Feedback on Activity 7: Mobile
Written by: Jonathan Briggs
November 26, 2008 [1479 views]
Is the mobile web more expensive than normal web?
Accessing the web through your mobile can be much more expensive depending on your tariff and data plan. It can be as much as £1 per Megabyte but recent tariffs allow 3 Gigabytes for around £15 or £20 per month.
Can you download a real browser onto your phone?
Sometimes. If your phone runs Symbian 60 or Microsoft Windows then changing the browser is straightforward. Large browsers such as IE cannot normally run on a phone because they take up too much space. Special smaller versions or browser such as Opera have been designed to be simpler with less code.
Currently this seems very restricted in terms of design etc?
Yes. In order to reach the maximum number of phones web sites have to be very simple. But this is changing with Apple’s Safari browser now being rolled out on phones like the N95 and the iPhone.
Why are there only limited applications and emulators for mobile phones?
Running complex software on the phone is hard and there are hundreds of different models. More and more models are running the same basic operating systems however and this is allowing more complex applications to be developed. Writing an emulator is also hard but allows some testing of mobile software without using real phones.
Do you think that another technology will replace the mobile web?
I think that eventually we will see many sites with mobile sections that can be accessed over mobile devices using Wifi or 3G. If we add in technologies such as social networking, instant messaging and location awareness then we start to get genuinely useful mobile information devices that know where you are, know what you are doing and provide powerful communication tools.
How does a site know that you are on a mobile?
In the next activity you will look at log reports and one of the figures you will be able to get is “user agent” (the browser and computer being used). This is revealed in the HTTP request and if you are using a mobile your request shows that to the web server, The BBC notices this and serves a different page.
How many people use the mobile web?
Over 3 billion mobile phones are now out there and at least a third are capable of some access to the Internet. The number of people actually using the mobile web is less but growing significantly.
What is the real point of the mobile web?
Accessing information, communication and making transactions are the real purposes of both the fixed and mobile web. Many companies have not begun to think about what to offer their mobile customers but banks, shops, social networks, governments, train companies and entertainment venues can all benefit from opportunities to reach people while they are moving around.
Is there a lot of money involved with hosting a mobile site?
No more than a regular site.
Can we create a WAP compatible site on our servers?
WAP was a previous version of the mobile web that was more distinct from the fixed web (used a different language, design model and encoding) and in many ways failed. The current mobile web is sometimes still referred to as WAP but requires designers to use common web standards instead.
Would people really use the mobile web?
I do and so do an increasingly large number of people. Finding train times, booking a restaurant, research answers to a pub quiz, buying music, posting to Twitter, accessing RSS feeds, monitoring our servers, finding out the weather.
What is the next big thing?
Presence and location
Is it possible to use Skype and webcams over the mobile web?
Skype yes – Three have just launched a mobile Skype phone and more VOIP phones will come soon. Webcams are also possible but the bandwidth of most phones is still to narrow.
How successful is the mobile web for buying online?
A few stores have really been redesigned to work well on a phone. Amazon in particular has made buying easy and Apple’s version of iTunes on the iPhone is also very easy.
Why do networks charge so much?
They are seeing the revenues from calls falling and need to replace these with new revenue streams. The costs however are falling quite rapidly because of competition and regulation.
How could you make money from the mobile web?
Ecommerce, membership and advertising are all possible
Does phones such as the iPhone or Blackberry Storm mean that developers no longer need to design special sites for mobile?
No. Using a site on a mobile is a different type of experience and the customer wants it to be quick and easy.
Should social networks be focusing on making their sites accessible on the mobile?
They are.
My mobile site and my normal site. I don’t understand the connection. They are two different things aren’t they?
They probably are but they don’t need to be. Just as an RSS feed (also in the next activity) is a different version of your site so a mobile version can be a cut down version of the PC site. This can be achieved through application of technologies such as CSS.
What do you think?
