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PDAs Converting Mobile Phones into WAP Devices?

Posted by Cliff on from the that's-an-interesting-way-to-do-it dept.

mvw asks: "I spotted this organizer by Siemens that together with my infrared interface equipped Nokia mobile might give me WAP browsing. Anyone has experiences with this? If this is programmable (under Linux, FreeBSD) as well, this is more interesting than a palm pilot to me, due to its (supposedly) better integration to mobile phone standards here in Europe." Has anyone played around with other PDA/phone combinations in order to do this? Thoughts?

10 comments

  1. Don't get carried away by paranoidfish · · Score: 2

    just some thoughts

    • Wap is wasted on a PDA, especially those that can run something like Advant-Go.
    • European GSM phones only give you about 2k of bandwidth, so any websurfing (even with WAP) is very slooooow.
    • WAP really hasn't taken off at all, at least not in the UK. Nokia can't give away the 7110. At the moment, it really isn't a standard that needs supporting.
    • What's wrong with a Palm Pilot or Handspring Visor? Assuming they work with your mobile phone, they'll do everything you want them to do, and more. Open Source Development tools and a large body of software are already available for them. And they'll work with the mobile you buy next year too. I'm not convinced this Siemens PDA is anything other than a proprietry device. (although I'm probably wrong)
    • Are you really that desperate to check Slashdot :-)
    1. Re:Don't get carried away by mvw · · Score: 1
      about 2k of bandwidth, so any websurfing (even with WAP) is very slooooow.

      I am happy with ~8 kB/s via one ISDN channel at home. So I expected bandwidth not to be the possibly annoying part of WAP (assumed it uses not much graphics) - what I can't estimate right now is the cost for the WAP access calls themselves.

      All, at least not in the UK. Nokia can't give away the 7110.

      I signed a contract last year, so I would need to buy the 7110 or a similiar WAP phone for full money. In that regard I could put less money into an organizer to enhance my mobile.

      At the moment, it really isn't a standard that needs supporting. What's wrong with a Palm Pilot or Handspring Visor? Assuming they work with your mobile phone, they'll do everything you.

      I do not know if the palm offers software to make it do the WAP part together with the Nokia. Plus the keyboard of that Siemens gadget seems more fit to me than the input mechanism of the palm. Or is that no problem, once one gets used to it?

      Open Source Development tools and a large body of software are already available for them.

      That is the point why I did not buy anything yet. I want a programmable system like palm and something that works flawlessly with the mobile phone to provide WAP (and here I am only sure of that Siemens PDA).

      Are you really that desperate to check Slashdot :-)

      Seems so. :-)
      Thanks for your thoughs.

    2. Re:Don't get carried away by Alex+Belits · · Score: 2

      s/Advant-Go/Proxiweb/

      --
      Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
    3. Re:Don't get carried away by paranoidfish · · Score: 1

      Hardly, there is more or less a permanant shortage of WAP phones in the UK due to the high uptake.

      Why are Tiny, PC-world, Genie et al giving away these phones for free then? Why does every mobile phone shop I walk past have them piled up in the windows? Why was the consumer price dropped by over a hundred pounds since launch?

      The uptake, by both consumers and websites, is not high. But I guess you have to read between the lines of the press-release propoganda of a typical newsroom to work that out.

      Still, why argue? Time will tell.

    4. Re:Don't get carried away by paranoidfish · · Score: 1

      not that anyone is ever going to read this comment, but:

      I'm not convinced this Siemens PDA is anything other than a proprietry device. (although I'm probably wrong)

      looks like I was

    5. Re:Don't get carried away by TecraMan · · Score: 1

      One of the reasons for the price of the 7110 dropping so much is that the networks are realising the opportunity WAP has as a way of getting those call times up.

      What does this mean? Subsidisation... One of the best ways of kicking GSM off, then of getting mobile data going and now WAP...

  2. Re:Forget WAP(?) by mvw · · Score: 1
    RigRight now I'm using Nokia 8210 + Palm V

    Thanks for the confirmation that Palm + Nokia works as well in an European net.

    WAP is horrible to set up, you need no less than NINE parameters to configure WAP service (URL, Connection type, Connection security, Bearer, Dial-up number, IP address, Authentication type, Data cell type, Data speed, User name and Password) (PHEW!)

    That sounds very similiar to setting up a modem to connect to an ISP. There I pay a fee for the phone connection to the phone company plus a fee to the ISP for the data volume.
    Is WAP handled similiar? What do I pay for?

  3. WAP thru AvantGo by Inflatable+Hippo · · Score: 1

    I can connect to some WAP sites using AvantGo both on and off line. It's perfectly useable on the sites I've tried. Try creating a custom AvantGo channel that points to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/mainmenu.wml Way better than messing about with my phone and I get the entire site instantly on my palm and in under 60K.

  4. Siemens? Don't know.... Palm or WinCE, yes! by TecraMan · · Score: 1
    I don't know if I'd go for the Siemens since by the look of it it seems to be based on Siemens' proprietary s/w. However, both PalmOS and WinCE devices now have WAP microbrowsers. Try:

    Palm (you need an 8MB machine)
    WAPman from The Edge Consultants

    WinCE
    ezWAP from Ezos

    Since I got my 7110, I started finding more and more uses for WAP... Simple things, such as checking the TV schedules, doing a quick weather check, or to get directions when I'm lost. If I want to do anything more complex, though, I use my PDA (sometimes a Palm, sometimes a PocketPC... depends on the mood!) and using IR, connect on to WAP sites using my phone as a GSM modem.

    What's the point? I like to be able to do things like cut & paste when I'm on my banking site, or to read news pages more comfortably than on the screen of my phone (very useful when I'm in a country where I can't understand the news on TV!)

    Even nicer, though, is the fact that since the PDA has more local processing power, loading and manipulating pages is even faster than on the phone.

    So, to finally answer your question, using a PDA to access WAP sites does make sense. First of all, WAP lets you use GSM's 9600bps to the max, and the PDA lets you use that the most comfortable way!

    Roll on GPRS - I want that 115kbps with WAP v2!

    David
    --
    Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.

  5. Forget WAP(?) by jonr · · Score: 1

    It's too little to late. Next generation Mobile Phones will be more like Palms with wireless networking. Right now I'm using Nokia 8210 + Palm V and connect using the infrared interface. I can even browse slashdot, although I will probably have to set up special palm account with minimal interface. Many sites already have AvantGo-ized pages, with minimal tables and graphics.
    WAP is horrible to set up, you need no less than NINE parameters to configure WAP service (URL, Connection type, Connection security, Bearer, Dial-up number, IP address, Authentication type, Data cell type, Data speed, User name and Password) (PHEW!) Although many of these are the same for most connections.
    J.