Abbas Mooraj

1
Welcome

• Abbas Mooraj
• abbas.mooraj_at_air2web.com
• Air2Web is an application service provider (ASP)
• supporting an open network and platform
  architecture for hosting wireless web
  applications that are
• Always Interactive regardless of the device,
• integrate text and audio, push and pull content,
• and are optimally presented across all carriers
  for each wireless device.

2
The Market (the good news)

• Strategy Analystics, Inc. predicts that 80
  percent of all phones shipped in 2001 will be
  equipped with a browser, accelerating to 95 by
  2003.
• Openwave has deployments or trials with over 60
  wireless network operators worldwide, and
  Phone.com's UP.Browser resides in over 100 unique
  phone models.
• Japans leading mobile operator 6.92m subscribers
  to its mobile internet service and is adding
  customers at 20,000 a day. Phones exceed PC's in
  internet access race . (Ethan Haywood of Mobile
  Lifestreams)

3
The Market (the bad news)

• There are many competing approaches and
  standards.
• Quality and features associated with the service
  vary widely from carrier to carrier and
  technology to technology.
• Much of the technology is either completely new
  or a variant of Internet technologies
• Much of the advancement is happening in Europe,
  not the U.S.

4
SMS Overview

• Short Message Service A single short message,
  160 characters or less in length
• SMS messages are sent via an store and forward
  entity known as an SMSC.
• SMS messages travel over the signaling channel
  (as apposed to the voice channel.)
• GSM allows phones to both send and receive SMS
  messages. Non-GSM systems typically only support
  receive.

5
SMS to the Internet
MS
SME
6
SMS to the Internet
7
SMS (the good news)

• Largest existing customer base. 5 billion SMS
  messages were sent world wide in March alone.
  (Source Mobile Lifestreams)
• Simple protocol for message format and delivery,
  format is plain text, delivery is usually over
  SMTP.
• Good built-in model for push content.

8
SMS (the bad news)

• Providing service to all cell phone users can
  require establishing relationships with hundreds
  of carriers.
• The capabilities of the service are very limited.
• There is a high degree of latency.
• Most phones in the U.S. can only receive
  messages, not transmit making interactive use
  challenging.
• Very little control over message format and
  delivery time available using the public
  gateways.
• No direct support for the best feature of the
  device, audio!

9
Wireless Modem Overview

• Creates a standard PPP connection to the internet
  using the cellular radio as a modem (slow speed
  dial-up 9600 bps)
• Voice calls can not be made while the data
  connection is active.
• Typically supported by combination devices or
  smart phones.
• Devices support a limited subset of HTML.

10
Wireless modems to the Internet
11
Wireless modems (the good news)

• Uses Web standards
• No requirement for establishing a relationship
  with the carrier.
• Content can be formatted using HTML and limited
  support of graphics is available. (But be
  careful, 9600 bps is the typical transmission
  rate.)

12
Wireless modems (the bad news)

• Very few devices are actually available
• Small potential market because of high price and
  large size of devices compared to standard cell
  phones.
• Large variability in HTML support and device
  characteristics.
• No direct support for push content.
• No direct support for the best feature of the
  device, audio!

13
Packet Networks Overview

• Uses data-only wireless networks (no voice
  traffic)
• Two biggest are ATTs CDPD network and
  Bellsouths Mobitex network. (Two way paging
  networks are also being used.)
• Connection to the device is handled using a proxy
  server run by the network owner (Palm.net for
  example)
• Devices support a subset of HTML and in some
  cases HTML extensions through meta tags.

14
Packet Networks to the Internet
15
Packet Networks (the good news)

• Market is small now, but growing steadily. Over
  300 thousand Palm VIIs. (Palm is being quiet
  about the exact numbers)
• Web standards (or at least mostly Web standards).
• No requirement for establishing a relationship
  with the carrier.
• Content can be formatted using HTML and limited
  support of graphics is available.
• Better typical throughput rates than Wireless
  Modems

16
Packet Networks (the bad news)

• Network coverage isnt as complete as it is for
  cellular networks.
• Some pundits believe that user adoption will tail
  off once WAP takes over.
• Prices for delivery of the data and the devices
  themselves is currently quite high.
• Often the user must download a portion of the app
  to their PC and then sync before using the
  service.
• No consistent support for push content (at least
  not alerting).
• No audio support at all.

17
WAP Overview

• Stands for Wireless Application Protocol.
• WAP is a standard for deploying Internet content
  on wireless devices.
• It specifies what servers need to be on the phone
  network, what software must reside on the phone
  and what communication protocol is between these
  two devices.
• Markup is done using WML, an XML variant

18
Comparing WAP and the Internet
Wireless ApplicationEnvironment (WAE)
HTML JavaScript
Other Services and Applications
Session Layer (WSP)
WAP Gateway
HTTP
Transaction Layer (WTP)
SSL
Security Layer (WTLS)
Transport Layer (WDP)
TCP/IP UDP/IP
Bearers
19
WAP to the Internet
20
WAP (the good news)

• U.S. market is small and growing, world wide
  market is huge and growing. (remember 80 percent
  of all phones shipped in 2001 will be equipped
  with a browser)
• Major wireless players like Nokia and Ericsson
  make WAPs future certain.
• Content can be formatted and limited support of
  graphics is available on some devices.
• Throughput is good and getting better.
• Some support for push content is available.
• Some client-side programming available on devices
  with WML script support

21
WAP (the bad news)

• The browser is burned into the phone making
  support for multiple versions and form factors a
  requirement.
• Carriers are slow to upgrade network equipment
  making support for multiple gateway versions a
  requirement.
• There are currently 3 main markup variants (WML,
  HDML, C-HTML) with multiple versions of each in
  the market.
• Using the keypad as an input mechanism can be
  challenging
• Developers must learn a new markup language.
• Not all carriers have implemented push support.
• No direct support for audio.

22
More choices coming soon!

• SIM Toolkit
• Environment that allows SMS messages to interact
  with the phones operating system in a common
  way.
• Uses SMS as a bearer mechanism.
• Supports over-the-air download of applications
• Some support for SIM toolkit in Europe now, but
  notably not Nokia
• Embedded Java
• Two main initiatives going on, J2ME and MxEx.
• Network access is bearer independent (like WAP).
• Not available anywhere yet.
• Bluetooth
• Basically a non line-of-site replacement for IrDA
• Not available anywhere yet.

23
Faster Speeds coming soon!

• GPRS (some in 2002)
• General Packet Radio System.
• Theoretical speeds of up to 171.2 kbps.
• Packet overlay to existing GSM networks.
• EDGE (2002 2004)
• Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution.
• Builds on the packet system introduced by GPRS by
  changing the modulation mechanism to the one
  proposed by UMTS (3G).
• Theoretical data transmission speeds of 384 kbps.
• UMTS - 3G (To infinity and beyond)
• Complete rework of the cellular network to
  optimize it for high speed data.
• Speeds of up to 2 Megabits per second (Mbps) are
  achievable.

24
Whatever else you do

• Create new applications for the wireless web
  using your Internet content, dont try to force
  fit your existing Internet apps.
• Create as easy to use an experience as possible,
  even though this can be very challenging given
  the nature of the networks and devices.
  Phone.com and others have style guides you can
  start with.
• Make best use of the capabilities of the device.
  Do not ignore audio if you can help it.
• Tailor the features and the output to the device
  that you are targeting.

25
Thanks!

• A few sites for further information
• www.phone.com
• www.palm.net
• www.wapforum.org
• www.w3c.org
• www.gsmworld.com
• www.mobilelifestreams.com
• Contact me at abbas.mooraj_at_air2web.com
• Any Questions?