Better Browsing & Organization

What if you could create services that looked great, were easy to use, were easy to build and gave carriers significantly more control over their content? You can.

The adoption of XHTML Basic as the global standard browser language and the introduction of the cascading style sheets (CSS) to organize and present mobile content will take carriers to a new level of mobile Internet computing.

These developments, and the announced availability of new-generation, browser-enabled mobile handsets, represent significant steps toward 3G capabilities.

To understand what these advances mean to carriers, developers and mobile subscribers, let's examine the ABCs of these technologies.

XHTML represents the future of mobile computing. It'll be the foundation of next-generation WAP services, as well as i-mode services. It brings together the PC and wireless worlds under a single standard that's consistent, full-featured, familiar and ready to grow along with both industries.

XHTML Basic and CSS are great news for mobile carriers. CSS in particular gives carriers greater control over the look and feel of content delivered over their portals to wireless and wireline devices. With this new degree of control, carriers will be able to give their services specific identity — to give services their corporate stamp.

By improving the organization and presentation of content, CSS measurably improves the user experience. This is comparable to the leap forward achieved when computers went from command-line text input to the now-common GUI. XHTML and CSS bring this same GUI experience to mobile phones.

And why not? It's the same technology — XHTML and CSS — that make it possible on the PC. This leads to more usage and more repeat usage by customers maximizing the value and revenue carriers can expect to reap from their wireless portals.

Finally, the universal acceptance of a standard browser technology will no doubt help carriers attract developers and content providers and greatly expand the types of services that will be available.

Content developers also will reap substantial benefits from the advent of XHTML and CSS. By working in an accepted industry standard, developers can create content once and then offer that product to a growing universe of XHTML-compatible devices. The WAP Forum (www.wapforum.com) has moved to adopt XHTML Basic from the W3C (www.w3c.com) as the basis for WAP 2.0, and the broad uptake of this language will allow developers greater design and formatting freedom than before.

Because XHTML Basic is based on the same tags used in existing Web pages, developers can use familiar design and presentation tools to work in this language.

Consumers must choose between voice and data modes with the current generation of services. Once they are in data mode, the services are basic text lists with limited functionality. That's all going to change.

GPRS will make it possible for consumers to maintain data and voice connections simultaneously. The browser will be always on, and it'll be possible for users to toggle seamlessly between calls and services.

For the first time, it will be possible to create services that are tied to the location of the user, greatly improving their usefulness.

Users will be able to make a call from a phone number stored within a data service. For example, a restaurant could include a reservation phone number in its service. The consumer will be able to click on the number, and the phone automatically will begin dialing.

It also will be possible to store these numbers and addresses in the handset's phone book where they can be retrieved and dialed at the conclusion of the data session.

By incorporating graphics and better layouts, XHTML and CSS will give mobile consumers a more enjoyable and intuitive user experience. The expanding number of developers will result in an ever-expanding selection of services and a more useful and satisfying mobile computing experience.

Lines of bland text will be replaced with easy-to-read menus, interesting graphics, useful icons and relevant content that will keep consumers coming back. That's precisely what subscribers want from early 3G systems. That's what they can get from XHTML- and CSS-enabled mobile technologies.

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Chapple is with Nokia Mobile Phones.