• Wireless Applications Become More Common 
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READER COMMENTS

Our bulletin board allows readers to comment on trends and issues throughout the month. Please stop by to add your comments and see all the responses at http://ecmgt.com/bulletinboard.htm

Question of the Month

The topic for June focuses on 

Selected Answers of the Month

***

The US has been seen at the front-runner in new technology although newer and sometimes better technology has evolved from Europe and Japan. The higher level of penetration regarding Internet usage in the US will positively contribute to the growth in the use of wireless technology regarding the Internet. In addition, the current strength of the dollar has placed the US in a favorable position making the adoption of newer technology (including wireless) more affordable to the general public. The current first world infrastructure of telecommunications within the US can only be of benefit to the growth of this form of access.

With the increased costs in installing and maintaining wired systems coupled with the ever increasing demand for greater bandwidth, the use of wireless technology in voice and data transmission will become more acceptable than the current so-called wired technology. The greatest concern to the wireless technology is security. With the rapid development of the technology, security and built in controls are often left to the last. This issue would need to be addressed so that the acceptance of the use of wireless technology in place of the wired technology occurs. With the increased in the use of wireless technology the associated costs will reduce making it more attractive to the so-called man in the street. This technology is already gaining acceptance in parts of the world where wired technology is not the route to follow eg. Africa.

WAP is still relatively new. Greater acceptance of this technology is to happen before users start using the technology extensively. The need for proving that the use of this technology is secure is required as many still doubt whether the technology is indeed secure. Current use wireless applications include vehicle recovery (stolen vehicle) using the GSM standard, voice and data (limited) for contactability and transfer of text messages.
(Mohsien Hassim, Johannesburg, South Africa, KPMG)

***

U.S. wireless will not catch up to Europe and Japan this year. Our standards problem, and the slow-moving, entrenched (self) interests here will prevent the one thing that Europe, at least, has over us -- reliable, solid connections from the top of Scandinavia to the bottom of the Italian boot. What it looks like from this person's p.o.v.: one unified standard + reliability + semi-reasonable rates = universality. Stateside, we've got dueling standards, everyone complains (justifiably) about coverage & quality, and whether you can have the phone you want and the service you want at the same time is anybody's guess -- and from the consumer standpoint it all seems utterly arbitrary. Given that we're surrounded by slow-moving giants, I can only surmise that we'll be among the last to the 3G party, adoption-wise.

When I was in Europe last, the thing that stood out for me was the age range on the cell phone users -- when a family has it, *everyone* seems to have it - grandma, the kids, mom & dad. The really funny thing to watch is in restaurants, when a phone rings somewhere, and you get the "Is it mine?" "Is it mine?" effect, everyone looking around and grabbing someplace to see if it's theirs. That's commonplace at tradeshows & networking events for business, but seeing kids do this was kind of novel. ;)

To your wireless Internet access point, looked to me that it's still more about straight v2v communications and mobility than it is about wireless messaging apps, whether you're talking about email or SMS. Didn't see any web access via handhelds per se, though the kids *love* SMS, and the games on the phones. As I understand it, Scandinavia is really in the vanguard with the use-the-phone-to-buy-a-soda and other cell-phone-in-lieu-of-a-card-swiper apps.

Wireless technology will be incorporated into all sorts of standard business operations, in the way that Fedex & UPS have incorporated it, and 3PL, fulfillment & distribution entities have. Eventually, we'll wind up with an analogue to the Star Trek communicator.

What I think about with this kind of wireless integration, though, is that while we're busy "untethering" in our 24/7/365 world, we are moving towards being *always* reachable. That's a tether of a different color.; ) Liberation to go anywhere and do anything may not be all it's cracked up to be, if the business culture doesn't keep up with the social implications inherent in that. We could easily surrender control over when we should be and need to be offline, especially in the interests of good business.

If we manage to get the GSM thing happening in more places, we'll soon have the SMS capability of our counterparts in Europe, and that'll be fun. There's a lot going on in the Palm space, I'd look for innovation there - with GPS in my device and restaurant/movie guides, I could come out of a movie and locate nearby restaurants that are open and vice-versa, maybe even find an ATM. And there are some plays to the GenY wireless market that should pop out later this year. If Europe is any indication, that'll be very hot indeed.
(JP, Santa Monica, California, USA)

***

In Switzerland, they expect, that by the end of 2000, 70% of people will have a cell phone, by the end of 2001 90%. Faster growth than everywhere else. WAP is already working and it is a very short way to m-commerce (mobile-commerce), some have already started. You need no watch, no money, no credit card... you have a smart-chip... although, SWATCH, the world biggest watchmaker (has a joint venture with HP) brings out a new watch, with an integrated phone...
(R.S., SWITZERAND) 

***

I strongly believe wireless technology has a tremendous advantage over conventional connectivity. New technologies such as bluetooth, and the mobile systems offer advantages for quick connectivity for easing communications and for ease of setup. With the phasing out of address books to PDAs already using infrared technology and compatible communication with laptops and mobiles, several new inventions are brought quicker to the market as standards adopted are becoming more common to all parts of the world. It is pity that the iridium project had to fail else that was a another good technology - but seemingly too early for its time particularly in terms of cost competitiveness of mobile telephony.
(Prem Bajaj, Bombay, INDIA)

***

I would make a distinction between cellular phone and more general wireless devices.

While the meaning of cellular phone is pretty obvious, I consider wireless device “the next thing”, where phone capabilities are integrated into a palm computer (or vice-versa). Cellular phone are widely used in Europe for different reasons, like:

• Pure need (Sweden, Norway …)

• Better marketing (Less expensive entry plans for the family)

• Status-symbol (i.e. Italy, where having a cellular phone is like wearing an Armani suit)

Personally I do not see US catching up quickly on the cellular phone expansion. However I see US market “jumping” quickly on “the next thing” and leading the market.

Web capability such as browsing, searching, shopping, e-mail will be done through completely wireless devices in the near future (2001). And in the meanwhile (next 6 month) we will enjoy devices based on Blue-tooth technology (www.bluetooth.com)
(A.G., Silicon Valley, California, USA)

***

I definitely believe that Wireless adoption will rapidly grow, however US will have a hard time to fully catch up Europe (Western Europe) as this year US demand for cellular phones is still half way from Western Europe in terms of million users. According to a publication in Business week in the US users of cellular phone will reach 50 millions by 2001, while in Western Europe it will reach around 100 million. It is worth saying that Eastern Europe is very different as Western Europe and confusion shouldn't arrive in mixing both as the differences in cellular penetration are huge (The East might represent only 10% of Western European users).

As people become more mobile, consolidation of devices and communication tools will arrive very soon. Wireless applications represent a great opportunity to end-users to have everything 'at a hand'. As soon, as security, interactive features, and mass is reached, wireless applications will easily become a business standard.

They are so many, going back to previous questions, as soon as consolidation comes, security is solved,  and they reach critical mass, then a standard will float. Today there are several technologies available or in concept coming from several companies like Nokia (3G terminal concept), Docomo (video watch concept), Panasonic smart phone, Palm (wireless), etc. All are aiming to a consolidation of communication devices like personal info, telephone, internet (including email and commerce), camera (either like a watch or like a palm type), color screens, interactivity, on-line shopping, etc. In the case of cellular phones, the least thing they will be useful for will be to make a phone call.
(Maria Luisa Rodriguez, e-co consulting ltd., Paris-London)

***

Absolutely.  While cell phone adoption is ahead in Europe, according to Gartner, Wireless data adoption is about even between the US and Europe.  The use is very data centric and will demand access to IT applications and content anytime/anywhere.

As the devices and networks become ubiquitous, enterprises will start deploying apps on them.  E-mail will come first, then other packaged applications that are important to mobile professionals.

Cool - Real, working email is the most important app.  Today's phone-based wireless web apps are too simple, and have only limited content.  It think that we will start to see an explosion of content on the Phones and PDAs.
(David Reske, NowSpeed, Inc., Framingham, Massachusetts, USA)

***

When reading all your concerns about the wireless+ future of the US, I think you are right. It seems that the US is ahead in developing device gadgets but not in applying Ubiquitous

Computing to the business of today. With this I mean really integrating these dedicated services into the existing business and creating a fundament to build on.

What we are working on is integrating all kinds of wireless systems to a spontaneous network with Jini, Sun's technology in combination with Bluetooth. It's capable of supporting federations of service and also connected spontaneous while entering a building or car or the tennis court. Services available depending on the environment you are in.

We built a prototype for mobile workers on the road where it is easy to hook up all kind of services. The status of the mobile worker is made transparent for the client and company, its route is not fixed at the start of the day because all kinds of interferences can take place while driving that route. The route can be adapted dynamically, for instance because a customer cancels the appointment or if there is a road-block because of a car accident. The company is able to change the schedule, the driver will never notice that there was a traffic jam because he was rerouted by a navigation system.

Third parties will join the federation to provide their services like for instance McDonalds or Traffic Jam information or real estate or what so ever. Our next steps are to try to form a community so we can expand the federation of services so we can use information data not only for one particular service but reuse it for other services as well. This we will create new services were we will not be aware of right now. They will just pop up by combining services.

We already implemented Internet services on the phone with technologies :WAP ,XML and oracle (portal to go)

What we as Europeans know is that we should work together with the US because being each others rivals is a wrong philosophy. Only by joining forces we will survive. I think the US is really ahead in architectural models of what so ever. I always get my input from the US Internet sites. So don't underestimate yourself.
(K.B., NETHERLANDS)

***

I don't think this US will catch up this year. The infrastructure for mobile communication in Europe is much more standardized on a country level and even on European level. And prices are still getting cheaper and cheaper.

Wireless technology will be incorporated into all sorts of standard business operations where it is real suitable. For example the use of a HERTZ hand-terminal when you return your rental car (done within a minute). Use of a cellular phone for digital authorization in business processes (integration within the workflow system).

In the next six months we should see the cellular phone as an electronic payment system. The integration of a cellular phone with a GPS system. Integrating wireless devices in workflow processes for faster response time and for communication with employees on the road.
(P.B., Hoogeveen, NETHERLANDS)

***

Today the mobile phone, tomorrow the multi-video conference call.
(Paola Parmendola, Roma, ITALIA)

***

WAP though took of in Europe and Japan will spread along to USA and also to Asia pacific because of its accessibility and easy tools to link. Though hickups continue in these technologies, I foresee lots of utility and usage by B2B segments also G2B...
(P.M., INDIA)

***

The United States will not make a significant technological 'catch up' this year - but an increase in awareness and volume of users will provide synergy for coming years. WML is so easy to implement, I am sure wireless will be in all of our near futures.  Companies will be incorporating incentive programs to get their employee base 'connected', making for a win win for all involved.

Regarding cool applications, I like the dictionary, translation, travel directions, notification aspects and of course linking to my personal online database. Within the next six months - hard to say, probably more of the same with some collaboration applications on line. Looking a little further, I think connecting voice with data will bring many more new applications not found elsewhere.  And of course I can't wait for up to the minute traffic updates.  ;-)
(Bruce Peat, eProcess Solutions, Silver Spring, Maryland USA)

***

I lived in the U.K. from 1989-91 and I was amazed at how they were practically giving cell phones away if you signed up for the wireless service. I had just paid $1500 for a Motorola "Brick" in the U.S. prior to going to London and thought I had a deal. When I returned to the U.S. in 1991 I didn't see the price come down on Cell phones and wireless service until about 4-5 years

later. So judging from this example I would not predict in 2000, that the U.S. would "catch up" with the EC countries or the progressive Asian nations. I would estimate more in the 2001-2002 time frame.

I think wireless will certainly be incorporated into many business applications, we will become a wired world for good or bad.

I foresee all sorts of "cool" wireless apps innovations the first being apps that will allow busy execs and their staffs to better manage their travel whether by air or automobile or public transport. The integration of GPS technology with notification systems with wireless voice and data will open limitless possibilities. For example, a wireless device that could:

• Provide you voice and map directions to quickly get you to the airport
• Automatically log miles to/from the airport (for expenses)
• Tell you if flights are on time
• Plot another flight schedule for you from point A to point B and book your E-ticket for that flight

• Indicate where there is available parking in the airport facilities or provide voice directions to the car rental return.

• Tell when the next shuttle bus will arrive to pick you up based on real time transmission from the shuttle bus
• Transmit your revised flight schedule and expense items back to your Admin Asst. with a push of a button
• Tell you if that kid, that pushes on the back of your seat and crys the whole flight around the world, is on this flight

(Bill Webb, Cupertino, California, U.S.A.)

***

I am a Swiss banker working in San Jose. I just came back from a trip to Switzerland. Cellphones everywhere (in Switzerland we call them "handy"). It is expected, that cell phone penetration is over 70% in Switzerland at the end of this year.

I really do not believe that the US will catch up to Europe in the next few years due to:

·        no us-standard like GSM in the rest of the world.

• costs are much to high in the US comparing to Europe
• the US is an pc-focused country, with a big pc penetration
• the phones sold in the US are not as cool as in Europe, it is a la mode to have the coolest peace of cell phone and to send messages from everywhere (sms-service.... short message service), specially by the young population.
• the US cell phone are not state-of-the-art comparing to the phones in Europe, technologicly they are about 2 to 3 years behind

I really believe, that wireless technology will be incorporated into all sorts in business operations, think especially in Europe and Japan. Today, only 7% of the worldwide population have a pc at home. Many countries are not "wired" or not good enough that the "wired internet" can spread (india, africa for ex.), so these countries will take the "leap frog"-tactic and just jump over direct to wireless without even trying to wire the country... (unaffordable). I think, that the wireless devices are used more focused, you will not browse for hours on your WAP-phone, you just get a stock alert, because one of your stocks has hit a certain level... or in business to track, e-mail. I am not really sure that w-commerce will be a big thing (w2c), unless for really common goods or for download information.

WAP-handys are sold in Europe already, Sprint has an other standard in the US. Smartcards in your cell-phone will come sooner or later to the US. Swiss-based SWATCH will bring this year a watch on the market with integrated cell phone. Everything goes in a direction of an all-in-one tool, a kind of the "Swiss army knife of the new century" with watch, cellphone, e-mail, voicemail, outlook, credit card, smartmoney, passport, drivers licence, skipass, 49ers season ticket all in one.... but at the end the result, at least in the wired parts of this world will be a multi-channel, wireless Internet and wired Internet.
(Rolf Scherrer, San Jose, California, USA)

***

There is an example I've heard of where one can dial up a toll-free number at a vending machine and it will bill your cell phone account for the drink you wish to purchase.  I think that applications like this will be lucrative because the US market is still uncomfortable with e-cash.
(C.S., Westlake, Ohio, USA)

***

I don't think the US will catch up.  Europe had challenges for years with their restrictive communications practices.  This fostered their embrace of wireless.  In the UK everyone seems to have a mobile phone/device.  We still have incomplete coverage here in BC (mountains).

The potential is there for wireless to be incorporated into business applications.  I am waiting for the tools to appear.  What's available today is too clunky.  I have used a palm pilot and cellphone for several years.  I'd like to see those morhped into one compact unit.   That would be very useful to me to keep track of people and hardware for our 7x24 operations.

I see that Palm and Sony are talking.  The results of a partnership there could be interesting.  Apart from business use imagine a water resistant device with voice/email/internet capabilities that incorporated a GPS receiver.  Download some tide/current prediction software and go kayaking.  Throw in eChart for added value!
(P.S., Victoria, Brittish Columbia, CANADA) 

***

In the year 2000, I don't see the mobile Internet in the US to rise to the level of Europe or Japan. In the next 1-2 years the rise will be exponential but it will still take a bit of time before the carriers have internet enabled wireless networks available for common use and to handle the bandwidth of many millions of mobile device users. Because the US has such an incredible landline infrastructure there is not an immediate need to jump to wireless. In Asia Pacific and Europe there was a leap-frog effect over landlines right on to the wireless realm. This has pushed forth the mobile Iinternet use and new mobile technology development in those regions.

With the infrastructure soon in place, the US will see a rapid boom that will surpass the number of mobile Internet users in both Europe and Japan. Although we will have a larger number of users the overall reach will be smaller than countries like Finland, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, or Japan.

Wireless technology such as Bluetooth and PAN's (Personal Area Networks) will definitely be integrated into many (not all) parts of business operations. What would happen if you have a meeting this afternoon at a client site and you forgot to print out the slides, of course you can't find a disk and you lost your dongel? Using BlueTooth technology you'll just wirelessly tell your laptop to print out your notes at the closest printer. Infact, everyone elses laptop and the projector will be BlueTooth enabled and your client will follow your presentation on their own computers...All without the use of wires! This type of wireless environment will allow us to be much more efficient. We will be able to go anywhere and sync up with other devices at any time.

Personally, I think that BlueTooth will die out or change soon simply because of the short range (30m) of the networks. This infrastructure will be too much to install with technology moving so fast. There will be a supercessor that is more universal and creates a larger network. The creation of these large networks that can decipher individual wireless devices will be the end result and will really launch wireless business operations.

In the US currently there are many tools that can make a business more operational, efficient, or practical but are not used because of initial financial or time costs. This will be the same with wireless applications. The true leaders and organized companies will make the investment to ensure the long term will be more efficient. Of course, we can't forget the privacy concerns that are important to the sensitive material in an office and for these reasons the wireless technologies will take a bit longer than we want to actually become a reality.

Current Hardware: SMS enabled phones and alphanumeric pagers, WAP-enabled phones, PDA's, Windows CE devices, Pocket PC's

Current Applications: Being able to check driving directions (MapQuest.com), purchase theatre tickets (Ticketmaster.com), find restaurants in a new city (RestaurantRow.com), or purchase books (Amazon.com) are all some of the coolest things going on the mobile internet right now.

In the near future: Voice enabled Internet access will become more mainstream. This will do away with the annoyingly small numeric keypad-turned-keyboard on mobile phones. More and more e-commerce sites will become m-commerce enabled, making the sites more accessible. Advertisements will become much more personal by tapping into your personal notebooks and offering discounts or incentives based on your own schedule. If an advertiser knows you haven't had a haircut for 6 weeks then Vidal Sassoon will send you a personal message that offers a discount at their salon.
(Parijat Gandhi, Beyond Interactive, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA)

***

Rapid Adoption in 2000 in U.S.  No, the applications will not be as rapid as one may think.  For several reasons, that are actually detrimental to e-Business. One the U.S. has an enormous infrastructure invested for non-mobile computing.  Literally, there are millions of pages of webpages-designed and functioning that require high-speed bandwidth and would not be compatible with small wireless displays on cell type /pda/palm devices.  Remember the html code depends upon the browser. Therefore a good user interface perhaps with xml type code needs to be provided.

Cell phone technology currently does not support much bandwidth. Europe has bandwidth, but they are running out of URLs with their plans to RF tag everything. In Europe, they are talking about the ubiquitous or 'disappearing computer".  The European view is a tie-in with the GPS so they essentially will have RF-ID tags on everything objects as well as people.  There are early adoptors as we know it, but applications are needed for enterprise and b2b areas. For Eal adoption REAL time and location problems must be solved.

One problem area needing some solutions might be in construction.  For example projects where an onsite construction superintendent might be able to call in a website an ERP type app. to find out when his R-Bar is coming , which would automatically interface to the vendor's order status page to see when the r-bar will arrive.  Perhaps the GPS can locate shipment and relay info to the contractor.  Need something that is both time-critical and location critical.

The cool application attracting attention will be the gadget guy who needs to check his stock prices and do his trades via wireless on the fly.  Pity, airlines do not allow operation of cell devices in flight--have to go through their ATT system. The Oracles, SAPs combined with the Nortels, Lucents Nokias, will be the big players pouring money, buying technology companies, investing in infrastucture to make this happen. 
(H.C., Silicon Valley, California, USA)

***

Wireless applications - business: I can see tremendous potential for business, especially with the increasing demand for real-time service for the customer.

Applications:   Customer profiles available through wireless, this is especially important when enroute for face to face meetings (still an essential component in customer and business relations)

Past customer orders: tracking the purchase trends of your customers

Customer specifications for complex design requirements: data available in real-time, updatable and communicated back to the design center or shop floor immediately.

Financial sector: track what is happening in stock markets, or what analysts are projecting in specific sectors - helps businesses stay absolutely current with the missiles coming over the horizon and can keep tactical planning and operational management current.

Selective about information: Wireless technology will help businesses with all the information noise.  You can identify and set up the types of information you need to monitor, analyze it and distribute throughout organization far more efficiently because you don't have the burdens of typical information hardware (PCs, notebooks, etc.).

Streamline systems: businesses are loosing ground because of complex information and operational processes.  Wireless applications enable greater human interaction, problem solving, and provide an essential tool to simply complex, cobbled information systems. 

Big Benefit:  Enables the business person, and the business to travel lite and go fast - minutes are $$. Another sector where wireless can achieve major savings that we would all like is Government. The applications are unlimited:

Fish and Wildlife: able to work remotely, without a lot of files and upload and move information around easily - processing data is done at the office site, rather than in the field - enables staff to have more time to do the "work"

Health Care: your virtual office can go with you when you visit patients - patient or family files updated on the spot, rather than waiting for the professional to get back to the office, update the file, the file gets lost, etc.  Eliminates service bottlenecks.

Building Safety: Inspectors can get out to the building site and have all the information they need about a building at their finger tips, they can determine equivalencies or access latest product or building code advisories and work with the builder to keep the project moving forward efficiently.

Cool wireless applications include multi-media streaming via wireless.
(J.M., Victoria, Brittish Columbia, CANADA)

***
I do not think US will catch up to EU in wireless in 2000. Too many other alternatives. Eventually, if fiber does not provide the main link, wireless will grow beyond cell phones. As it now stands, wireless just seems too small a slice of the communications aps to grow dramatically.
(A.L.)

***
I believe that the U.S population is becoming used to "virtual" money made possible by wireless communications. With the steady increase of vendors (from dry cleaners to gas stations) who allow purchases via an ATM card this may eventually become the standard method of payment.

(L.F., Sunnyvale, CA, USA)

***
Not too many people have PC in Japan while it's completely opposite here in the US. Cell phone is the next alternative if you want to go on-line or get email from your friend. US needs a break-through technology, in other words, we need a hot product to make it fly.

There are three or more cell phone systems in the world now. Until they have a standard system with a tight security then it will definitely works in business. I think the future is voice command, Microsoft is spending tons of money in this field. Imagine every cell phone has a Windows voice command, wow!!
(J.Y)

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