By Posted on Posted in Mobile Web, Web 2.0 No Comments

So I wrote a Wikipedia entry on – what else – the Mobile Web using – what else – the Mobile Web! Check it out and contribute to fleshing it out. The original entry was composed on a Nokia N70 using the Opera browser. The amazing thing was that it was possible – just. The text field on Opera was really buggy and couldn’t hold much text and the whole process of logging in was really cumbersome. Still, it’s a step. The entry itself was written partially out of a need to put a stake in the ground around the term “mobile Web.” Some have taken this to mean “a separate web for mobile devices” but the meaning taken in the majority of use (including the definition we are using in the W3C Mobile Web Initiative) is the use of the Web (cap W) on mobile devices.

By Posted on Posted in Mobile Monday, Mobility No Comments

Well I’m off to Barcelona for 3GSM on Monday! I’m going to be promoting the W3C Mobile Web Initiative, participating in a few meetings, and generally checking out the place. I’m also going to be part of an informal global Mobile Monday get-together. Should be good fun. .mobi will also have a big presence at the event. My sense is that the “Mobile Web” is still a fringe issue in the mobile telecommunications mindset, so I’m interested to see how this all plays out against the backdrop of the industry’s yearly glitzy love-fest.

By Posted on Posted in Mobility 5 Comments

I just wanted to highlight this article [requires registration] from today’s New York Times. Basically, the article is comparing the new Samsung “Blade” (A900) with the hugely popular Motorola RAZR, but the real story here is the detailed analysis of some key human factors issues with the RAZR’s UI as compared to the Blade’s. When did the mainstream press start covering usability issues so well, and as such a key criteria? Very cool. Of course, no mention of the browser on either phone, so they still have some catching up to do. Forget about the address book, which one supports WICD Mobile? As a side note, what is up with Motorola and usability? It sucked six years ago when I got my first Timeport (the only tri-band phone then available) and it sucks now. And by the way, the RAZR is just an updated StarTAC, isn’t it? Feh.

By Posted on Posted in mobile 2.0 13 Comments

So I finally got around to downloading and installing Yahoo! Go mobile. Am I impressed? Yes and no… It was not that straightforward to download the application and get it running on a Nokia N70. There are some aspects that are quite unintuitive. Overall, I think it’s a good start. I mean essentially it is an application that launches a few other mini-applications (for photos and Yahoo! Messenger), some built-in S60 applications like Mail and Calendar and then has a bunch of Web-links for content (like “ringtones” — ugh!). One problem is: I can’t get it to bring up Opera as the default browser when it initiates a browsing session (admittedly this is probably a S60 problem but it would be nice for the Yahoo! application to give me the option of setting an alternate browser). I wish the content wasn’t just a link off to a browsing session — how about reading news through a built-in RSS reader? To be fair, they’ve indicated that mobile Konfabulator-style widgets are the next step, so maybe integration of these will solve some of these issues. The background synchronization and email config seems to work fine — I was up and running with my Yahoo! mail account in minutes once the application installed. I wish you could replace the phone’s “active idle” screen with the Yahoo! Go application and that the applications’ main screen could contain more dynamic content (like a mini-my-yahoo: number of messages in your inbox, top headlines, etc…). Verdict: It’s a great start.

By Posted on Posted in Mobile Web 2 Comments

Here are some brief predictions for 2006: 1. 2006 will be the year of the mobile Web. We will see a huge wave of innovation as companies large and small get into the act and create innovative new concepts and services for Web users across a range of devices. The mobile Web will go “mainstream.” 2. The mobile Web meets the developing world. Communities that traditionally haven’t had access to the Web, on the other side of the so-called digital divide, will start to become served by Mobile applications and will start to use mobile devices and networks as their single means of access. 3. Bush will be impeached over the illegal NSA wiretaps and leave office in disgrace. Hey, I can dream, can’t i? Happy New Year everybody!

By Posted on Posted in Mobile Monday No Comments

Well they said it couldn’t be done, but we’ve managed to organize a follow-up to the immensely successful first Mobile Monday London event we held last month. This one will be on December 5th in Soho — details here. I just made the announcement to the mailing list 3 hours ago and already we have over 50 registrants so it looks like we didn’t scare too many people off last time. Exciting stuff!