OXFORD, United Kingdom-Once again the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) has been consigned to the dust bin of failed technology by the U.K. consumer magazine Which?. The independent guide said the “concept of WAP was far more striking than the reality.”
The organization conducted consumer tests across four of the main U.K. WAP networks: BT Cellnet, One 2 One, Orange and Vodafone. Although BT Cellnet was found to be the most useful, overall the Which? panel found disappointing features from all the services, calling them more basic than expected. The organization said the major problems are slow or failed connections to WAP sites and services, while dialing and accessing sites not on portals is difficult with generally poor instructions.
Also, the panel concluded that short message service (SMS) text messages are far easier to send than WAP e-mails.
The magazine’s editor commented, “Like many first-generation technologies, the reality of WAP falls short of the hype. Improvements will undoubtedly come soon, but for now, many users-like those in our test-are likely to be underwhelmed.”
