Access to Enterprise Applications Via Mobile Devices

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(04/26/01, 12:36:19 PM EDT)

Wireless Knowledge, Inc. and QUALCOMM have released Echo, software that simplifies the process of mobilizing Web-based enterprise applications. Echo enables businesses to quickly and cost-effectively create applications accessible on any Internet-ready mobile device -- from phones to PDAs to laptops -- using any browser on any wireless network.

Echo is a high-performance transformation engine that resides within a company's Web server(s). When a request for data is received from a Web-enabled mobile device, Echo determines what type of markup language the device requires and instantly translates the HTML output of the requested Web application into that markup language (HTML for Palm OS devices, HTML for Pocket PCs, WML or HDML for phones). Simply put, Echo sits on top of Web applications and transforms their HTML on-the-fly into the appropriate markup languages for mobile devices.

Unlike transcoding servers on the market today, Echo does not require maintenance of annotation or “screen scraping” rules when changes are made to the source code. Nor does Echo impose proprietary development tools or languages on an enterprise development staff.

Echo also allows enterprise users to securely access corporate data residing in strategic applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) software, as well as in proprietary applications and Web sites.

A key benefit of Echo software is that it insulates developers from the complexities of mobile device compatibility, allowing them to use the development tools their company has already invested in. Echo resides on the existing Web infrastructure, so it is lightweight, scalable, and mobile.

Echo currently runs on the Microsoft IIS 4.0 for Windows NT and Microsoft IIS 5.0 for Windows 2000 platforms. In addition, Echo is fully compatible with the soon-to-be released Microsoft Mobile Information 2001 Server Enterprise Edition. Future plans include support for iPlanet and Apache, as well as Linux and Unix operating systems.