Generation UMTS

27th January , 2004

Europe France : French mobile network operator SFR has chosen Wapaka Web, Digital Airways' WAP simulator, for its new Vodafone live! multimedia service.

Entirely written in Java, Wapaka Web is an applet that can display any WAP service from a Web site. The simulator is used by telecom operators, portals, content providers and WAP site hosts.

Launched by SFR in October 2003, Vodafone live! is the French version of the Vodafone multimedia service, which, one year after its launch in 10 European countries (UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, Greece and Hungary) has become the beacon of mobile multimedia services, with 3 million users.

SFR uses Wapaka Web in three different contexts :

1.As a promotional tool on its Web site: with Wapaka Web, SFR web site visitors may discover all the Vodafone live! services, becoming familiar with them before subscribing to the service;

2.As a call center tool: the launch of Vodafone live! was accompanied by the setting up by SFR of a dedicated hotline. With Wapaka Web available from their work station, customer service representatives have the ideal tool: CSR can access the WAP services immediately, without the need for a mobilephone, and provide quick and effective assistance to the users. ;

3.As a demonstration and educational tool in SFR outlets: During the launch of Vodafone live!, the deployment of Wapaka Web in the 520 SFR outlets allowed the operator to organize live demonstrations and educational sessions for the visitors to discover the new service.

In 2004, according to Cahners, In-Stat Group, the number of WAP users in Europe is expected to reach the 200 million mark.
In order to meet this new demand, Digital Airways introduced a new version of Wapaka Web last September, to make it compatible with the WAP 2.0 standard, and to integrate the support of color and icons. It is this new version that SFR has chosen.

Wapaka Web is completely customizable and can be integrated to a Web page in minutes by the Web site developer. Because Wapaka Web is based on a real browser technology, the visitor can see a WAP service completely and interactively, just as it would run on the mobile phone. In addition, the server part of Wapaka Web (carrier grade proxy server) can be extended with optional modules such as: statistics, security, restriction of access to certain URLs, encryption, etc.

For the user, Wapaka Web is entirely transparent: it is loaded automatically with the Web page along with its elements (such as pictures) in a few seconds, just like any other applet. Wapaka Web makes full use of the desktop features, such as screen size, keyboard, mouse, sound, etc. and its appearance can be completely customized.

Wapaka Web is based on the Wapaka Engine micro-browser technology, which is already deployed across a wide range of platforms such as mobile phones, PDAs, etc.

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