- From: Janet Daly <janet@w3.org>
- Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 07:30:21 -0800
- To: w3c-news <w3c-news@w3.org>
One of the biggest obstacles for access to the Web from different
devices has been the ability to get content delivered to the device in a
usable format. Today, W3C announces a standard way to allow devices to
communicate their configuration details and capabilities to servers.
CC/PP is an extensible framework that can be used for communicating the
delivery context (screen size, audio capabilities, bandwidth, etc) from
a device to a Web server, resulting in the delivery of Web content that
is usable on a given device. It also is the first W3C Recommendation to
use the Resource Description Framework (RDF), thus adding Semantic Web
capabilities.
For more details, please contact Janet Daly, W3C Head of Communications,
at +1 617 253 5884 or <janet@w3.org>, or contact the appropriate
Communications Staff member in your region, listed at the bottom of this
email.
=====================================================================
World Wide Web Consortium Publishes CC/PP 1.0 as a W3C Recommendation
W3C's new standard profiling language aids in delivering Web content to
broad range of devices
Web Resources
The CC/PP specification
http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/REC-CCPP-struct-vocab-20040115/
This press release
In English: http://www.w3.org/2004/01/ccpp-pressrelease.html.en
In French: http://www.w3.org/2004/01/ccpp-pressrelease.html.fr
In Japanese: http://www.w3.org/2004/01/ccpp-pressrelease.html.ja
Testimonials from Boeing, HP, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.,
MobileAware, Sun Microsystems, and Volantis:
http://www.w3.org/2004/01/ccpp-testimonial
http://www.w3.org/ — 15 January 2004— The World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) announces the release of the Composite Capability/Preference
Profiles (CC/PP): Structure and Vocabularies 1.0 Recommendation. CC/PP
1.0 is a system for expressing device capabilities and user preferences,
using the Resource Description Framework (RDF). Used to guide the
adaptation of content, a CC/PP profile describes device capabilities and
user preferences.
A W3C Recommendation is the equivalent of a Web standard, indicating
that this W3C-developed specification is stable, contributes to Web
interoperability, and has been reviewed by the W3C Membership, who favor
its adoption by the industry.
Making a Device-Independent Web Requires Improved Communication Between
User Devices and Web Servers
One of the W3C's primary goals is Universal Access. Users must be able
to use their choice of devices to access Web content, in ways that are
appropriate for their hardware capabilities, software, network
infrastructure, native language, culture, geographical location, or
physical abilities. CC/PP provides a standardized format of the
description of information that will allow Web-enabled devices to
effectively communicate their capabilities to the desired server.
In simple terms, it's been clear that there needed to be a standard way
for a cellphone or a personal digital assistant with Web access to be
able to say to a Web server, "I am a cellphone. My display size will not
allow me to see a framed site. Please deliver the content in detailed
lists instead." This is an example of what is known as a "delivery
context," where the device characteristics, user preferences, and
constraints put requirements on how content can be effectively displayed
on the device for the user.
CC/PP Provides a Foundation for Device Independence, Device Empowerment
This is precisely the purpose of CC/PP. CC/PP is an extensible framework
that can be used for communicating the delivery context from a device to
a Web server, resulting in the delivery of Web content that is usable on
a given device.
"CC/PP plays a vital role in supporting the ability of people to access
the Web from an increasingly diverse range of devices," explained Rhys
Lewis, Chair of the W3C Device Independence Working Group (DIWG) where
CC/PP is being developed.
"There is now a huge variation in capability between, on the one hand,
the smallest, most portable, Web-enabled devices and, on the other, the
typical personal computers and workstations that we've traditionally
used. Between these extremes are many other types of devices that can
access the Web, including interactive television systems, personal
digital assistants, smart phones and domestic appliances."
"By providing a stable framework for devices and Web servers to optimize
content delivery, CC/PP provides a foundation for a device independent
Web, and actual device empowerment," explained Lewis. "As CC/PP uses RDF
for the actual descriptions, we can foresee ease in sharing existing
profiles, and more easily combining and creating new ones as new devices
appear on the market."
CC/PP Resolves Web Content Negotiation Problems
Content negotiation has been part of the Web for a long time as part of
the HTTP protocol. Its practical uses in content adaptation have often
been limited because HTTP was designed for browser descriptions and not
user, context and device descriptions. By allowing complex and complete
descriptions of all aspects of the delivery context, CC/PP provides
comprehensive information for the process of customizing Web content to
user needs.
CC/PP was designed at a time when mobile phones were emerging. The
specification takes into account their specific features, particularly
in bandwidth restriction. Thus, clients have the choice of providing
their CC/PP information as a link (URI) to a description available on
the Web, instead of providing the information itself.
CC/PP Leverages the Semantic Web
CC/PP uses RDF, one of the key specifications of the Semantic Web. It is
the first W3C Recommendation that is also an RDF application. The use of
RDF for CC/PP has many advantages, including
* Extensible vocabularies: In previous efforts to develop global
vocabularies it was very difficult to fix a set of terms that could be
used to describe all possible devices in advance - there is always a
device with capabilities that the language designer cannot foresee.
CC/PP solves exactly this sort of problem through the use of the
Semantic Web and RDF. With the CC/PP framework, any device manufacturer
can define a vocabulary description that can be reused and extended easily.
* Non-centralized vocabularies: Another problem with traditional
device description languages is the need for central registries for
vocabularies - a device manufacturer has to go through a registry to be
able to use new device capabilities in device descriptions. This may
include a lengthy registration and standardization process. With CC/PP
and the Semantic Web, there is no need for a central registry. New
device capabilities can be defined by anyone, and work seamlessly with
existing capability definitions.
* Simple integration of information from different sources: When
adapting Web content for a specific user, the information that is needed
for the adaptation can come from different sources - the network, the
device, the environment or the user's preferences. The server receives
these different pieces of information separately, and needs to merge the
information into one model before doing content adaptation. Based on the
Semantic Web and RDF, CC/PP makes this data integration easy.
CC/PP Already Playing a Crucial Role in the Mobile Web
CC/PP has been designed in cooperation with other related
standardization organizations.
The User Agent Profile (UAProf) specification developed by the Open
Mobile Alliance (and formerly by the WAP Forum) is a CC/PP vocabulary
dedicated to mobile phone description. Today, mobile phones complying
with the UAProf specification provide CC/PP descriptions of their
capabilities to servers - literally millions of devices are already
using CC/PP.
JCP (the Java Community Process) has developed, in their JSR 188 expert
group, a Java API for CC/PP which allows a Java Web server to access and
use CC/PP information provided by a client device. With the release of
this work in October 2003, one can safely forecast a significant
increase in the number of content servers understanding and using CC/PP
information.
Next Steps Include Building Protocol and Processing Rules, and Updating
to Include New RDF Datatyping
Upon their completion of the CC/PP Structure and Vocabularies 1.0, the
Device Independence Working Group plans to continue work on a revision
of the 1.0 specification to include the final version of RDF datatyping
currently under development by the W3C RDF Core Working Group.
The Device Independence Working Group is also currently working on
Protocol and Processing Rules. This document will standardize the way
CC/PP information is transmitted to a server using different kinds of
protocols such as HTTP and SOAP, how proxies can modify CC/PP
information by adding their own characteristics, and other aspects of
profile modification and processing.
Device Independence Working Group Includes Industry Leaders
The W3C Device Independence Working Group serves as the place where
technology and industry leaders meet to study issues related to single
authoring, adaptation and presentation of Web content. The Device
Independence Working Group has included W3C Members and invited experts
from Boeing; DaimlerChrysler Research; Ericsson; HP; IBM; INRIA;
MobileAware Ltd.; Nokia; NTT DoCoMo; Panasonic; SAP AG; Sky Co., Ltd.;
Sony Corporation; Sun Microsystems; and Volantis Systems Ltd.
Testimonials for W3C's CC/PP 1.0 Recommendation
These testimonials are in support of W3C's CC/PP 1.0 Recommendation
press release.
Boeing | HP | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. | MobileAware | Sun
Microsystems | Volantis
The specifications/guidelines for profile descriptions of device
capabilities and user preferences, as detailed in the upcoming W3C CC/PP
Structure and Vocabularies version 1.0 recommendation document, are a
major step forward towards the standardization of capabilities among
devices. Such standardization is of direct benefit to companies such as
Boeing that strive to maintain commonality of devices used within both
the manufacturing and the knowledge worker areas for the retrieval of
Web resources.
-- Carl Jones, Director Collaboration Services - Boeing Shared Services
- Information Technology, The Boeing Company.
HP supports the implementation of systems that take into account the
needs of their delivery context. This is particularly important for
mobile applications. CC/PP Structure and Vocabulary 1.0 provides a
consistent framework and representation for expressing device
capabilities and user preferences and therefore is a significant step
towards this goal. HP has actively contributed to the evolution of this
Recommendation through participation in working groups and through DELI,
an experimental open-source implementation of CC/PP. Our work on CC/PP
complements the leadership role HP is playing in developing tools for
the Semantic Web.
-- Per-Kristian Halvorsen, Vice-President and Center Director, Solutions
and Services Research Center, HP Laboratories
CC/PP will take a very significant role in the universal Web access with
digital home appliances in the era of ubiquitous networks. As one of the
companies for digital home appliances, Panasonic highly expects that
CC/PP will become the foundation for a wide variety of Web appliances.
-- Takatoshi Aoi, Director, Network Systems Development Center,
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
MobileAware Ltd is pleased to see the W3C DIWG bring CC/PP to the status
of a W3C Recommendation. As a participant in the DIWG, we are acutely
aware of the significant advance this represents. The ability to
reliably convey contextual information from a variety of devices under a
variety of usage conditions is essential to the development of mobile
device-independent solutions. We will continue to support our W3C
colleagues in the development of these standards, and commend the W3C
for its leadership. MobileAware has long recognised the importance of
CC/PP and has incorporated into the most recent release of our Mobile
Interaction Server.
-- Brian Kinane, CTO MobileAware Ltd
CC/PP is essential to the realization of ubiquitous mobile Web access.
Delivering on our commitment to provide secure access to data --
anywhere, any time, on any device -- Sun served as one of the editors of
the CC/PP Structure and Vocabularies 1.0 specification and are
delivering the Sun Java(tm) System Portal Server, Mobile Access with
CC/PP support. In addition, Sun has further demonstrated its commitment
to standards by leading a group of industry experts from 20 different
companies through the Java Community Process to standardize a Java API
for CC/PP processing with JSR 188.
-- John Fanelli, senior director, Network Identity, Communications and
Portal Products for Sun Microsystems, Inc.
As a strong supporter of open standards and a founding member of the
Device Independence Working Group, Volantis is delighted to see the
publication of the CC/PP Structure and Vocabularies Recommendation.
Volantis products support authoring and operation of web sites that can
be accessed from a tremendous variety of types of device. The accurate
provision of detailed information about device capabilities and user
preferences is key in providing this support. By formalising the way in
which such information is represented, CC/PP will play an important role
in future versions of Volantis products.
-- Mark Watson, Chief Technology Officer, Volantis Systems Ltd.
Contact Americas, Australia --
Janet Daly, <janet@w3.org>, +1.617.253.5884 or +1.617.253.2613
Contact Europe --
Marie-Claire Forgue, <mcf@w3.org>, +33.492.38.75.94
Contact Asia --
Yasuyuki Hirakawa <chibao@w3.org>, +81.466.49.1170
About the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C]
The W3C was created to lead the Web to its full potential by developing
common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its
interoperability. It is an international industry consortium jointly run
by MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT
CSAIL) in the USA, the European Research Consortium for Informatics and
Mathematics (ERCIM) headquartered in France, and Keio University in
Japan. Services provided by the Consortium include: a repository of
information about the World Wide Web for developers and users, and
various prototype and sample applications to demonstrate use of new
technology. To date, nearly 400 organizations are Members of the
Consortium. For more information see http://www.w3.org/
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Received on Thursday, 15 January 2004 10:30:18 UTC