December 15, 1999 Web posted at: 12:37 p.m. EST (1737 GMT) by Marc Songini

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(IDG) -- Users looking to have their handheld devices securely tied to a wireless IP backbone may want to check out the latest offerings from Nokia.

The big mobile phone company is rolling out a set of products that will let users with cellular phones, personal digital assistants or other mobile devices easily access IP network resources. The company has also partnered with IBM and Hewlett-Packard to bundle the Nokia wireless software server on their NT boxes.

Nokia is backing wireless IP, claiming 10% to 15% of all handheld devices sold in 2000 will be Internet-ready.

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This week, Nokia plans to offer its WAP Server 1.0 to customers. The software lets any Wireless Application Protocol handheld device, such as a Palm or a cellular phone, handle a variety of tasks, such as e-mail retrieval or order entry.

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WAP Server sits on a Windows NT box and converts IP traffic to the Wireless Markup Language, an XML-based format that lets applications talk to mobile devices. The server authenticates end users via certificates. Developers can use the server to connect wireless devices to Internet applications based on Windows CE, Java, XML and other technologies, Nokia says.

The company claims it already has 10,000 WAP Server installations, 1,000 of which are in the U.S. To further bolster its market position, Nokia also recently announced the Nokia 71xx line of WAP-compliant phones, which will be available in the U.S. in the first half of 2000.

IBM will not only bundle Nokia WAP Server software on its NetFinity servers, but it also will offer it as an add-on to Nokia's middleware.

Wireless IP is a method to get data and applications out in real time to users so they don't have to boot up their laptops, says Peter Stevens, a vice president at Sabre in Dallas. Sabre offers computer flight-reservation services and has been testing the WAP Server on NT for cell phone users to book flights or access travel data on the fly.

WAPServer 1.0 can exploit existing IP data and programs -- it can be used with off-the-shelf products without "the pain and suffering of a special device design," Stevens says.

Pricing for WAP Server 1.0 starts at $10,000.