View Full Version : Web Services browser for Pocket PCs released
Andy Sjostrom
06-03-2002, 05:21 PM
<a href="http://www.businessanyplace.net/?p=webliquid">http://www.businessanyplace.net/?p=webliquid</a><br /><br />I am happy to announce the release of WebLiquid, the first universal Web Services browser for Pocket PCs! As some of you may know already, my fellow MVP Christian Forsberg and myself run the "enthusiast site" <a href="http://www.businessanyplace.net">businessanyplace.net</a> and together we have put together some Web Services bits that run on connected Pocket PCs. With the release of WebLiquid we also launch a Pocket PC Thoughts Web Service that you can use to get the first page of this site faster than ever! More Web Services for use from your Pocket PC and with WebLiquid are on their way!<br /><br />Web Services is a common name for the fastest growing Internet content and functionality standard. WebLiquid enables you to use any third party Web Service, listed in the WebLiquid Web Services Directory, from anyplace! If you are looking for a particular Web Service, you can visit and search a Web Services directory on the Internet.<br /><br />These are some WebLiquid features:<br />• Call and use any Web Service on the Internet, listed in the WebLiquid Web Services Directory<br />• Available Web Services currently include: Pocket PC Thoughts, News, Stock Quotes, Currency Exchange Rates, Weather Forecast, Dictionary, Translation, ATM Finder, People Finder, Package Tracking etc.<br />• View Web Service results in different formats including text, images and HTML<br />• Web Service results can be stored locally for offline reading<br />• WebLiquid can use any Web Service through the use of Pocket PC skins<br />• More Web Services are continuously added!<br /><br />We hope WebLiquid will inspire many more to start explore the new world in the cross section of Web Services and Pocket PCs!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?productId=31070&siteid=311">Download a full featured trial version</a>, or <a href="http://www.businessanyplace.net/?p=webliquid">read more here...</a><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/webliquid_1.gif" />
Web Services is a common name for the fastest growing Internet content and functionality standard.
Correct me if I am wrong, but web services means "communication over HTTP protocol and with use of XML format for the sake of information exchange ". Is your program, WebLiquid, using XML or is it just fetching HTML pages of some websites and hacking the content?
Chris Forsberg
06-03-2002, 06:34 PM
Short version: Actually, both!
Long version: You're right about the definition, and the underlying standard that Web Services is built on is called SOAP. SOAP defines the way XML is sent over HTTP for both requests and responses. And yes, WebLiquid uses SOAP to communicate with any Web Service (SOAP) source. The only thing residing on our WebLiquid Server is the skins (actually XML too) for formatting parameters and return values. Most Web Services that it consumes are provided by third parties and the Web Service requests are done directly from a Pocket PC (that is connected).
A few services, like the one for reading Pocket PC Thoughs, is actually a Web Services implemented on a server that reads the first page of this site and "scrape" (hack) off a few things (mostly images) to make the page load much faster. It then convert the content to a SOAP response (XML over HTTP) to the Pocket PC. If, however, the site natively implemented the Web Service, the WebLiquid client could call it directly.
This means that any content on the Internet can be made available as a Web Service and consequently made available to connected Pocket PC users via WebLiquid. If you have a Web Service that you would like to see in WebLiquid, please let us know, and we will create a skin for that particual Web Service and it's live. Popular Web Service directories can be found at http://www.xmethods.net/ and http://www.salcentral.com/.
If you have a Web Service that you would like to see in WebLiquid, please let us know, and we will create a skin for that particual Web Service and it's live.
yes, I would like you to make a news web service out of my site of WirelessSoftware.info! should I ask my friends to program some XML generation? in what XML format?
Santa Fe
06-03-2002, 10:31 PM
Great software. I purchased and registered my copy today and really do like it. I just need a better wireless system (currently modem to cellphone) but off line reference works well for some information.
Airline flight information would be a nice addition.
Jason Dunn
06-03-2002, 10:36 PM
How would this compare to Mazingo and AvantGo? A direct competitor, or more of a parallel product?
Santa Fe
06-03-2002, 11:06 PM
I see it as more of utility to provide current information wirelessly when away from the PC while Mazingo and Advango seem more bound to the PC. At some point, when wireless is available and easy to use, all will have to converge.
...
myself run the "enthusiast site"
...
Download a full featured trial version
...
wait a minute, "enthusiast" site that charges money? this is business not enthusiasm!
by the way: what is the difference in functionality between the trial version
and full commercial vesion ? expiration date? less functions? what?
Andy Sjostrom
06-04-2002, 08:21 AM
There is no functional difference between the full version and the trial version. The trial version expires after seven days. During these seven days, you can register the installed copy without the need for re-install.
When I was 13 years old and in 7th grade I wrote an essay about happiness. I wrote that "happiness is to develop software that do good things". I am happy I can share my Pocket PC enthusiasm with thousands of friends daily, spend hundreds of spare time hours and live my Pocket PC dreams. I promise that almost being able to handle one "dinner-with-my-wife-to-make-up-for-Pocket PC-work"-bill with WebLiquid revenue won't take away any of my Pocket PC enthusiasm and happiness! :-)
Andy Sjostrom
06-04-2002, 08:42 AM
They do very different things. Basically, Mazingo and AvantGo caches web pages for offline reading. None of them supports Web Services.
WebLiquid is an online Web Services browser that can store results of Web Services for offline reading. In some scenarios, the differences are not that big. The Pocket PC Thoughts Web Service sends the first page in HTML format to WebLiquid which in turn can store it locally... very similar to both Mazingo and AvantGo.
In essence, WebLiquid is about Web Services and is not intended to compete with AvantGo or Mazingo.
There is no functional difference between the full version and the trial version.
Andy, your WebLiquid (funny name!) is using some dedicated server of yours - according to the picture on your website. Does it mean that by buying your application the users gets right to use it (your server included) only 1 year? Or do you guarantee unlimited availability of your server? I am confused, could you be so nice and explain?
Andy Sjostrom
06-05-2002, 12:40 PM
Yes, you are correct. The user uses our server, the WebLiquid Web Services Directory Server.
The WebLiquid client needs a Web Service skin that tells the Pocket PC how to draw the input and output forms. In order to obtain available Web Services and their respective skin, the client connects to the WebLiquid Web Services Directory Server and requests the nescessary data.
Once the skin is retrieved to the Pocket PC, the user connects to the Web Service provider -- not our server.
We are thinking about making available the server software, so that other companies / persons also can host a WebLiquid Web Service Directory Server and at the same time add the feature in the client to make it possible to choose what server to use.
For the time being we are the only ones hosting such a server. We are working through a number of scenarios that depends on number of users, amount of data traffic, interest from Web Service providers etc. Depending on what happens we will do our best to continue to provide the service.
We are thinking about making available the server software, so that other companies / persons also can host a WebLiquid Web Service Directory Server and at the same time add the feature in the client to make it possible to choose what server to use.
Pity that you have your "Web Service Directory" based on ASP (Active Server Pages) technology and not PHP! If you would have in PHP I would be more than happy to host it on my site...
Chris Forsberg
06-06-2002, 09:01 AM
Pity that you have your "Web Service Directory" based on ASP (Active Server Pages) technology and not PHP! If you would have in PHP I would be more than happy to host it on my site...
Actually, the server software is not based on ASP but on running Windows 2000 Server.
We hope WebLiquid will inspire many more to start explore the new world in the cross section of Web Services and Pocket PCs!
I am using virtual display - LANDSCAPE MODE - in my iPAQ and WebLiquid IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY in landscape mode!!!!
To use it I need to reset the PocketPC and change the mode to standard - it is very troublesome...
could you make a version that works in landscape mode properly!?
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