Java-Based WAP Microbrowser For Palm PDAs Debuts

Digital Airways has taken the wraps off the first Java-based WAP
(wireless application protocol) microbrowser for Palm
PDAs and Palm operating system-based compatibles.

Known as Wapaka, the full microbrowser builds on earlier technology
of the same name that is downloadable to users' PDAs as a Java
applet.

That technology, the firm said, was introduced in July 2000; since
then, several hundred Web sites are using the software to offer
WAP-based services.

Because the new WAP microbrowser has been written in Java, Digital
Airways said that it can work across most communications protocols,
including infrared, standard GSM data, GPRS (general packet radio
service) and Bluetooth PAN (personal area network) connections.

The new version of Wapaka has been coded entirely in Java, using Sun
Microsystems' KVM Java virtual machine, which means that the
microbrowser technology can be ported to any platform offering KVM.

Unusually for WAP microbrowser, Wapaka allows several WAP windows to
be open at once, just like on a regular desktop Web browser. This is
thanks to the software's multi-session and multi-windows environment,
the firm said.

Thanks to this multi-session approach, Wapaka also allows direct
access to other Palm OS-based applications, including handwriting
recognition services.

Digital Airways is at http://www.digitalairways.com .

Wapaka is at http://www.wapaka.com.