Wap Your Cellphone

Simply put, Wireless Application Protocol or WAP is to mobile telephony what Internet was to computers. Just as Internet brought the world to the desk, WAP has got Net at the touch of a few keys on your cellular phone. What's more hand-held devices will be the first to offer convergence between voice and data as voice telephony is still not permitted in India. And, that's why the world has been talking and keenly awaiting its launch.

WAP is a microbrowser especially developed for mobile use and the main worldwide industry standard for providing

Internet communications and advanced services on digital mobile phones and other wireless terminals.

 

Though Bharti Celluar, the cellular service provider in Delhi, is almost ready with the network, WAP is still a few months away as far as launch in India is concerned. Why? That's because there are no phones or PDAs (personal digital assistants) in the market that help you surf the Net from your hand held device.

The normal WAP phones boasts of a display that is four to five times the size of a normal GSM phone to allow you to view a few extra lines. Though three phone manufacturers _ Nokia, Motorola and Ericsson _ have announced the launch of WAP phones in India, no one is expected to launch one in the next two months or so. Ericsson's announcement to launch R320s WAP phones is the most recent.

R320s is said to be the slimmest cellphone, if used with the ultra slim lithium polymer battery that is a mere 4.4 mm thick and weighs all of 23 grams. For those who want a little more talk time there is the BHC 10 high capacity battery which is 13.5 mm thick and weighs about 54 grams. There is also the lithium ion cell slim BSL 10 battery for those who want to combine style and utility.

The dual band phone weighs about 95 grams (with the ultra slim BUS 10 battery) and claims a talk time in the range of 2.1 and 5.4 hours with a standby time that can range between 59 and 90 hours. These claims, however, depend on the frequency and the network of your operator.

R320s offers a variety of features including a WAP browser that will give you access to text-based information. So, you can download news, stock quotes, order a tandoori chicken or book a movie ticket. There is, however a problem when it comes to browsing. There aren't too many sites that boast of WML as the focus is still on HTML sites. But things are expected to change once WAP is launched by a number of operators.

Besides, you will have to dial a number every time you want to browse through your handheld device and that will continue till General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) comes in, which is expected in India towards the end of the year.

So, WAP, till GPRS debuts, will be a nothing but a dial-up connection which will eat into airtime. The tariff, however, is not known as the operators are yet to announce it. Also, the worldover, WAP connection is as good or as bad as what dial-up ISPs offer. So, to overcome the WML handicap you could also use the built-in infra-red modem in R320s.

The infra-red port also offers another advantage. On days when you are short of cards but still want to pass on your phone number or the e-mail and make sure that your prospective client doesn't loose the chit of paper there is good news. The infra-red port helps in what Ericsson calls "Business Card Exchange". All you have to do is align the infra-red eye to that of another R320s' and your phone number can be beamed across to the owner of the other phone.

It also helps in "Ring Signal Exchange". So, if your friend has your favourite Mambo no 5's "A little bit of Monica by my side" all you have to do is align two infra-red eyes and avoid the steps of programming the melody not by note.

The R320s also boast of a calendar that will help you organise your appointments which can also be programmed with the infra-red port. This can be done through the use of the XTNDConnect PC kit that comes with the phone.

XTNDConnect PC is a synchronisation software that enables you to synchronise the calendar and phone book with Outlook and Windows machines. XTNDConnect PC can be upgraded to work with other PC applications and devices like Lotus Notes, Lotus Organizer, Symantec ACTI, Palm Computing and Windows CE.

Then there is the voice memo facility that lets you record upto 90 seconds of your voice. So, the next time you need to remind yourself about the flowers that your wife wanted,just press a key and record a reminder message. No more searching for the Filofax and a pen as you drive.

There is also the "Code memo" feature that enables you to store upto 10 most important access codes, so the only codes you need to remember are your phone's PIN and the one that you need to access the Code Memo.

This phone also offers you some recreation and comes loaded with two games _Tetris and Klondike. Priced at Rs 31,995 the R320s are expected to find their way into the Indian market, through the company channel, towards the end of the third quarter.