First WAP-Based Portal in Europe

The Swedish company Eweave AB launched WAP-enabled web site for wireless
devices in Europe.

Palm Reach offers information and transaction services based on and adopted
to the new portable standard WAP (Wireless Application Protocol). The new
phones from leading suppliers as Nokia
and Ericsson, are expected to hit
the market in this summer.

“Our vision is that Palm Reach will be the default start page for all
personal electronic devices in Europe. In the first phase, our goal is to
have approximately 2 million users by the year 2001,” said Zaheed Haque,
president and CEO of Palm Reach.

The site and services are built for all languages in the European
Community, plus Norwegian and Czech.

The site are up and running in a beta version. Users can download a test
program which emulates the WAP phone service from Ericsson and Nokia.

The search function and some other services are operating in this beta
version, but more functions are expected in April and May, including
personalized messaging services, news, guides, e-mail and fax services,
and calendars.

The company planned the early launch so that testing will be completed and
all services will be running when the first WAP phones reach the market,
thereby establishing Palm Reach in the market early.

First to market is today a critical parameter for fast success, as can be
seen on many Net companies.