Wireless entertainment is becoming one of the bright market spots on today's technology front. Whether it takes the form of games, picture messaging, videos, or music, wirelessly enabled entertainment is generating interest among consumers, handset manufacturers, and wireless network carriers alike. To date, the most profitable and well-received form of wireless entertainment is gaming.

Before wireless gaming can become a commercial success, however, it must overcome many of the same hurdles faced by other wireless applications. For now, the primary obstacle is that it requires users to have access to Internet-enabled mobile wireless devices, such as laptops, PDAs, or cell phones. Of these various devices, the cellular handset may prove to be the best solution. After all, it is the most prolific, pervasive, and inexpensive of these devices.

The problems go beyond the handset, however. Wireless gaming technology also needs a network and an infrastructure that supports wireless content. The bulk of wireless gaming is now performed on cell phones that are connected to a 2G network. But many carriers are in the process of completing 2.5G network updates or a rollout of 3G network systems. Next-generation networks, like 2.5G and 3G, offer more bandwidth and feature sets for mobile entertainment.

Content is another important factor in the successful implementation of wireless entertainment. The content itself must be compelling. Otherwise, users simply won't want to pay extra for the products. Nor will they pay to access the service.

One of the hardest lessons learned from the recent telecom meltdown is that content matters. In the '90s, many device vendors and network carriers seemed to believe, "If we build it, consumers will come." The "it" in the case of wired systems was miles and miles of fiber-optic conduits. For the wireless world, it was 2.5G and 3G networks. But as many device vendors and network carriers soon discovered, without viable content, consumers simply weren't interested in paying for the latest and greatest technology.

As a result, the surviving device and infrastructure providers have taken to heart this message: "Content matters." Many have developed new features using their existing systems, including Short Message System (SMS) and games. SMS technology allows users to send brief text messages from one mobile device to another.

Two-way SMS is a more advanced version of that technology. It allows users to play real-time, text-based games against either the computer or other opponents on the same network. Many lower-tech wireless games are based on SMS. They allow players to exchange brief text notes by typing into their handsets.

Cellular networks that support SMS may also allow picture messaging, as long as the handset provides compatible graphics. Many people believe that handset-enabled picture messaging is a vital step toward the introduction of more advanced applications—especially video.

Not surprisingly, many network carriers are creating incrementally new features to test the interest of consumers. Examples include picture messaging and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). The latter is an improved version of SMS. Using 3G networks, it allows cellular users to exchange multimedia messages like graphical postcards, video clips, and business cards.

According to David Chamberlain, Research Director, Wireless Internet Services and Networks for Probe Research (www.proberesearch.com), picture messaging and MMS are perhaps the most well received of the technology options. After all, they represent an extension of the current use of mobile phones: communication with others by voice, text messages, and e-mail. David Chamberlain notes that picture messaging doesn't require that the user change his or her way of thinking about a phone as a communications device. As long as the interface is kept as user friendly as possible, picture messaging should gain popularity.

Despite the possible success of picture messaging and other options, however, gaming remains the industry's main focus. The enormous revenue potential for games played on mobile phones has already resulted in a wave of new product research and development. When it comes to gaming, mobile phones have many disadvantages when compared to wireless laptops and even PDAs. They have small screens, primitive graphics (if any), limited processing power, little memory, and limited battery life. As with all mobile devices, unstable network connections also pose a challenge.

Game developers and device manufacturers have stepped forward to attack these challenges. TTPCom (www.ttpcom.com), for example, has developed a Wireless Graphics Engine (WGE) that greatly increases a handset's graphic performance. This software-based solution eliminates the need for additional hardware. It therefore maintains cost and battery life, while ensuring a quick time-to-market release. TTPCom's graphics engine is compatible with Java or C++ games. It runs on a full range of cell phones—from entry-level models to the full-featured smart phone.

Game playing on handsets also requires support for one of the major development environments, like J2ME or BREW. Both of these platforms permit users to download new games over-the-air (OTA). Yet each language has its own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to wireless development. (For more information on this topic, see "Java Faces Competition From BREW And .NET," Wireless Systems Design, Nov. 2002, p. 13-14.)