The Wardman Wire

Matt is traversing the UK rail network on business today and so I have been drafted in once again to keep you company. It’s been a while, dear Wardman Wire reader, but you could say that I have been otherwise engaged. So, before the end of 2007 I wanted to chat about the prospects for the growth of mobile internet browsing over the next 12 months, which was a topic that came up in a Facebook note by Phil Donohoue recently.

The problems have always been over screen size. Apple were the first major player to answer this issue with the iPhone and the intuitive way Safari renders pages and allows you to zoom into specific areas. However, if you think Microsoft will sit back and do nothing about this, think again. They’ve had mobile devices on the market for years and will want to get into the race for hearts and minds of handheld owners around the world.

Microsoft’s latest development is “Deepfish” and while it’s name leaves a lot to be desired it does seem to have some tricks up it’s sleave. But, hang on, haven’t we seen their feature list somewhere before?

Deepfish provides:

• A familiar look and feel of web pages on mobile as seen on desktop.
• Bandwidth optimized rendering for faster content delivery.
• Address bar web navigation.
• Intuitive zooming, panning and cue map for quick navigation and browsing.
• Support for simple link navigation and form submission.

Yes, that’s right. Just like the iPhone, you’ll be able to navigate around web pages that look a lot like they should on your desktop machine. Hooray for Microsoft for finally catching up.

That only leaves Symbian, the other major phone software developer. It’s their stuff you see on your Nokia phone, for example. They have quite a large market share and as yet don’t have a browser that matches Safari for the iPhone or the upcoming Deepfish. Despite this, however, mobile browsing looks set to rise in 2008, as it has in recent years. Why?

Applications, Dear Boy

The development of Facebook and other social networking platforms has shown us one thing - that the market is ready for application-led internet delivery. By that I mean we can now do so much more with the internet - gone are the days of static information-led websites and in are the crazy applications that will light up our lives. All of this is brought to you by faster internet connections around the world, even in the UK. You see, website development always has to cater for the lowest common denominator - previously the nightmarish IE6 on Windows with average speeds of less than 512kbps. Nowadays the average speeds are up, there is growing diversity in the browser market, and even IE is starting to adopt common standards. All of this makes the market ripe for application development.

Now, back to the point of mobile browsing. Yes, we’re going to see a more desktop-like experience on our phones, even with small screens and that is totally wicked dude, but what we’re going to see more of is mobile applications. These will not only be browser based, like Facebook’s mobile version, but they will be Java-based too, like Faceparty’s mobile application. The fact that application developers can also tie in revenue models to the mobile platform makes this an increasingly attractive market to operate in.

Politics

Finally, let’s see if we can tie this back to some sort of political meaning. Well, it’s clear that a campaigner in a target seat would love to be able to get themselves onto the mobile phone of every voter. Traditionally, this has come in the form of SMS marketing attempts by major parties, led from the top. But, what we might see in 2008 is the development of mobile-based applications that, whilst nationally-developed, provide localisation and interaction through the phone’s menu systems, rather than a browser. Heck, I might even have a bash at developing something myself.