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Name of Site: CellMania.com
URL: http://www.cellmania.com/
Plug-Ins: No
Navigability: Easy
Graphics: medium, Good Quality
Internal Links: 30
Review: CellMania have integrated a store with a site directory, news/views
area and added personalization to keep their customers coming back for
more. A simple "top 5" chart in each category makes it easy
to get amongst the best on offer, or just go right to the various features.
Sites are rated, categorised well, and previewable in the emulator, but
one annoying thing is that the code that runs the site keeps timing out
so you have to keep refreshing the pages just because you went and made
yourself a coffee. Besides that, this feature-packed site is well worth
revisiting.
Verdict: For mobile maniacs. - SS
Rating: ****
Name of Site: Wap Forum
URL: http://www.wapforum.com/
Plug-Ins: No
Navigability: Easy
Graphics: Medium, Medium Quality
Internal Links: 15+
Review: For the rock bottom price of US$27,500, you can join the forum
and help steer the future direction of Wireless Application Protocol.
They set the standards, certify, test and look for ways to improve the
functionality and usability of WML. The members' list shows that WAP is
a serious contender as an option now, and in the future, as the world
of switched-on free-range humans expands. If you can't afford the fee,
at least check the news regularly, and be sure to follow the WAP Awards
for what's hot in business, consumer and provider markets.
Verdict: Pow-wow of the big wigs. - SS
Rating: ***
Name of Site: E-World
URL: http://www.eworld.com.au/
Plug-Ins: No
Navigability: Medium
Graphics: Heavy, Good Quality
Internal Links: 20+
Review: At the time of review, this was essentially a great big shop for
all the gadget addicts out there. PDAs Mobiles, Computers, Printers etc.
There is supposed to be a new WAP portal/zone at mobilenews.com.au launching,
and hopefully by the time this goes to print you can check it out. E-World
seems to be running a tight ship, business-wise, so "Mobile News"
should carry the torch just as well.
Verdict: Great shop - SS
Rating: ****
Name of Site: Yahoo! Mobile
URL: http://mobile.yahoo.com/wireless/home
Plug-Ins: No
Navigability: Easy
Graphics: Light, Medium Quality
Internal Links: 10
Review: Straight to the point and very helpful in the set-up stages, Yahoo
want to get you up and running with their range of already established
services, with the advantage of mobility. All the news, stock quotes,
email, horoscopes, plus some great extras like "ToDo Plus",
add usability and interest to your hand-held connection. A plethora of
downloadable software solutions for palm devices, links to every enabled
site out there and a detailed tour through the services offered, make
Yahoo a winner once again.
Verdict: It helps to be an industry giant. - SS
Rating: *****
Name of Site: MobileWap.com
URL: http://www.mobilewap.com/
Plug-Ins: No
Navigability: Easy
Graphics: Medium, Good Quality
Internal Links: 30+
Review: Enhance your lifestyle now with top 40 ring tones, picture messaging,
the latest sites and the latest gear. A range of low-priced downloadable
extras are on tap here, as well as a large catergorized listing of sites,
a top 10, and site reviews. They are leaving the tecchie stuff to others,
as they concentrate on becoming a place where everyone comes for the cool
stuff. WAP emulator allows previewing of listed sites, and ring tones
are tested to make sure they will work, before you hand over your money.
Verdict: On the move. - SS
Rating: ****
Name of Site: WAPsites
URL: http://www.wapsites.com.au/
Plug-Ins: No
Navigability: Easy
Graphics: Medium, Good Quality
Internal Links: 5
Review: A modest but rather informative local offering, providing links
both local and international for the user and developer. A glossary for
the uninitiated will assist you at your next brunch meeting, and a nice
bonus is a "who's who" listing of Aussie players in the burgeoning
industry. If you have the next big idea for sticky phone marketing or
viral interactive mobile gaming, print this list out and start door-knocking.
Verdict: Thanks for the tips. - SS
Rating: ***
(reviewers pick)
Name of Site: WAP.com
URL: http://www.wap.com/
Plug-Ins: No
Navigability: Easy
Graphics: Medium, Good Quality
Internal Links: 30+
Review: After shelling out big bucks for the name, WAP.com has set about
becoming the place to come for all things WAP, and they are having a fair
crack at it. This is for the user, not the developer, so there are plenty
of links, services, faqs, reviews, and all the cool stuff that can turn
your phone from a two-way radio into a personal vortex to the universe.
A great introduction, and ongoing companion, to the keen Wapper.
Verdict: They've got it all Wapped up. - SS
Rating: *****
Name of Site: Wap Browser
URL: http://www.gelon.net/
Plug-Ins: No
Navigability: Easy
Graphics: Medium, Good Quality
Internal Links: 6
Review: All the tools you need to get stuck into the WAP surfing and page-building
game. A simple site, but plenty of great links to downloadable software
tools to begin designing WAP pages, and their own "Wapalizer"
- a phone emulator that lets you preview WAP sites. The link section is
rapidly growing as sites begin to create WAP versions of their traditional
HTML pages. A wide range of devices are catered for, and an active forum,
as well as links to the major manufacturers for specs and latest info.
Verdict: Seeing is believing. - SS
Rating: ****
Name of Site: Mobile Commerce World
URL: http://www.mobilecommerceworld.com/
Plug-Ins: No
Navigability: Easy
Graphics: Light, Medium Quality
Internal Links: 30+
Review: Mobile networks have opened up whole new disciplines of marketing,
commerce, business-modelling and information dissemination. Here we have
a place where all the issues - from the exciting developments to the huge
challenges faced - are given careful consideration by industry experts,
opinion leaders, news gatherers and industry players. With over 400 million
mobile phones and counting, there is a lot to talk, learn and speculate
about. Membership is free and resources are plentiful, from books to conferences
to the latest industry trends.
Verdict: Everything you touch-tone turns to gold. - SS
Rating: *****
Name of Site: eWAP.com.au
URL: http://www.ewap.com.au/
Plug-Ins: Yes
Navigability: Easy
Graphics: Medium, Good Quality
Internal Links: 15
Review: Each new development in the communications revolution creates
a whole new set of opportunities. The phone created the need for a phone
book, the Internet brought about search engines, and now WAP calls for
directories of goods and services catering and tailored to the mobile
market. eWAP has set about offering a free listing to anyone who takes
the time to submit it, so that their directory, searchable via PDA and
phone, can provide a sizeable return on any query. It's growing, but unless
it grows real fast, it risks becoming just another one of the thousands
of directories already filling the web.
Verdict: Local WAP directory. - SS
Rating: ***
Name of Site: Strategy.com
URL: http://www.strategy.com/
Plug-Ins: No
Navigability: Easy
Graphics: Medium, Good Quality
Internal Links: 10
Review: Hailing themselves as the "world's first personal intelligence
network" the strategy here is to filter from a torrent of information
only that which the end user really gives a damn about. They do this through
all mediums including phones, pagers, email, PDA and fax, by gathering
information from multiple sources and sorting it according to what you
specify. Unfortunately it seems to be the same old news/weather/sports/finance
formula when the Internet could be so much more than that.
Verdict: Feeding the masses, one by one. - SS
Rating: ****
Name of Site: My Wap World
URL: http://www.mywapworld.co.uk/newhome/index.htm
Plug-Ins: Yes
Navigability: Easy
Graphics: Heavy, Good Quality
Internal Links: 30+
Review: Although under some major redevelopment at the time of review,
the area that was still up and running shows the world how WAP can really
be utilized for practical everyday purposes. Dining, going to a show,
getting tanked at the local pub, meeting up with your buddies for a night
on the town - this is what the mobile lifestyle is all about. Download
free drink offers (redeemable at the local), get hitched for a date, go
clubbing, buy CD's. With the help of the map, you can even pinpoint a
suitable meeting spot. London based, but surely set to come to a city
near you. The WAP lifestyle has arrived.
Verdict: We like to party. - SS
Rating: *****
Name of Site: Anywhere You Go
URL: http://www.anywhereyougo.com/
Plug-Ins: No
Navigability: Easy
Graphics: Medium, Good Quality
Internal Links: 100+
Review: Any business with an on-line presence has to begin considering
the implications of mobile technology. Will everyone discard the desktop
PC for pocket-sized personal portals? This web site is for developers,
giving you a broad and comprehensive range of tools and information to
get you up to speed on what it will take to join the stampede. Specialist
group discussions, software downloads and a simple "5 steps to WAP
Development" should get you on your way. High-end developers and
novices alike will find what they are looking for in this technical gold
mine.
Verdict: All the tools you need. - SS
Rating: *****
Name of Site: AusWap
URL: http://www.auswap.com.au/
Plug-Ins: Yes
Navigability: Medium
Graphics: Medium, Good Quality
Internal Links: 20
Review: At the break-neck pace of development in the mobile Internet world,
AusWap has jumped in early to establish itself as an informative, helpful
and useful local presence for all WAP users. Add to that their skills
as developers, hosts and all-round service providers, for anyone who wishes
to deliver their goods and services to the mobile generation, and they
might just be in with a chance. Plenty of help, but perhaps a little undercapitalised
for the consumer market.
Verdict: Little AusWap battlers. - SS
Rating: ***
Name of Site: Internet.com's Wireless Internet
Resource Channel
URL: http://www.internet.com/sections/wireless.html
Plug-Ins: No
Navigability: Medium
Graphics: Minimal
Internal Links: 1000s
Review: Internet.com has integrated a mass of 'channels' into one big
portal that leads to everything imaginable in the mobile web world. Channels
for every device, format, genre, and entire communities of users and industry
members providing news reports, discussion, product reviews, sales, content,
newsletter subscription - the only problem with this place is information
overload. All you wanted to do was have a cool phone to impress your friends,
and buy theatre tickets.
Verdict: More is more, more or less... - SS
Rating: ****
Name of Site: [wapmebaby]
URL: http://www.wapmebaby.com/
Plug-Ins: Yes
Navigability: Easy
Graphics: Light, Good Quality
Internal Links: 6
Review: The new WAP division of Blue Sky Frog - who have been making a
splash in the SMS pond - extend their commitment to making phones fun,
useful and profitable. All you need to get started is here, including
set-up instructions for your phone, a growing range of links (previewable
on the web with a WAP emulator), your own free WAP page and some services
including email, sports, entertainment and news.
Verdict: It's all about having fun. - SS
Rating: ****
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