|
WAP is an open international technology standard, which allows people to access wireless internet services using handheld devices such as PDAs and mobile phones.
The WAP standard was jointly created by Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson, and Unwired Planet, who were the original members of the WAP Forum. The WAP Forum has since become an industry association with over 200 member corporations.
A WAP browser provides all of the basic services of a computer based web browser but simplified to operate within the restrictions of a mobile phone. WAP is now the protocol used for the majority of the world's mobile internet sites, known as WAP sites. The Japanese i-mode system is another major competing wireless data protocol.
WAP sites, are websites written in, or dynamically converted to, WML (Wireless Markup Language) and accessed via the WAP browser. Before the introduction of WAP, service providers had extremely limited opportunities to offer interactive data services. Interactive data applications are required to support now commonplace activities such as:
- email by mobile phone
- tracking of stock market prices
- sports results
- news headlines
- music downloads
Technical specifications
|
