Part 2: Coverage Areas

Getting the perfect combination of device and application isn't just a matter of picking the appropriate programming language or screen size. A big influence is the type of wireless network coverage that is available for the intended device. As any cell-phone user knows, the local signal strength will vary as you travel around a metropolitan area and from city to city.

The same is true for wireless data, and coverage is not as good as the voice cellular network. Some networks don't work well inside buildings, for example. Some devices, such as the Palm VII, don't offer any choice of wireless network, so it is critical to understand where these devices will be used and how strong the signal will be. Different BlackBerry models support one of two wireless networks. Pocket PC and Windows CE devices have a PC card slot that can support a wide variety of wireless network adapters.

Chicago Systems developed a wireless portal for municipal building inspectors that enables them to provide real-time report submission as they travel around Chicago doing their inspections.

"The hardest thing was getting the inspectors used to working with the wireless network," says Molly Mangan, senior principal at Chicago Systems. "For example, what happens when their connection goes away when they go inside a building? We had to code into the application a way to cache the information on the page, until the users can get their connection back when they go back outside."

One good piece of news is that roaming around the country isn't a problem, since all of the wireless data networks have been designed to make this easier. But that doesn't mean that devices will operate everywhere.

Part 3: Gateway Provider vs. Wireless Middleware Vendor
Part 4: Top 5 Questions to Ask Before Developing a Wireless Portal