DALLAS-“It’s an exciting time in the industry. It’s a time of growth and rebirth.”
So said Konstantin Zsigo, president of Zsigo Wireless Data Inc., at the opening session of Wireless Developer ’98, formerly known as CelluComm Expo, last week in Dallas.
This evangelism is nothing new for the wireless data industry, members of which have long held that, someday, the industry will take off. However, due to slow ly evolving technology, fierce competition and lack of understanding about its potential, wireless data has been slow to catch on.
Zsigo’s goal is to strengthen what he believes is the most vulnerable aspect of the struggling wireless data industry: lack of marketable applications. Zsigo said he only knows of some 300 developers who have written applications for wireless data, only about 120 of which are still around today. By way of comparison, he said there are 14,000 developers writing Java applications.
As such, Zsigo wants to attract more application developers to the field, hence the show’s new name and focus.
Internetworking
To do this, the industry must first aggressively advertise the potential of its networks, said Zsigo, and make it easier for developers to write software for them. Zsigo Wireless hopes to be an organization that can do both.
On the exposure end, Zsigo aims for the Wireless Developer show to grow from the relatively small one it is today to something much bigger. Many wireless data players have complained in the past that trade shows haven’t included enough developers and end users. He hopes to change that by including enough of both so deals can be made on the show floor.
Show sponsors Aeris MicroBurst, AT&T Wireless Services Inc., BellSouth Cellemetry Data Service, Nextel Communications Inc., Nokia Mobile Phones, Orbcomm L.P. and BellSouth Wireless Data formed an advisory council with Zsigo Wireless to educate potential developers about existing market opportunities and highlight the development of certain wireless data applications expected to broaden the marketplace. Each company hosted a developer program to show how it uses different types of wireless data applications successfully.
“While almost all carriers host a developer conference on an annual basis, this is the first time that multiple developer conferences have been brought into a single event,” said Zsigo. “This offers uncommitted developers a tremendous opportunity to investigate different technologies and decide how and where to invest their application-development time.”
This effort also points to the stated industry goal of reducing cut-throat competition and moving more toward convergence. By focusing on common business goals and applications, the industry can grow the space for all, Zsigo said. This idea is called internetworking, working to create hybrid network applications for multiple data networks. The announcement by Aeris and Orbcomm to combine their networks in Canada is one such example (see story page 7).
Internetworking will make it easier for customers who want to buy a wireless data solution but don’t want to make every decision along the way-from network, to middleware to end-user devices, Zsigo said. Customers want to buy a product, turn it on and make use of it right away. For this to happen, industry players have to come together to offer complete end-to-end solutions.
GoAmerica alliance
One step toward this was an agreement between GoAmerica Communications Corp. and Zsigo Wireless that essentially allows wireless carriers a single resource for outsourcing end-to-end wireless, Web-based solutions. The alliance combines the sales training and consulting services of Zsigo Wireless with GoAmerica’s gateway, technical and marketing services along with its Web@Hand product portfolio of wireless data products through its Wireless Data Service Center.
Certification plans
To make things easier for developers, Zsigo Wireless also introduced a certification program for wireless data application developers. The program will certify developers in Cellemetry, CDPD, MicroBurst, Orbcomm and BellSouth Wireless Data airlinks; HDML and ICAP protocols; and such products as CellPort Labs’ C/P Connect, Geoworks’ GEO, Nokia’s Nokia 9000i phone and the Research In Motion Inter@ctive pager.
To make the certification and application-development process easier, Zsigo is pushing for common standards for the industry. Compatibility programs make for a long learning curve for developers who want to write software. The longer it takes to develop the application, the longer it takes to get a solution to market. Common standards and network interfaces are the answer, Zsigo said.
“Developers can write to multiple networks without the middleware and without a long learning curve,” he said. “This allows them to develop applications faster, meeting time-to-market needs. The developers are the catalysts to the entire wireless industry.”
