Mobile Internet: Where are we today?

1. MOBILE INTERNET
Photo: circulating on flickr

2. ME
• Michaël Uyttersprot
• I have 2 cats
• I’m a passionate photographer
• I’m a software engineer
• I’m a travelling addict
• I’m a tinkerer
• I’m a mobile internet addict

4. REMEMBER, REMEMBER,...
• When phone had antennas
• When they didn’t vibrate
• When you could only text
• When they had a LOT of keys
• When they were monochrome
Photo: albert_photos on flickr

5. Photo: William Hook on flickr
• The iPhone
• Clear interface
• Fully tactile
• Fast
• An amazing web browser
• A true revolution !
A FEW YEARS AGO...

6. Photo: storm-crypt on flickr
• Smartphones
• Laptops
• Netbooks
• Tablets: Archos, N900, iPad,...
• MP3 players: iPod touch
• e-books: Kindle, Nook
MOBILE DEVICES

7. Photo: mikebaird on flickr
• iPhone OS
• Android
• Symbian
• Maemo
• BlackBerry
• WebOS
• Windows Mobile
PLATFORMS

8. Photo: goincase on flickr
IPHONE OS
• By Apple
• On iPhone, iPod and soon iPad
• Derived from Mac OSX
• First of its kind
• Very intuitive
• Enjoying the cult of Apple
• Over 100000 applications !

10. Photo: astanush on flickr
ANDROID
• Linux-based OS by Google
• Open source
• Gaining market share
• Used by HTC, SonyEricsson, LG,
Samsung, Dell, etc.
• Not only on phones, also tablets!
• Good integration with Google
services

11. Photo: William Hook on flickr
• Most widely spread mobile OS
• Declining market share
• Present on Nokia, Sony Ericsson,
Samsung and others.
• Just in: it’s now open source!
• Current version S60v3 & S60v5
SYMBIAN OS

12. Photo: edans on flickr
• Main focus: business people
• Very good email client
• Push email
• Physical keyboard is a must
BLACKBERRY

13. Photo: RafeB on flickr
• Linux distribution by Nokia
• Only one cell phone equiped: the
N900
• Nice and powerful platform
• Still missing some maturity
• Perfect phone for a geeky/nerdy
audience
MAEMO

14. Photo: storm-crypt on flickr
• A mobile «Windows»
• Advantages of Windows
• Disadvantages of Windows
• Good mail integration with
Exchange push
• Not a clear strategy
• No uniform UI
• Windows Mobile 7 coming...
WINDOWS MOBILE

15. Photo: BobDevlin on flickr
• 1G: Analog
• 2G: WAP, CSD
• 2.5G: GPRS, HSCSD
• 2.75G: EDGE
• 3G: UMTS
• 3.5G: HSDPA/HSUPA
• 3.75G: HSPA+
• 4G: coming soon
• WiFi
CONNECTION EVOLUTION

16. Photo: DJOtaku on flickr
• Native applications
• Crossplatform apps
• Mobile applications
• HTML5
APPLICATIONS TODAY

17. Photo: Quasic on flickr
• Same OS, same user experience
• Good integration between apps
• Easy access to hardware
• Less client-server communication
NATIVE APPS: ADVANTAGES

18. Photo: cfrausto on flickr
• Proprietary
• High development cost
• Does not run everywhere
• Not easily updated
NATIVE APPS: DISADVANTAGES

19. Photo: bridge on flickr
• PhoneGap
• AppCelerator
• Qt
• WebSDK
• JavaME
• Flash
NATIVE APPS: CROSS-PLATFORM

20. Photo: bridge on flickr
• Develop once, run everywhere
• Very cost-effective
• Free choice of development
framework
• Easy deployment and updates
• Short learning curve
MOBILE WEBAPPS: ADVANTAGES

21. Photo: druclimb on flickr
• Different screen resolutions
• Different experience than browser
• Less CPU
• Less memory
• Less bandwidth
• Less power
• Less connection stability
MOBILE WEBAPPS: CHALLENGES

22. Photo: druclimb on flickr
• Less predictible availability
• Different input interfacing
• Touch
• Non-touch
• Javascript support
• Different browsers
MOBILE WEBAPPS: CHALLENGES

23. Photo: alphadesigner on flickr
• iPhone OS, Android, Symbian,
WebOS and soon BlackBerry use
the open source WebKit: good push
for HTML5
• Firefox
• Microsoft
• Opera Mini
MOBILE BROWSERS

24. Bron: Wikipedia Commons

25. Photo: marooned on flickr
• No graphics plugin needed anymore
• Offline content: SQLite DB
• Video without flash
• Geolocation
• Easier forms
• Fast adoption
• ...but limited API: no access to
contacts, accelerometer, compass,...
NEXT? HTML5?

26. Photo: brothermagneto on
flickr
• Mobile does not equal iPhone
• Teenagers use feature phones
• Enterprises use BlackBerry, WinMo
• Nokia is very present in Europe
and Asia
• Africa has a lot of low-cost feature
phones.
MOBILE WEB: BEST PRACTICES

27. • Autodetect !
• HTTP headers
• Supported types
• Browser name
• Device profile
• WURFL
MOBILE WEB: BEST PRACTICES

28. • Exploit device capabilities
• Do not only use the less
common denominator
• Better user experience
means better adoption
MOBILE WEB: BEST PRACTICES

29. • Layout
• Navigation and most
important items on top
• Repeat links on bottom
• Use strong contrasts
MOBILE WEB: BEST PRACTICES

30. • Web URL should work on mobile
• Do not put too much content
• Use short forms
• Give a user the possibility to switch
between mobile and desktop
• Do not use too much Javascript
MOBILE WEB: BEST PRACTICES

31. QUESTIONS?
Photo: oberazzi on flickr

32. Photo: the|G| on flickr
Michaël Uyttersprot
http://labs.emich.be
labs@emich.be
THANKS