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-   -   The web on mobile devices (https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=15630)

RogerS 2008-01-24 16:25

The web on mobile devices
 
Quote:

Despite the iPhone's tremendous hype, we all know that it's a small, small segment of the total mobile-phone market. According to IDC, a market research firm, iPhones comprise just 2 percent of smartphones -- compared to the 63 percent powered by Symbian*.

Interesting then that in December, Google reported, it had more internet traffic from iPhones than any other mobile device.

Think this says something about how useful people find the walkaround web? Or why AT&T is giving free access to 10,000 WiFi hotspots to its broadband subscribers?

And why the Internet Tablet has an 800-pixel-wide screen but still fits in your pocket and weighs only 8 ounces?

Ari Jaaksi pointed out more than two years ago that with the arrival of the Internet Tablet the web wasn't stationary any more. People with laptops aren't walking around checking the web. And surfing the internet on a cellphone screen is just painful. Those were never harbingers of a web paradigm shift.

But we users of the Nokia 770, N800 and N810 know the truth of Ari's statement. And iPhone users are learning it too. We need the web, wherever we are -- not every second of the day, but at any moment of our day.

And a large screen, light weight and small size are absolute requirements.

I think we're going to see a much wider commercial acceptance of this "useless" niche this year.

__________
* Nokia owns 47.9 percent of Symbian.
Read the full article.

lad 2008-01-24 16:48

Re: The web on mobile devices
 
There might be other workarounds coming to the "pocketable big screen" paradigm.
There is already a device out now with one of those roll-up "paper screens."
I would be surprised if someone isn't expanding those laser virtual keyboards into a full, interactive screen concept.
But neither of these would exactly qualify as "hand-held."

CyberCat 2008-01-24 17:12

Re: The web on mobile devices
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by RogerS (Post 133088)
According to IDC, a market research firm, iPhones comprise just 2 percent of smartphones

That's good to hear. At the Macworld 2008 keynote, didn't Steve Jobs say that they had like a 20% market share?? Seems like he said something to the effect that they beat Palm, Motorola and Nokia put together in the first 90 days. :eek:

lad 2008-01-24 17:15

Re: The web on mobile devices
 
"(iphone) beat Palm, Motorola and Nokia put together in the first 90 days"

Must have meant in totals sales for that time period - not market peneration.

Reggie 2008-01-24 17:23

Re: The web on mobile devices
 
Here's a more detailed breakdown of the market share of browsers for December 2007:
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=10

iPhone is the leading mobile browser out there, overtaking Windows Mobile (Windows CE). Symbian (Series 60) is farther down.

sherifnix 2008-01-24 19:48

Re: The web on mobile devices
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberCat (Post 133116)
That's good to hear. At the Macworld 2008 keynote, didn't Steve Jobs say that they had like a 20% market share?? Seems like he said something to the effect that they beat Palm, Motorola and Nokia put together in the first 90 days. :eek:

Its actually US market share that is closer to 20%, sales wise at least. Thats not counting the iPod touch either. Apple is swooping in and creating an incredible mobile platform. 3rd Party apps are next month... I wonder what will happen to the market then.

Texrat 2008-01-24 19:54

Re: The web on mobile devices
 
Market share can be easily distorted by adding or intentionally omitting context. If the phrase is used without qualifiers, take it with a boulder of salt.

For instance, Apple likes to trumpet that it has more personal computing share, with its Macs, than certain conventional PC manufacturers. While that is true, it's a disingenuous statistic, given that they are actually competing against a platform type (ie, ALL PC manufacturers) rather than the one or two bottom feeders in that spectrum. In that sense, they have something like 15% last time I checked (and it took a LONG fight to get there).

Bottom line: Jobs is a showman, and when he's got the pulpit, he controls the look and feel of the show-- details be damned. ;)

PJE 2008-01-24 21:28

Re: The web on mobile devices
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Reggie (Post 133123)
Here's a more detailed breakdown of the market share of browsers for December 2007:
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=10

iPhone is the leading mobile browser out there, overtaking Windows Mobile (Windows CE). Symbian (Series 60) is farther down.

You have to be a little careful with these numbers, a lot of Opera browsers are set to spoof IE or Netscape. I currently have my N800 spoofing the iPhone's id to allow me access to the google iPhone pages (with a Greasemonkey script).

Benson 2008-01-25 00:11

Re: The web on mobile devices
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by PJE (Post 133284)
You have to be a little careful with these numbers, a lot of Opera browsers are set to spoof IE or Netscape. I currently have my N800 spoofing the iPhone's id to allow me access to the google iPhone pages (with a Greasemonkey script).

Yeah, I use the iPhone useragent and that greasemonkey script, but you hit the one thing that bothers me. I don't like the idea of artificially inflating Google's impression of the number of iPhone users, while deflating their impression of the number of, say, Nokia IT users. That won't encourage them to bring better service that doesn't require greasemonkey scripts to display more than 240px wide...

Maybe we should try coming up with a different useragent string that gets past the filter so we receive iPhone sites, but we will show up differently in their logs...

Here's one that works with GMail, at least:
Quote:

Mozilla/5.0 (N8x0 like iPhone; U; Linux like Mac OS X; ARM; en) AppleWebkit/420+ (Gecko, like KHTML)
Bookmark
Code:

about:config?prefname=general.useragent.override&prefvalue=Mozilla%2F5.0+%28N8x0+like+iPhone%3B+U%3B+Linux+like+Mac+OS+X%3B+ARM%3B+en%29+AppleWebKit%2F420%2B+%28Gecko%2C+like+KHTML%29
to set your UA string to it, and
Code:

about:config?prefname=general.useragent.override&prefvalue=
to set it back to default.
Edit: That doesn't set it to default, but to ""; don't do it.

ARJWright 2008-01-26 23:51

Re: The web on mobile devices
 
The iPhone's browser is not the entire story here. Understand that as a web site developer, in order to build a site that supoprt the iPhone's screen and resolution, all a developer needed to do was change the stylesheet (simplifying, but really, its that simple). For the IT, supporting a more finger-friendly Internet would go a long way towards Nokia's vision of a mobile device in this size and ability class.

Another key note: ATT users had to purchase the iPhone with an unlimited data plan. This means that users had more incentive to use the mobile internet anywhere, not just teatherd and not just at a hotspot. The iPhone showed that the INternet when you can have it anytime is very accessible, and very wanted.

Combined with the CSS/site recommendations from Apple, the lack of official native applications - making web apps the place to go - this give the iPHone a distinct advantage that NOkia would be well to play into in the next editions of the IT. Sure, they couldn't; but then people would pander that iPHone users just don't know enought and drunk too much kool-aid ;)


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