mobile things
opinion and news on mobile gadgets and development
Sep
19
future of mobile SDKs
Posted by grouchal in Business, Development, google, mobile software, review
Joel writes a really interesting essay which is part history lesson and part predictor of the future of AJAX and SDKS.
I’d like to quickly explain my conclusions from the article and then discuss what this might mean for mobile phones.
Starting with the mistakes when Lotus Symphony was being built, removing all the innovation to fit the constraints of the most accessible computing platform of the time. The Lotus approach was compared with the Microsoft approach that meant the software was bloated but innovative. The argument is that the smart guys learnt you either spend 6 months trimming your software to give it better performance or you just waited six months and found out that Moore’s law helped you get better performance.
History lesson over he then looks at the state of AJAX technology and web apps - and compares Google’s fast and lightweight approach with gmail, docs and spreadsheet etc with other new technologies. The vision he creates is that someone will come up with a newSDK which solves not only cross browser compatibility problem, but starts on the real holy grail of web apps and starts to make web apps inter-operable in the same way cut and paste did for the desktop. I like the vision and see how it could work, but I am not sure that perhaps this idea of inter-op may not just be more a technical dream than a consumer ideal - especially with the security concerns etc.
The lessons to be learned and the conclusions he comes to make a lot of sense, I wish he had spent more time analysing the candidates for the NewSDK though.
I guess Joel is talking about two types of competitors for Google - those that are creating platforms (Microsoft, Adobe) and those that are competing on applications (Zoho, Salesforce, Microsoft). Google I think has a good chance of making their work become de facto standards as they tend to embrace open source but also open up their own ideas. I think that Google Gears is a great example of this - and Zoho are now working with them on the project and using the technology in their software.
I understand the compromises between efficient feature low and bloated feature rich applications - and I think that Googe have got gMail spot on I have no idea what I needed Outlook for all those years. The docs package is different though - I have tried both Google Docs and Zoho and I think that the simple interface for Google means that I miss a lot of things from word - however I love Google’s simple approach to collaboration. Zoho is feature rich but is also harder to use as it is harder to work out where the limits are - but if my key need is to quickly put together a nice looking document - I use Word, if my need is to collaborate on a doc then I use Google Docs as it doesn’t confuse other users so much.
So if we say that Google have usability worked out and their approach is working well and keeping users (the Spreadsheet I think is fantastic) I guess we are left with inter-operability. Is inter-operability important to users? and how can security issues be handled?
The platform at the moment is Facebook for interop - you can access a lot of applications and share data using their API and this is clearly going to advance - but the goal that Joel mentions of being able to cut a picture from flickr into gmail is not going to be enable by facebook. This sort of goal is going to need a change is the browsers and who is looking at making platforms and the browser work differently - Micrtosoft, Adobe and Google Gears. Which of these approaches is Open, lightweight and not bloated? Google Gears.
So to learn the lessons that Joel has pointed out and use them in making my prediction for the future of Web apps the newSDK he talks about to me won’t be a single javascript library. I think Prototype and jQuery and Scriptalicious will all continue to develop in the ways and compliment each other. I think that Microsoft will have a big problem using previous techniques to bundle Silverlight into the OS which will take away their normal tactical advantage. Abode will need to make sure that AIR has lightweight access in addition to using full flash functionality and gets installed as part of Flash installs. Google gears will need to have proper infrastructure set-up perhaps even a more open name and path forward “Web Gears”?. One of these three will be the choice of developers and with a complimentary back end Facebook, OpenId or some other system will allow the Web 3.0 apps to be about collaboration and interoperability.
So what does this mean for mobile?
Well lessons learnt from Joel’s history lesson and lessons to be learnt from future predictions mean that I think that Apple’s approach to phone apps is going to become predominant. The browser will be king - but browser choice will have to come into play if innovation is going to move us forward. Mobile has to have off-line more than desktop, mobile apps must have access to device capabilities to truly create innovative apps. I think that the rumoured gPhone will contain something similar to Google Gears and will allow developers to use the back-end infrastructure of Google to enable their apps to interoperate - I hope this can all be made much more open though. I think Apple with adopt Google Gears into Safari and other manufacturers will be able to use it too. As the number of iPhone and facebook applications rise - so too will compatible browsers on other phones - either Opera or manufacturer ones. So the iPhone API will become quite a standard - and if it is widely enough used and complimentary enough the Google Gears one - I hope both of them are already looking for W3C approval.
So my predictions for Web 3.0 and Mobile 3.0 see them converging - Google Gears (or some other candidate) along with facebook (or next years equivalent or openId) will be key to both platforms and the iPhone API (or a cross platform javascript library) will be key to mobile interactions and Prototype (or another dominant javascript library) will become a key API for the Desktop.
Popularity: 100% [?]
Sep
18
Driving Theory Test Service Launches - uHavePassed.com
Posted by grouchal in Business, Development, Gadgets, Technology, mobile software
Luzia Research have today taken their driving theory test service out of beta and into production.
The service allows you to take practice tests for the UK Driving Theory Test using the official question bank from the Driving Standards Agency.
We have had great challenges developing the synchronisation software that sits under this service as we have found limits in the amount of data different phones will allow to be uploaded and also had issues with different hosting companies and their support for Transfer-Encoding:Chunked.
We are there now and would like to invite people to try the software out for free on their phone before purchasing a subscription.
Even though we are out of our beta testing - all feedback is well received as we would like to make the service as friendly and easy to use as possible.
Popularity: 93% [?]
Jul
30
UK Driving Theory test on a mobile phone
Posted by grouchal in Development
Luzia Research has just started beta testing a new service we are developing to help students practice for their driving theory test.
The service is called uHavePassed and it allows users to take mock driving theory tests both on-line and on their mobile phones.
The J2ME client for the mobile phone uses a synchronisation platform we have written that allows questions, images for the questions and the results to be synchronised with the website.
In order to provide some alternative ways for students to prepare for the driving theory test we are also including some games within the J2ME client.
So if you know anyone who is going to take their UK driving theory test soon - then please pass them on to us and get them to sign up as a beta user.
Popularity: 65% [?]
Jun
17
WidSets Beta
Posted by grouchal in Development, Gadgets, mobile software
After the review that I gave of Squace last week I got an email from the guys developing it saying that they were already addressing some of the points I had made so I should stay tuned. I’m very much interested to see where they go - as I said I think it is the beginnings of a good idea.
I remembered some other software I installed last year though called WidSets and strangely they have just launched an SDK for their platform, which prompted me to have a look at it again.
If I had a flat rate internet plan, which sadly I don’t yet have, I would look much more favourably at WidSets than Squace - and I hope the Squace guys can take on a lot of the ease of use and feel of the WidSets platform.
Widset’s have recently had their 1,000,000th download so it may be that they are able to take on the Squace ideas quicker than the Squace guys can catch up with them.
Good luck to both of them.
Popularity: 38% [?]
Jun
17
T-mobile tries to hold prices high in the UK
Posted by grouchal in Business, Development
According to this article GigaOM CellCarriers fear mobile VoIP planet « T mobile in the UK is refusing to allow their customers to phone numbers associated with Truphone from their handsets.
Truphone offer a VOIP service and client for certain phones that T-Mobile don’t like. T-Mobile is now seeing the effect of giving people flat rate internet access - and probably realising their worse fears. Unfortunately they have started the ball rolling and other operators are now providing flat rate access also.
Blocking access to certain web services is something that you might expect from operators as they come to grips with the loss of income as consumer get closer to paying the true cost of a phone call or SMS. I am not sure however of the legality of an operator blocking access to certain numbers - and if it is legal it shouldn’t be.
T-mobile should get respect for starting the flat rate access and helping the UK keep it’s edge in mobile content and internet access, but they are going to have to start adjusting to some new business models that reflect they are really only a network access provider. The winds are changing and those that start to work with them will profit the most. T-Mobile’s behaviour reminds me of the music companies having to struggle with digital music and the network, in the end they left Apple to give them the solution. Will it be companies like Truphone that the telcos actually need to get things working?
What if I had the option on my phone of making a high quality call and a low quality call? I think that sometimes I’d use one and other times I’d use the other - depending on who the call was to and my budget etc. That is what people are getting from the VOIP merchants and the crazy thing is that T-mobile could be one of these VOIP merchants also and still making money.
As for SMS - they need to start offering SMS at rates much closer to it’s true cost - i.e. next to nothing.
Popularity: 30% [?]
Jun
16
Opera Mini™ Beta
Posted by grouchal in Development, Gadgets, iPhone
There is a buzz being created in technical circles about the new Opera Mini™ Beta. Opera claim to have rewritten the code completely and will introduce one ‘cool’ new feature.
Cleverly in creating the buzz they have asked people to guess what the new feature will be and by doing so enter a competition. This seems like a fantastic way to get some great creative ideas for a product, goo on em.
I’m just caught in the buzz though and don’t want to enter their extended design team - what could the new feature be that it meant the client had to be re-written from the ground up?
My question is will it launch before the 29th June or after - I think it will be related in some way to the iPhone - simple interface etc.
Popularity: 28% [?]
Jun
12
Lack of iPhone SDK - marketing disaster with developers
Posted by grouchal in Development, Gadgets, iPhone
A nice article at gizmodo (No iPhone SDK Means No Killer iPhone Apps) talks about how the iPhone will fail because of the lack of 3rd party apps and an SDK. Not sure that this will be the reason it fails I think that 3rd party apps aren’t quite the deal breaker that developers would like to think of them as.
I am disappointed in this whole iPhone thing as I’d love to have one of the phones - but not if it won’t run my software. I think that Apple should never have responded to the SDK 3rd party questions with anything like a hint of an opportunity. To market the iPhone as “no SDK required” rather than none available is perhaps an indication of how some of the other promises coming from Apple marketing will turn out once the iPhone is here.
However SDK aside the iPhone will not live or die on that basis but on it’s friendliness to users and I think if it is to have it’s best chance of success I would probably have done the same thing and limited 3rd party apps so as not to have the distraction. I assume it will be upgradeable - and perhaps at future date (after they deliver Leopard) it will become a 3rd party device.
I stand by previous posts that I think there are a lot of obstacles to mass adoption of the iPhone. The logic that loads of people have iPods and will buy the iPhone for that reason is great - but I think for it to be valid loads of those people should have gone and bought macs or macbooks - they didn’t. Why not? who the hell knows!
My guess price and lack of applications - a lesson for the phone perhaps!
Popularity: 22% [?]
Jun
12
iPhone 3rd parties a let down
Posted by grouchal in Development, Gadgets, iPhone
As I previously stated - there is speculation that apple will allow 3rd parties on the iPhone
- now I still can find details of what Mr Jobs actually announced yesterday - but it looks like 3rd party apps will be allowed - but only web based ones. 
No access to any phone specific functions - not local database access and for me the worst thing - no chance to auto start the phone and prompt people with a piece of software.
For me this takes a few liberties with the idea of 3rd parties at all - we all knew from the moment that we saw the first iPhone that it would browse the web - so I am hoping that within the Safari browser there are going to be some significant enhancements that will allow javascript access to some phone features.
The announcement that Safari is now Windows compatible suggests that Apple are going to try and be the platform of choice for we apps - and this might mean some new stuff. For example iTunes could become what it always should have been - a web app, but Safari might allow local databases etc - then they can operate one itunes over mac, windows and iPhone without having to bother people with these upgrades.
Looks like things will get interesting though - but maybe not until Leopard is out later this year.
Popularity: 19% [?]
Jun
12
Bango says mobile web is really growing now
Posted by grouchal in Business, Development
An article at StayGoLinks :Mobile Web Growth Is Explosive states that the mobile web is really beginning to pick up speed.
Interesting and provocative headline - but what can we actually learn - Bango is picking up speed, but does this mean the mobile web in general - perhaps even it was only one of Bango’s clients that got all this extra volume - or it was on the back fo ra marketing campaign - unfortunately no detail.
It should be the case that the mobile web picks up - especially in America - even then though they are still providing much less traffic to Bango than the UK market - which in terms of population doesn’t make sense - is this down to Bango marketing or trends in US uptake?
I guess with articles like these it is a very loose indicator of things that might be happening - but the scientist in me wants some better information.
Popularity: 20% [?]
Jun
8
3rd Parties on the iPhone?
Posted by grouchal in Development, iPhone
Come on Apple make it true - let us all develop for your great new phone.
If it becomes the consumer success they want it to - I would love a piece of the action - I think the interfaces could go through a similar process to Java Verified whereby Apple could make sure that they correspond to the “rules of the iPhone”
Macworld: News: Developers see possibilities in iPhone apps
Let’s hope they see sense - Java would be even better!
Popularity: 16% [?]