Page 108 - DCAP512_WAP_AND_WML

WAP & WML

Notes “The software, which allows small and medium enterprises to set up a store front on the
Web sites, is at testing stage right now and should be functional by the third week of
October,” Mr. Yateesh Srivastava, Chief Operating Officer, Ecom, told Business Line.
“Talks are on with Citibank and HDFC bank for a payment gateway. We will also tie up
with two courier service providers, one in town and another in the suburbs, for logistics.”

The company plans to start with low-value items such as books, cassettes, CDs, flowers
and home furnishings in a co-branding exercise with 10-15 stores at a non-competitive
level.
“Eventually, we plan to set up a cyber mall and apart from a revenue sharing model, we
will charge for the application service,” Mr. Srivastava said.

With listings on the Web site expected to contribute 50 per cent of total revenue, advertising
20-25 per cent and the rest from e-commerce, the company expects to break even on an
investment of Rs. 3.5 crores by 2003.
Ecom will also venture into the wireless market in Delhi and Mumbai next month through
a tie-up with a leading cellular operator for its WAP (wireless application protocol)
offering, Mr. Srivastava said.
“Our USP will be a large database of localised content which is a strong strategy for
pulling in more customers. For instance, we have a list of 1,500 restaurants around town
and 15,000 local stores that our customers can chose from.”
He added: “Another unique feature will be our GPS mapping product which provides
driving directions for the two cities.
“The textual driving instructions are being transferred to WML (Wireless Markup Language)
for WAP content and will be available to customers in Delhi in the next 45 days, followed
by Mumbai.”
Apart from its foray into e-commerce and wireless, the company also plans to launch city-
specific portals in six other cities including Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Calcutta
and Chandigarh this year.

7.4 Summary

 WML pages are often called “decks”. A deck contains a set of cards.
 Wireless Markup Language (WML) is a markup language based on Extensible Markup
Language (XML) and was developed specifically for content and user interface for mobile
device.
 WML is a tag-based markup language designed after the model of HTML for Web content.

 The current line wrap mode controls how lines too long to fit on the screen are treated.
7.5 Keywords

HTML: Hypertext Markup Language
WML: Wireless Markup Language
XML: Extensible Markup Language

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