XML and WML integration: An analysis and strategies for implementation to meet mobile commerce challenges

The market for providing mobile content for wireless devices is currently growing at a phenomenal rate. Competition to provide this content is being waged upon the technologies that support wireless communications to display rich media content for those wireless devices. The integration of XML and WML technologies would provide the necessary functions and capabilities to deliver this dynamic content to WAP enabled cellular phones. This article first gives an overview of XML and WML technologies and then explores the rationales for the integration of the two by examining the driving forces, justifying the use of the two to provide mobile content, and analyzing two associated integration aspects. The study further presents three strategies for XML and WML integration with three case studies of vendors' applications, and addresses the roles of integration facilitators. Finally, future implications and market considerations are discussed. The intention of this study is to analyze the current mobile market, and show how using XML and WML technologies can enable businesses to provide mobile content to cellular phone users.