Apple Computers and the Betamax technology for video cassettes have one thing in common. Both were great products and technologies, that were extremely user-friendly, and both could not dent the market as was expected. IBM had managed to popularise the PC and VHS video cassettes are still in the market because the video cassette recorders that play them are far more popular and are industry standards. The lack of popularity of VCRs using Betamax cassettes saw the technology die away.

The moot point is that commercial viability of a product, especially in the high-tech business is enhanced once the product becomes a quasi standard in the industry. Having a product or technology serves the interest of many suppliers of materials and services. And when there are billions of dollars involved, as is the case in the mobile communications business, it certainly pays to develop industry standards.

In the mobile communications business there are three such initiatives being taken at the moment. Consider.

Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Forum, is a coterie of around 90 companies. The WAP Forum while making bold statements describes itself as the de-facto worldwide standard for providing Internet communications and advanced mobile services.

It has also developed a cousin for the hyper text markup language (HTML), the most popular Internet browsing language, called the wireless markup language or WML. This will enable handsets and mobile gadgets to interface with the Internet. Experts at the WAP Forum estimate that within the next three years there will be 525 million WAP handsets in the marketplace.

Bluetooth is another such congregation of like-minded corporates. With over 1,000 members, Bluetooth is named after a ninth century Danish king with a penchant to get all warring tribes together. Essentially, Bluetooth is the codename for a technology specification for small form factor, low-cost, short range radio links between mobile PCs, mobile phones and other portable devices.

It will enable users to connect a wide range of computing and telecommunications devices easily and simply, without the need to buy, carry, or connect cables. It delivers opportunities for rapid ad hoc connections, and the possibility of automatic, unconscious, connections between devices. The company claims that it will virtually eliminate the need to purchase additional or proprietary cabling to connect individual devices. Because Bluetooth can be used for a variety of purposes, it will also potentially replace multiple cable connections via a single radio link.

Further, it creates the possibility of using mobile data in a different way, for different applications such as "Surfing in the sofa", "The instant postcard", "Three in one phone", and many others.

Then there is the Symbian. In 1998, Psion, a UK based manufacturer, along with Nokia and Ericsson decided to turn its EPOC operating system into a standard that would enhance services and operatability of the mobile device. It has gained tremendous popularity since, with industry bigwigs like Motorola, NTT DoCoMo, Matsushita and Sun Microsystem jumping the bandwagon. Currently, Symbian is being viewed as front to avoid Bill Gates establish his supremacy in the wireless business. There is tussle expected in this end of the business and the brothers are expected to stick together.