to use and buy the service.

A browserless "thick client" solution specifically designed for smart devices eliminates the technology problems that have prevented wireless adoption and improves ease of use and offers anywhere, anytime access to data.

In 2002, a new generation of wireless devices that made wireless data services come to life like never before was made possible by the arrival of three crucial technologies:

Faster wireless networks.

Powerful new, smart devices with '90s class PC computing power.

Operating systems (Smartphone, Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition and Symbian, among others) designed to support rich, data-oriented applications.

Unlike other application approaches, where significant parts of client software reside on a server, with a thick, browserless client, platform-agnostic XML applications can reside entirely on the device and work independently of the server without a persistent network connection.

This enables users to create information requests entirely off-line without touching the network. Once the request is created, a user can review and edit it and then choose to either save it in an out-box (if they have no network access) or send it (via a wireless connection to the network) to a smart server to be processed. An added benefit of creating requests while off-line is that users don't need to worry about losing data or starting over if the connection is lost.

No more dependency on the network every step of the way.

In this environment you can:

Provide a user interface configured for each device's capabilities.
Provide always-available access to applications and data.

Integrate with existing information databases already residing on the device.

Integrate with existing applications, such as e-mail, Short Messaging Service, Mail Management System, a contact manager or a phone dialer

Integrate with the device's network communications capabilities to handle connection management and interrupt scenarios.

Integrate with specific chip set features, including digital signal processing, memory management and power management capabilities.

Provide client-side databases and cache frequently used information that's shared across all connected applications.

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