WAP has flopped partly because today’s cellphones display only a few lines of
text at a time. So scrolling through a restaurant menu, say, takes an age. Now
Nokia is patenting a WAP handset that speeds up the ordering of a curry-house
takeout (GB 2347822). The trick is to make the menu hierarchical—just like
the menu that lets you set the phone’s ring tone and volume. You first see a
short choice of starter, main course and side dishes. From the main course you
branch to choices of vegetarian or meat, then lamb, chicken or fish, and so on
till you reach the dish you want. These short pages mean you never need to
scroll, says Nokia.
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