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By Lisa Burroughes, 7 June 2000 00:15

NEWS The honeymoon period for WAP is over and the pressure is on to make sure the reality delivers on the hype before users are swayed by rival mobile data technologies. A recent study by independent WAP-testing company anywhereyougo.com found that more than 30 per cent of Web sites designed for WAP haven't written the XML coding properly because developers have had to simulate access on a PC rather than using a handset. James Pierce, UK director at anywhereyougo.com, added: "Many products aren't complying with the WAP standards - for example Nokia and Ericsson have been trying to get products to market so quickly that they cut corners." Analyst house Ovum warned that if WAP doesn't prove its worth soon customer appetite will be dampened as other technologies overtake it. But in an exclusive interview with silicon.com at the Internet World show in London, Scott Goldman, the CEO of WAP Forum, remained confident. "This year will see a lot of those technical problems being overcome by one very simple thing. The WAP forum has put into place a very significant and substantial certification process that drives everybody's products and Web sites through a very rigorous process that has a reference pool of products," he said. Goldman added that as part of the certification program companies may have the XML on their WAP sites checked and given the WAP Forum authorisation. However, Michele Mackenzie, consultant at Ovum, warned that the window of opportunity for WAP is closing. "It is very difficult to win back a user that has been disappointed by their first experience of mobile Internet." Another possible threat looms for WAP in the shape of NTTDoCoMo i-mode technology, which it plans to launch into Europe. Jon Collins senior analyst at Bloor Research argued that it could lead to a two-horse race. And Collins warned, although WAP has the upper hand because of its incumbent market share, if it doesn't deliver on the hype soon users could start looking at the alternatives. You can see the full interview with Scott Goldman in silicon.com's Mobile & Wireless Channel (http://www.silicon.com/a37884 )