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