Ever wonder what this new W.A.P craze is all about, let us explain!

Limitations

As long as the mobile phones are tiny, practical and easy to carry in your pocket, the WAP screen has to be small. You can't read through the same amount of information as on your computer. And, the screen quality is not as good. You can send pictures with WAP, but if they're too complicated they will merely appear as blurs.

Telecom-developers are constantly working on a better and faster way of sending information to your mobile phone. The GSM network implemented in most of Europe today is a slow way of sending information. New network technologies are called HSCD (high speed circuit switch data) and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service). They will give you a faster connection. In a few years most of the European countries will build a new broadband network, called UMTS.

It's also much harder to write an e-mail on your phone than on your PC. When people start to use their mobile phones to read and write e-mails, the need for a better keyboard will force the producers to develop a better system.

The WAP phones you get today have little memory capacity. The development of new WAP services will probably press the hardware producers to come up with better memory systems for mobile terminals in the near future

Usage

In what way is it better to surf the net using your mobile phone? If you have a mobile phone you will probably have noticed that your phone is a more "private" device than your computer. Your phone is always within reach, you can get hold of all your friends using it and you have a lot of personal information in store.

People that have had to leave their homes in a hurry, often tell the press that the items they grabbed on their way out were the wallet and the mobile phone. The latter has almost become a part of their personalities, and people like to express their identities through the design and the price of their phones. Leading phone producers will tell you that they use great amounts of time and money to find out what segment of mobile users prefer what kind of phones when it comes to size, colour and functionality.

As opposed to your PC, the WAP phone will always be within range. It invites you to order something wherever you are, and you can search for information in the middle of a discussion around the café table. You can check your e-mail on the run, and you can be in touch with the Intranet in your office anytime.

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