Around 80%-90% of corporate users that purchased WAP phones
(Wireless Application Protocol) have abandoned the data
capabilities of these phones and are using them for voice
communications only, according to a study from research firm META
Group. But is WAP technology being targeted at the wrong market?
Users generally indicated a wholly unsatisfactory experience
with WAP, finding that the effort required to obtain information
exceeded its value. META found that WAP services such as financial
transactions and travel services are difficult to access and not
always reliable, leading to a high rate of abandonment.
According to META, limited content, slow networks, high latency
times, and generally poor user ergonomics have not met the high
user expectations and hype that accompanied WAP-enabled devices
when they were first introduced. META does not expect a significant
uptake in web-connected smart phone utilisation until these
ergonomic issues are fixed.
META Group expects the future market to move beyond current
WAP-enabled phones to encompass various wireless devices that meet
enterprise user needs. It expects the “communication-centric” users
to favour next-generation smart phones that offer personal digital
assistant (PDA)-like functionality built into the phone. It expects
users that are “data-centric” will choose larger and more costly
devices for their data processing capabilities, with add-on
wireless communications as a secondary benefit.
According to META Group, a one-size-fits-all model (also called
device convergence) based on a telephone is not expected to meet
the needs of all users. Rather, with the emergence of Bluetooth
personal-area network technologies, users will choose components
(e.g. a Palm and a small form-factor mobile phone) that
intercommunicate, using the phone as a wireless modem for the data
device, and using the PDA to process and interact with complex data
sets.
"With new technologies on the horizon, we should see data access
from mobile phones pick up again during the next two to three years
— but only if the ergonomics are substantially improved," said
META’s Vice President Jack Gold. "We have a catch-22, because most
cell phone users want their devices to stay small — and are
demanding the highest levels of portability. Yet the small size
prohibits them from being ergonomically correct and data-intensive.
That's why a cell phone will never replace a PDA, and a PDA will
never replace a phone."
J.D. Power and Associates also reports this week that 68% of UK
households now have a mobile phone. Nearly one in 10 households
with a mobile phone has a WAP phone but just one in three of these
phones is actually used for internet access. It found that the main
use of the WAP services was sending and receiving e-mails and
browsing the web.
"There has been a significant decrease this year among non-WAP
phone owners expressing an interest in accessing the internet with
their mobiles," said Gunda Lapski, director of telecommunications
and utilities in Europe for J.D. Power. "The figure is down to one
in four, compared with one in three in 2000. The difference may
well be a reflection on the negative publicity that has surrounded
WAP features and content."
However, David MacQueen, Creative Director of Scottish developer
The Games Kitchen, said:
“What these reports don't talk about is the
personal uses of WAP. It's hardly surprising that professionals
don't use it as they likely have access to better mobile
technologies, such as laptops or PDAs, which also have software
appropriate for business.
“The content on WAP is largely for the
leisure user, with the most popular content including games, email
and sports results. We've found a very large market exists for
games; for example, our game Wireless Pets gets 40,000 plays a
week.”
