Reasons why it sucks Pin-Chin Huang Columbia University COMS E6125 WHIM The Mobile Web.
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Transcript of Reasons why it sucks Pin-Chin Huang Columbia University COMS E6125 WHIM The Mobile Web.
Reasons why it sucksReasons why it sucks
Pin-Chin Huang
Columbia University
COMS E6125 WHIM
The Mobile WebThe Mobile Web
Introduction
WHIM Spring 2008
The Mobile WebThe World Wide Web as accessed from mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs
Reports in 2007More than 60% of U.S. wireless users own an Internet-enabled mobile device, but only 5% of them actually use the mobile Internet
Why? Mobile devices, wireless carriers, and the Web itself.
Mobile Devices: Problems
WHIM Spring 2008
Screen SizeUsers want a smaller device, but a larger screen
Processor & MemoryNeed beefy hardware to render web pages: CSS stylesheets, DOM manipulation, multimedia, client-side scripting, etc.
Input CapabilitiesNumerical keypad not enough for E-mail or IM applications
WHIM Spring 2008
Browser Behaviors Different browsers (Opera, Nokia, Openwave, Pocket IE, NetFront,
Minimo, Safari) have different support for XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, Flash, frames, background images, SSR, max page size, etc.
Cost
Smart phones/PDAs typically cost $400 – $800
Mobile Devices: Problems
CNN.com
MSDN.com
Mobile Devices: Possible Solutions
WHIM Spring 2008
Rollable Display Handheld Projector
Scheduled to commercialize in 2008 Boost processor speed & memory
But what about heat dissipation? QWERTY keypad Wait for someone to unify standards…
Wireless Networks: Problems
WHIM Spring 2008
Slow WAP = Wait And Pay; GPRS/EDGE = 10 to 20 KB/s at best 3G: theoretical rate 1Mbps, but often falls short of expectations Scott Karp describes his 3G experience:
“It would have been faster, literally, to call my wife at home and ask her to look it up on a real broadband connection.”
ExpensivePay per kilobyte but people are used to unlimited surfing
Monthly Charge Data Limit Additional Charge per KB Charge for d/ling a 4MB mp3
AT&T Wireless $34.99 20 MB $0.004 $16
AT&T Wireless $60 Unlimited $0 Free
Time Warner $29.95 Unlimited $0 Free
Wireless Networks: Possible Solutions
WHIM Spring 2008
WiMAX 802.16 Practical rate 10 Mbps 2x faster than cable, 6x faster than DSL Sprint Nextel deploying nationwide network in 2008 Intel’s 5th generation Centrino and Nokia’s new handsets to support WiMAX in
2008 as well
3GPP Long Term Evolution Goals: 172.8 Mbps downlink, 86.4 Mbps uplink First testing successful in November 2007 (by Nokia) AT&T and Verizon Wireless planning to migrate toward LTE Initial deployment planned in 2010
Cost?Depends on the wireless carriers…
The Web: Problems
WHIM Spring 2008
Web Presentation Sites not formatted for small screens endless scrolling & zooming “So, great, you can jam the entire NYtimes.com onto the screen – got a
magnifying glass?”
Device Fragmentation H/W diversity: screen size, processor, keypad, stylus, etc. S/W diversity: OS platforms, browsers, APIs
User Context Most websites are not context/location-aware “When I visit Costco on a mobile device, what are the chances I’m going to
shop? I want store locations, hours, and phone numbers, and I don’t want to stumble through four slow-loading screens to get that info.”
W3C One Web Principle
WHIM Spring 2008
“Making the same information and services available to users irrespective of the device they are using.”
Do Nothing Pray SSR renders well Rely on HTML transcoders
Use Raw HTML Remove styling and images IYHY.com provide raw rendering service
Develop Handheld CSS Stylesheets develop a CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) for each targeted screen size
nytimes.com viewed with IYHY
Multi-Web Practice
WHIM Spring 2008
“Create associated web pages that will give good user experiences in several of the most popular devices.”
.mobi Domain Top-level domain for mobile-friendly sites Backed by Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, Vodafone
Alternative URIs Users are redirected to a URI appropriate to their device Requires browser sniffing
I Would Choose…
WHIM Spring 2008
Multi-Web Practice Web presentation problem is eliminated Device fragmentation can be addressed Specific needs of mobile users can be met (user context)
Alternative URIs .mobi breaks URI address space unnecessary Not every company can get their .mobi domain name E.g. nytimes.mobi is taken by someone else
Conclusion
WHIM Spring 2008
Facts Mobile devices becoming faster New display technologies coming to market 4G networks being deployed
To make m-web “less sucky” we should… Unify mobile web standards Lower price for accessing wireless data networks Adopt multi-web practice Avoid breaking address space by adopting alternative URIs
Conclusion
WHIM Spring 2008
Mobile devices outnumbers PCs 20:1 by worldwide number
Mobile web poised to replicate the success of Internet