The mobile web has been the subject of debate for a few years with predications of its growth and usage, but this year looks set to be the year where the it finally becomes mainstream. The technologies required to display websites on mobiles are now here and as they become more varied and affordable, the way in which we search and use the web is surely going to change.

With the emergence of devices like the iphone and Blackberry which use direct user manipulation with the screen, this has allowed screen sizes to be maximised, allowing users to see a lot more data. This is a big advantage for designers. The way in which people appear to be using the mobile web seems to be based very much more on practical functionality, communication, and accessing data/carrying out tasks quickly on the move. In this respect and with the challenge of designing for a smaller screen, its clear that mobile interfaces must be designed with content and usability at the forefront, whilst still conveying a companies branding and image successfully. Some mobile sites which demonstrate successful examples of this stripped down design, content focused approach are Amazon and Twitter.

The interface possibilities associated with phones also open new opportunities for designing the best user experience. Built in features like touchscreen, the mobile keypad, accelerator keys, the iphones motion detection and even vibrate could be used to maximise the efficiency of accessing mobile data. The type of sites that have proved most popular among web users support this idea of a more functionality and content focused web. News, weather and sports sites, email, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, and of course search engines all rank very highly.

The statistics for mobile use in Britain are also interesting with Britain making up 20% of worldwide mobile web usage, second only to America. The number of mobile internet users grew from 5.8 million to 7.3 million is the third quarter of 2008 according to research from Neilson Online, meaning the mobile web is growing 8 times faster than desktop. The result of this rapid increase in mobile web usage has taken many businesses by surprise and are unaware that a large amount of their potential market are now surfing the web via mobile. In 2009 I think that many companies will start to see the advantage of having a mobile version of their site – not as a replacement but as a peripheral part of their overall brand strategy, allowing them to maximise their exposure to their markets.

As mentioned, social networking and the ability to update accounts like Twitter, Facebook and blogs, on the move and improve communication plays a big part in the mobile web and web in general. At a seminar we attended last week, one of the speakers Joe Hughes from Yomego suggested the theory that in the future social networking will take a more focuses approach where users in certain communities will have their own social networking and communication sites to discuss their interests, hence allowing advertisers to be more focuses aswell. Whether or not this happens to the extent he suggested is debatable, but the web definitely looks set to continue to embrace this social and community aspect of communication and generating content and the role the mobile web plays in this will continue to increase.

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New Apple Update

Anyone with an Apple Ipod Touch who hasn’t yet downloaded the new firmware release (1.1.3) is missing out big time! 

The new update to the software sees a handful of new features including an email client, weather updates, Notes and Google Maps with the fantastic location finding.

The latter is simply brilliant…  working without either GPS or GSM, relying purely on Wi-Fi Triangulation to pinpoint your current position on the map.  The iPhone is even better (so I’m told), using a combination of GSM (mobile phone masts) and Wi-Fi detection to give a more accurate result.

Wi-Fi Triangulation

 So how does it know where you are….  Google has partnered with Skyhook Wireless who provide a database of all known wireless access points, created by capturing the signals (apparently by driving round our streets in a souped-up geek van) from private and public wireless hotspots. 

When your iPod Touch requests it’s location via Google Maps, Skyhook’s WPS (Wi-Fi Positioning System) uses the device’s built in Wi-Fi to scan for nearby access points.  When detected, it confirms the strength of connection, and compares all of this to it’s database, using clever algorithms to calculate your position.  All very Mission Impossible, and some people have expressed concerns over privacy and security (both from a ipod/iphone user, and access point owner point of view) .

Right now I’m typing this from our office on Ainslie Road, Hillington.  I only know this for sure because my iPod confirms this!!  Selfishly, I’m delighted that Glasgow seems to have some great coverage in the SkyHook database, second only to London, and while I expect it’ll be some time before the UK coverage even comes close to the Mobile Phone network, I’m convinced that over time this will become the “standard” locational mapping method.

A case for Google Advertising

There’s no doubt that the location detection ability of the iPod and iPhone is impressive, and a really cool thing to show off to your mates.  But as the uptake of these devices increases, along with an increase in the accuracy of detection and a wider coverage, the business potential for companies with a shop, office, or any “physical premises” suddenly becomes clear. 

Type “NSDesign” into Google maps, and you’ll be shown our office.  Now click on the “directions to here” option, and you’ll get a detailed route direct to our door, starting at your exact current location.  Pretty powerfull stuff and all do-able now.  Certainly a reason for making sure your business is listed within Google Maps.

Related Links:
Add a custom Google Map to your website
Extract from the book “Web Development Solutions” – Chapter: Adding Google Maps to your Website

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We got our hands on an apple iPod touch this week…  NICE!!!  Finally a device that provides a half-decent browsing experience on a mobile device – compared to the others (we’ve used a few here over the years) the apple blows the rest away.

Using an adapted version of Safari, browsing websites is intuitive and on the whole fairly easy.  It’s instantly obvious that some websites “work” better than others, and it’s fair to say that websites built to standards (xhtml, css and semantic markup) perform better than the usual (non-accessible) tables-based layout sites. 

We’re really quite excited about this, and will be doing some more research in the new year to identify the “best practice” for optimising a website for the touch, and of course the iPhone.  With some clever browser detection and customised CSS, it should be possible to get any website (especially the ones we develop!) to format perfectly for the smaller ipod screen, with a few automatic extras to make browsing that bit easier…  watch this space!!

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