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On the field updating: the new frontier in mobile applications
Most existing cellular 'phones are provided with Wap technology but only a very
small percentage of subscribers make use of the services available which are
based on this technology.
The main reasons for the lack of success of Wap in GSM cell 'phones is the poor
graphic interface, slow connections, high connection costs and the need to
switch over the circuit (so applications which must always be on cannot be
used).
The introduction of the GPRS communications package for new Wap devices
promises to remedy some of these problems. While we wait for the arrival of new
equipment with better graphic formats in order to fully realise the potential
of GPRS and, in the future, 3G systems, new applications are currently emerging
for use with existing equipment. These are the mobile data updating
applications.
These applications allow "roaming" users to update information in their company
computer system in real time..
In fact, often, the volume of data gathered on the field which is to be
transferred to the company computer system is not particularly large and does
not therefore require a particularly advanced user interface.
Data transferred in this way are immediately available for other mobile users
or can be interrogated from a fixed work station or used to execute automatic
data processing.
For example:
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Maintenance staff working in rural areas can send data regarding the
maintenance operation and hourly reports back to a central computer system
without having to return to headquarters.
-
Sales representatives of mass consumption goods at retailers (bars etc.) can
take orders and send them immediately to the warehouse in real time so that the
goods can be prepared straight away and perhaps even sent out the same day.
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Officials on the field in the lower leagues of various sporting activities can
transmit the results of competitions and matches to their sporting federation
in real time. The results can then be made available to supporters of the teams
who might be using a mobile device or conventional fixed station (Internet,
Teletext, etc.)
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