Wireless Web technology assists in handset capabilities

How can the wireless Web be more functional on mobile devices? Vizario ((www.vizario.com)) thinks it has a perfect solution. The company has developed software technology designed for mobile phones, PDAs and portable PCs. The software assists companies that need distribution of image-intensive data to mobile devices for finding, encoding, decoding and displaying images.

Nokia has introduced a version of the Vizario solution for the Nokia 9200 Communicator series (www.nokia.com). The European market should expect the solution this fall, with a version for the Nokia 9290 Americas model following during the first half of 2002.

According to Jim Newcomb, Vizario president, the company, with the help of the operating system from Symbian ((www.symbian.com), developed a user-friendly client-server solution.

“Because Vizario features a graphic interface designed to use icons that minimize typing, it leverages the Communicator’s high-resolution color display,” he said.

Vizario also is working with Motorola (www.motorola.com), Compaq (www.compaq.com) and Hewlett-Packard (www.hp.com)) on its wireless Web solution. Designed to put new capabilities into the devices, Vizario will offer an integrated, end-to-end wireless solution for finding and displaying data.

How does the technology work? The product features a client-server publishing tool that allows content carriers, promoters and content providers to distribute media assets to end users through the Vizario client. It also incorporates a Web interface where end users personalize their wireless devices to add additional queries that deliver customized content. The solution can be deployed in Java and .NET-enabled handsets. The software is scaleable from simple text on 1G phones to interactive rich media over 3G wireless networks. Newcomb said in a statement that the solution “makes the slowest wireless Internet connection seem speedy while allowing next-generation devices to scale up to applications such as interactive video.”

In addition to working with manufacturers to develop solutions, Vizario’s parent company, Imaginon (www.imaginon.com), anticipates deployment on Windows CE and Pocket PC devices such as Compaq’s iPAQ and HP’s Jornada later this year.