WAP technology was under fire again in Jakob Nielson's WAP Usability Report, launched this month.
In a study by his research consultancy Nielson Norman Group, WAP users in London performed tasks in laboratory conditions after using the phone on their own for a week. Seventy per cent said it was unlikely they would turn to WAP within one year of the tests.
"WAP is not ready for prime time yet, nor do users expect it to be usable any time soon," said Nielson. "We surveyed people who had suffered through the painful experience of WAP, and they definitely didn’t like it."
The report is likely to rekindle the fierce debate about the usability of WAP technology which was sparked earlier this year by a series of reports linking WAP with 'miserable' user experiences.
Marketing hype may also have raised consumer expectations to an unrealistic level. Critics say mobile users cannot 'surf the net' in any meaningful way despite what BT Cellnet claims.
Last month, mobiles were predicted to be the leading internet device within three years. Kurt Hellstrom, CEO of the mobile company Ericcson, based his forecast on the growth of text messaging via mobiles - 10 billion are currently being sent every month. He says there will be 26 million WAP-enabled handsets in the marketplace by the end of this year.
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