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Your advert here!!! Technical Editors:
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Hewlett
Packard, IBM and Nocom collaborate with Nokia to facilitate over-the-air
programming of WAP-enabled devices
[February 9th 2000] Nokia has announced that it is developing a solution
that enables easy and immediate access to mobile commerce sites via a
WAP-enabled phone. The technology partners in this initiative, Hewlett Packard,
IBM and Nocom, will collaborate with Nokia to bring the new over-the-air WAP
solution to market during the first half of 2000. Nokia's initiative is the
latest step towards the Mobile Information Society through the development of
easy-to-use WAP services for mobile commerce customers. Consumers expect mobile Internet services to be as easy to access as the
Internet itself -- just a few clicks away. Similarly, service providers expect
to be able to provide a smooth transition to the mobile Internet to keep up with
the increased demand of Internet services via mobile devices. Now, consumers
will find it easy to access mobile commerce sites wirelessly. For example, a mobile user browses the Internet on a PC and finds an
e-commerce site that is mobile enabled. The user simply clicks on a designated
icon on the web page, inputs the applicable mobile phone number, and settings
are automatically programmed over-the-air to the WAP-enabled phone. This
programming allows the user to directly access this e-commerce site wirelessly,
without any additional input or programming to the phone. "This technology is a crucial function in the Mobile Internet,"
says Pertti Lounamaa, Vice President, Nokia Internet Communications. "We
are proud of the foresight our customers possess as leaders of their respective
industries and are glad to share continued efforts with both them and our
partners while we endeavor to 'Put the Internet in every pocket'." The new technology will be integrated into the Nokia WAP Server, an open
server platform for mobile applications that lets companies maintain control
over end-to-end security of access to data and customer traffic between the
wireless network and the Internet, or their own internal networks. The solution
is currently in the beta-testing phase with selected Nokia partners. "As the largest Online and Mobile banking and commerce provider in
Europe, MeritaNordbanken knows how important the ease-of use is for the wide
adoption of services" says Bo Harald, Executive Vice President,
MeritaNordbanken. "We look forward to be able to integrate this crucial
functionality tightly with our uncompromised security infrastructure with
Nokia." According to OKOBANK Group's Executive Director Matti Korkeela, Deputy
Member of the Board, the Nokia's easy-to-use solution combined with the Nokia
WAP Server and its security option (WTLS) gives easy and convenient way to
access OKOBANK Group's mobile banking services. "We're very pleased to be the first hotel group in the world to be
able to offer our customers the benefits of WAP technology," says Roland
Nilsson, group chief executive of Scandic Hotels. "This is just the first
step in our commitment to mobile services. The collaboration that we've now
begun with leading companies in the market will give us and our customers a head
start in exploiting the advantages of mobile technology." "Ease-of-use is one of the key advantages mobile phones have over
PCs today, particularly for buying things over the Web," said Mark Bregman,
general manager IBM's Pervasive Computing Division. "Nokia's new WAP
technology makes it even easier by taking all of the configuration headaches and
sucking them into the infrastructure where they belong -- away from the
user." "Over-The-Air activation of WAP devices is a key enabling technology
and we at Hewlett-Packard are happy to partner with Nokia to make access to
Mobile E-Services truly pervasive, said Ulf Beyschlag, HP's worldwide Mobile
E-services program manager. HP's Mobile E-services program comprises WAP-enabled
servers; mobile e-service solutions; a Mobile E-services-on-Tap offering; and an
innovative Mobile E-services Bazaar, which combines an online e-services trading
community with physical facilities for developing and testing new applications. |
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