Developer worries see WAP turning Japanese

Developers behind the wireless internet protocol, WAP, have been forced to accept its failings and incorporate the technology of Japanese rival, i-mode as a combined version of WAP and i-mode technologies is to hit Europe next summer.

The WAP Forum has set up a working group to extend and adapt its existing protocols to cover xTML, and it is expected to include cHTML - the scripting language used by Japan's successful I-Mode.

NTT DoCoMo, who owns i-mode but is also a board member of the WAP Forum, recently announced its plans to move into the European market amid growing dissatisfaction with WAP. One of the key gripes about WAP comes from developers who are facing a steep learning curve if they want to develop content based on WML- the scripting language used for WAP.

NTT DoCoMo is pushing hard for cHMTL to be included in future WAP standards, because it is a defined sub-set of HTML and allows content providers to develop applications with ease and speed without having to rely on WML-based WAP converters.

Ivica Juresa, business manager of mobile e-services at HP - a member of the WAP forum - told silicon.com that NTT DoCoMo is likely to get its way.

He said: "i-mode on its own in Europe doesn't make sense. There are so many people behind WAP that anyone deviating from it would not be successful. But we are already working closely with NTT DoCoMo to put TCP/IP layer in WAP version 2.0, and we expect to have a merged product by the middle of next year."

Graham Brown, CEO of The WAP Group, believes the move makes sense. "This is part of the evolution of WAP. People aren't going to accept WAP without content and if cHTML is easier for developers, then it should be put in."

Brown added: "NTT really wants the WAP Forum to accept it and really they will have to - otherwise it will develop I-Mode separately and set up direct competition."