Best Uses of WAP?

bildstorm asks: "Has anyone seen a really good use for WAP? So far, for most of what I've seen WAP is just a nifty little toy which the paranoid use to monitor their stocks and make sure their flight is on time. But aside from that is there any good use of it other than as a buzzword?"

Comments

The best use

[titus-g]

of WAP would probably have to be as a 'sound effect' in comic books.

No

[Kris_J]

There is nothing that WAP can do that a pager, SMS or a simple voice call can not. When Bluetooth is finally released the combination of a PDA, a mobile and an always-on (charged by the packet) connection will finally blow WAP out of the water.

Re:No

[Kris_J]

SMS also supports, nay thrives on, push technology. I receive the first 100 or so characters of my e-mail to my phone (outside of office hours) and I even have the option to relatively easily reply. There are heaps of email-esq push-type services that work just as well with SMS as with WAP (if not better). Have a look at www.update.optus.net.au and www.blueskyfrog.com

Re:No

[Cato]

Errr, Bluetooth will get you about 10 meters - hardly a replacement for the use of CSD as a carrier for WAP. Perhaps you mean GPRS?

Re:No

[Kris_J]

The point about voice calls etc being able to do much of this is true (heck I can check flight arrivals via the phone, or on the net too), there is always more than one way to do things, why not have the choice?

Why re-invent the wheel? Two similar services arriving at the same time is fine, but "info-lines" have been around for ages, why now do them with WAP. And once the screen becomes larger, like on a PDA, what does WAP offer that HTML does not? Again, we already have HTML-based browsers on PDAs, why re-invent the wheel?

Stocks and flights

[Ratface]

Ermm, what's so bad about being able to check your flight times from your phone wherever you are? (OK, so checking stocks is a bit "hooray henry!")

Seriously, most of the really exciting possibilities with WAP are still around the corner. One of the main upgrades to the network and phone systems that will be introduced in WAP 1.2 is the possibility for the user to give out information on where they currently are. This opens up a whole new range of location based services.

Imagine being on a holiday in Europe and being able to use a single site in conjunction with a connected mobile device to automatically receive information about the area you are currently in. As you walk down Strøget in Copenhagen, you use your phone to get information about building of interest on the street and receive an electronic coupon giving you 10% discount in a local shop.

That evening, your service recommends a great restaurant near the hotel and allows you to book a ticket for a concert at Tivoli. Such services exist today for computer users, but combining this with mobile devices opens up new possibilities.

I think that even WAP today opens up some great possibilities. While I was at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark this year (I'm not actually from Denmark, it's just been a useful example!), I used my WAP phone to keep tabs on work email, get weather information, find out changes to the festival program and get information about the festival's response to the tragedy when 9 people died at the Pearl Jam concert. That was all pretty damn useful and was possible in an environment where I woudn't dream of taking my laptop (which would require a mobile for connectivity anyway and would run out of battery WAY earlier).

So, no killer apps here yet, but certainly a useful toolfor people who need access to data while on the move.

"Give the anarchist a cigarette"

Re:Fishing for ideas ?

[Paulo]

Actually, there IS at least one german company working to deliver pr0n content to WAP users.
(Don't remember names, URLs nor if this has been submitted here. It did appear at www.barrapunto.com, the spanish counterpart o Slashdot; just search there for "WAP" and you'll find it).

Price comparison engine

[Matt_Bennett]

I have heard an ad on local radio here (in Austin, TX, USA) that offers a price comparison service. You can walk into a store with a phone and compare prices with a bunch of different stores, or enter information yourself. I don't remember the URL- wireless information services are too expensive on the cellular plan I have.

So far, this is the only application I have seen for WAP that I would be interested in using, email would be nice, though I think it would be really frustrating trying to read email on a 1"x1" screen, let alone compose on a numeric keypad.

WAP porn

[Pseudonymus Bosch]

Check this sotory at Barrapunto

You will need some Spanish and Portuguese, though.
__