The WAP Forum is working with W3C to converge WML 2.0 with
XHTML, the intention being to ensure that WML is the wireless
module of XHTML. This module contains the necessary extensions to
provide backward compatibility and functionality with WML 1.x.
Content for WAP v2.0
When developing content for display on multiple client formats,
it can be authored as an XML application that describes the content
to be displayed, but not how to display it - that's dictated
by separate stylesheets, which describe the particular style of
presentation for specific devices.
Clearly, for this to work, the rendering agent must know
something about the clients to which it is sending content. This is
where the UAProf (and its W3C companion CC/PP) comes in. Devices
publish their capabilities to the network, so that content may be
rendered appropriately for their capabilities.
The specifications to put this in place are in an advanced state
of readiness. Products that support this should be with us soon
(some early adopters are already with us), and WAP v1.2 with UAProf
firmly positions the wireless Internet world to take advantage of
this.
WAP is not just WML
Within the W3C effort to develop XHTML, definition of the
sector-specific modules is made the responsibility of appropriate
industry groups. Hence, the WAP Forum is the industry body
responsible for the wireless XHTML module.
We are rapidly approaching a more fragmented web world - a
hugely increased variety of different web clients, not just the
PC - and with that diversity, it becomes impossible for a
single body such as W3C to oversee every aspect of web
connectivity. Nor is it likely that WAP will be the single 'best'
solution for all mobile devices.
Here lies the real value of the WAP Forums work. Consisting of
all the industries major players as it is, it is well placed to
ensure that the development of wireless connectivity meets the
needs of users and the investors in the industry. Functionality
specific to the needs of mobile consumers will be made available
and can be utilized by mobile developers - quite possibly
through WAP-WML, especially where the clients involved are cheap,
mass-market mobile phones - but it could be through other
markup languages.
In a converged world, it is no longer so important what the
language of choice is. Developers can develop content more easily
for more clients, and users find more content available to them,
regardless of the client device used.
That's for the (near) future. WAP-WML has its problems, but it
does effectively deliver web-based content to the kind of mobile
phone devices we have available today. And it does enjoy massive
support from the industry, which has already done enough to ensure
that WAP browsers are going to reach the hands of a good many
consumers. As Psion's Chief Technology Officer, Charles Davies told
a conference audience recently, "The real point about WAP is not
that it's not very good, but that it's going to be in 100 million
devices."
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