MoPilot (also styled mopilot or mopilot.com) was a mobile website and portal designed for wireless application protocol (WAP) devices. It provided entertainment and communication tools optimised for the limited capabilities of early mobile devices and of early mobile web technologies.
 Company logo | |
.jpg){kind=logo} Logo as on mobile site in WBMP format | |
Type of site | WAP portal |
|---|---|
| Predecessor(s) | wapmap.com |
| Owner | WAP4.com |
| URL |
|
| Commercial | Yes |
| Launched | 2000 |
MoPilot was developed by WAP4.com as a successor and extension of their search engine WapMap.com.[1][2] The site was launched in 2000.[3]
Features
editThe MoPilot platform offered interactive features designed for WAP-enabled devices. It hosted downloadable content such as mobile games and applications, as well as online competitive games with leaderboards. It also allowed users to create their own user page and an email address.[4] The site had multiple chat rooms with custom alert features, private chat and friends list, a dating section, and a broadcast SMS service.[5][6] It also contained a search engine and directory for WAP content,[5][7] and displayed converted HTML web pages provided via a web crawler.[2]
Context
editThe platform was developed at a time when mobile internet was new, and most devices could only connect over simplified adapted protocols such as WAP or i-mode, limiting users' access to content from the wider web. Wapmap.com, the predecessor of MoPilot, was launched in 1999 as a search engine for WAP sites.[8]
Despite the limitations of WAP, MoPilot wanted to take advantage of rapidly expanding mobile internet use in the early 2000s, especially amongst young people.[2] At the time, such portals were often provided by mobile network operators for use only by their own customers, whereas MoPilot could be used on any WAP-enabled carrier internationally.[9] MoPilot partnered with businesses to develop services for the platform.[10]
As mobile technology advanced and smartphones became more popular, the use of WAP services was phased out.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "WAPMAP.COM SE LLAMARÁ MOPILOT.COM Y ANUNCIA UN PORTAL". Marketing Directo (in Spanish). 2 May 2000. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
- ^ a b c "Company Overview". MoPilot.com. 20 December 2004. Archived from the original on 2004-12-20. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
- ^ "mobile applications for a portable internet". WAP4.com. 16 May 2001. Archived from the original on 2001-05-16.
- ^ "MoPilot.com :: mobile is our mission :: Preview". MoPilot.com. 30 December 2004. Archived from the original on 2004-12-30. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
- ^ a b Kraynak, Joe (2005). Que's Official Internet Yellow Pages. Que Publishing. p. xviii. ISBN 978-0-7897-3408-2.
- ^ "chat.mopilot.com - mobile community". 2 August 2002. Archived from the original on 2002-08-02. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
- ^ Müller, Dietmar (1 December 1999). "WAP-Suchmaschine im Netz". ZDNet.de (in German). Retrieved 27 September 2024.
- ^ May, Paul (19 April 2001). Mobile Commerce: Opportunities, Applications, and Technologies of Wireless Business. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-79756-6.
- ^ "mopilot.com extends its range of mobile portal services". www.mobic.com. October 2000. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
- ^ "Partner Opportunities & Alliances". MoPilot.com. 20 December 2004. Archived from the original on 2004-12-20. Retrieved 27 September 2024.