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.

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"