August 21, 2001 – While next-generation mobile technology seems stalled by overall market woes, software developers say enterprises are still looking to expand adoption of wireless solutions.

According to new research by Evans Data Corporation, more than 550 developers who spend part of their time working on wireless applications plan to devote more time to wireless applications in the next 18 months, as they continue to adopt recently introduced wireless data technologies.

Additionally, Evans Data's survey, "Summer 2001 Wireless Developer," found that developers expressed significant interest in new wireless technologies, with more than two-thirds of respondents already using or planning to evaluate Bluetooth, an open-source standard for connecting devices without wires via short-wave radio frequencies. A significant number of developers are also moving toward the 802.11b IEEE wireless LAN standard, according to the respondents.

"Even though the public has adopted wireless data devices more slowly than expected, the wireless Internet continues to grow,'' said Evans Data wireless analyst Jay Dixit. "Even though sales have slowed down, wireless developers have not. The results of the most recent wireless developers survey show that application development in this field continues to accelerate."

Among other key survey findings:

• E-mail is the most prevalent application, targeted by 50 percent of developers, followed by instant messaging, consumer e-commerce and location-based services.

• 57 percent of respondents are developing applications for PDAs, and a roughly equal group is targeting mobile phones; 37.8 percent are also targeting notebook computers operating wirelessly.

• 18.8 percent of respondents are currently working with the 802.11b standard and another 41 percent are evaluating or expect to evaluate it in the future.

• Almost 45 percent of developers already working on wireless applications expect to occupy between 25 percent and 100 percent of their time in the next 18 months on wireless development.

• 60 percent of respondents plan wireless application deployment in the next six months.