Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
sites.can.offer.anything.from.a.simple.“electronic.bro-
chure,”.to.an.engaging.experience.of.a.product.or.ser-
vice.online..In.just.a.few.years,.Web.sites.have.grown.
from.being.static.and.“lat”.pages,.to.those.with.ani-
mated.3D.graphics.and.sound,.and.many.pages.are.
able. to. be. built. dynamically. depending. upon. selec-
tions.made..The.Web—it.is.what.most.people.mean.
by.“the.Internet.”
Wide Area Network:. A. communications. network. that.
extends.beyond.the.organization's.immediate.premises.
Wireless Access Point (WAP):. A.base.station.in.a.wireless.
LAN..Access.points.are.typically.stand-alone.devices.
that. plug. into. an. ethernet. hub. or. server.. Like. a. cel-
lular.phone.system,.users.can.roam.around.with.their.
mobile. devices. and. be. handed. off. from. one. access.
point.to.the.other.
Wireless Application Protocol:. A. standard. for. providing.
cellular. phones,. pagers,. and. other. handheld. devices.
with.secure.access.to.e-mail.and.text-based.Web.pages..
Introduced. in. 1997. by. Phone.com. (now. Openwave.
Systems),. Ericsson,. Motorola,. and. Nokia,. WAP. pro-
vides.a.complete.environment.for.wireless.applications.
that.includes.a.wireless.counterpart.of.TCP/IP.and.a.
framework.for.telephony.integration.such.as.call.con-
trol.and.phone.book.access.
.
. WAP. features. the. Wireless. Markup. Language.
(WML),.which.was.derived.from.Phone.com's.HDML.
and. is. a. streamlined. version. of. HTML. for. small-
screen. displays.. It. also. uses. WMLScript,. a. compact.
JavaScript-like.language.that.runs.in.limited.memory..
Supporting.both.keypad.and.voice.recognition,.WAP.
is. independent. of. the. air. interface. and. runs. over. all.
major.wireless.networks..It.is.also.device.independent,.
requiring.only.a.minimum.functionality.in.the.unit.so.
that.it.can.be.used.with.a.myriad.of.phones.and.hand-
held.devices..See.WAP.Forum,.HDML,.and.i-Mode..
See.also.Wireless.Access.Point.
