LAS VEGAS-For an industry obsessed about the future, to the point where it often forgets to tackle the issues of today, Cingular’s Wireless Alliances and Vision Exchange conference here last week was a welcome wake-up call.
More than 900 attendees gathered to exchange ideas and knowledge, and get a healthy dose of reality from several industry leaders who came to tout their own products, but also wanted to share their theories about what will ensure a profitable and productive future for the wireless data industry.
Cingular’s chief executive officer, Stephen Carter, set the tone for the conference, talking about the importance of wireless data applications that people can use now.
“Let’s do it now and then refine,” Carter said. “We need to develop applications now on today’s devices for today’s needs on today’s networks.”
For the consumer, this means having WAP services and phones that easily can operate using current data speeds. Carter told RCR Wireless News following his keynote that WAP is important in getting people used to the idea of having access to the Internet on their wireless phone or PDA.
“Unfortunately, WAP had the disadvantage of being oversold,” said Carter.
It quickly became evident that the days of developing one or two “killer apps” also are gone, and instead an extensive variety of applications that can meet the needs of each individual customer will drive demand.
Janet Boudris, vice president of Cingular Solutions, said developers need to create as many applications as possible so businesses can bundle them together. A sweeping approach to wireless data that includes applications of all kinds that can run on many different devices is what will work best, she said, and aspects of wireless data once thought of as critical, such as connection speed and cost, will take a back seat to choice and utility.
Despite the “live for today” message of the conference, many companies were there to promote products and services that will require the capacity-rich capabilities of upcoming GPRS networks.
Lew Blumstein, vice president of solution and distribution programs for Cingular Interactive, said Cingular will not have its GPRS network completely deployed for another couple of years, but advances such as the recent introduction of Sun Microsystems Inc.’s Java 2 Micro Edition platform are inspiring developers and spawning a new generation of applications and devices that make the wireless Web experience very similar to that of the desktop.
The developers are just waiting for the carriers to catch up.
Carl Yankowski, chief executive officer of Palm Inc., initiated the second day of activities at the conference, giving an overview of the pervasiveness of the wireless handheld, especially in the enterprise market. He said the enterprise market will comprise more than 50 percent of the handheld market by 2003.
“We’re not talking about technology as much as we’re talking about applications,” Yankowski said.
The best applications for handhelds such as the Palm VII will connect users to each other, and will enable users to access remote resources. Future applications with high potential include pass keys, using your handheld like an electronic wallet and storing critical information such as health conditions and driving records.
But Yankowski noted that no amount of research and development will guarantee the success of any application. According to Yankowski, last week the 10,000th application was developed for the Palm device, and that number will continue to grow, but the killer applications, if there truly are such things, will be a surprise.
