14.5 Web Surfing on the Mobile Internet

The mobile or wireless Internet will be an extension to the current Internet. End users have a certain perception about what Web surfing means today. Users are typically used to large screens and high-resolution graphics. The millions of Web sites on the World Wide Web are typically designed for devices such as traditional notebook and desktop computers. Web sites include images, Javascripts, advertisements, and other extras in addition to the content that the user is interested in. As wireless devices accessing the Internet become significantly larger in number, Web site designers and content providers will start to pay attention to these users and will start to customize the content for such end users. The form factors as well as the capabilities of these devices, which typically would have smaller screens, low battery life, and smaller processors (in terms of MIPS execution), would dictate how content is delivered. The success of I-Mode in Japan can be attributed to various factors, such as its early entry into the market as well as the development of content by more than 4000 information providers. The rapid growth and current penetration of the service has demonstrated the acceptance of data services that have a different look and feel in future networks.

Microbrowsers attempt to emulate the typical or traditional Web browsers that users are familiar with. However, the fact that these devices may in many cases not even have a keypad would require other ways for human-machine interaction. Unless the services and content are made compelling enough by providing intuitive ways of Web browsing and are simple to use, the wireless Internet will be what WAP is. So there is a challenge that faces the wireless Internet.

Languages such as HTML, XHTML, and XML are incorporating features that are capable of indicating the type and capability of a device and content to be adapated dynamically based on this information. As Web browsing via the wireless medium becomes the norm, we can expect to see Web sites that adapt content on the fly.

Various microbrowsers are available today for different operating systems. The Symbian operating system, which is used in many handheld devices including the Nokia Communicator and Psion, includes the Opera microbroswer. A picture of the opera browser on a Psion Series 5 device is shown in Figure 14-3.

Figure 14-3. Opera's microbrowser for the Symbian OS.

Microbrowsers from Microsoft for Pocket PC-based devices are also currently included on devices such as the iPaq from Hewlett Packard.