Mobile Web

Opera: Mobile web page views grow to 5M in October

Jason Ankeny — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:40:54 -0500

Opera Mini mobile browser viewed 5 million mobile web pages in October--a 326 percent year-over-year increase--according to browser development firm Opera Software's latest State of the Mobile Web report. Opera Mini monthly consumer userbase grew to 21 million in October, up 10.6 percent month-over-month increase and more than 311 percent year-over-year. Data transfers (which Opera notes can be used to infer both potential consumer cost savings and potential carrier revenues) reached 73.7 million MB (compressed), a 490 percent growth rate since October 2007.

This edition of the State of the Mobile Web report turns the spotlight on the Southeast Asia market, stating that Indonesia and Malaysia lead on mobile web adoption, followed by Thailand and Brunei. The average Indonesian user browsed 358 mobile web pages in October, well above the global average--Malaysia leads in user growth with a 462.6 percent increase in 2008, followed by the Philippines (396.4 percent growth) and Indonesia (329.5 percent growth). Google dominates mobile web search in Southeast Asia, with Yahoo and Live Search vying for second--Friendster is the region's premier mobile social networking site, trailed by hi5. Nokia dominates on handset sales, far ahead of rivals Sony Ericsson and Huawei.

For more on October's State of the Mobile Web report:
- read this release

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Citysearch goes mobile

Jason Ankeny — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:55:50 -0500

Online local guide Citysearch announced the launch of Mobile by Citysearch, promising an optimized mobile browsing experience for local content complete with the service's millions of business listings, editorial reviews and user-generated recommendations. According to Citysearch, the mobile app enables users to write reviews directly from their phones as well as share business listings via text-to-phone service--all interactive content is tailored specifically to each unique device interface, optimizing key attributes, including content layout and keystrokes required to surface search results. Navigation tools and drop-down fields on select phones allow users to narrow their searches based on various attributes or distance--subscribers may also access the "Best of Citysearch" listings for suggestions on local hotspots.

For more on Mobile by Citysearch:
- read this release

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Adobe teams with ARM to optimize Flash for mobile

Jason Ankeny — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:50:16 -0500

Software provider Adobe Systems announced a collaboration with digital solutions provider ARM to optimize and enable Adobe Flash Player 10 and Adobe AIR for mobile phones, mobile Internet devices, personal media players and other mobile computing devices, which the companies promise will accelerate mobile graphics and video capabilities across multiple platforms to bring rich web applications and services to mobile devices and consumer electronics. Per terms of the agreement, Adobe and ARM will deliver an optimized Adobe Flash Player 10 for the ARM architecture as well as industry-standard API support for GPUs and hardware accelerators. The firms add the partnership is expected to lower power consumption for mobile devices running Flash Player 10 and AIR content.

The partnership springs out of Adobe's Open Screen Project, an industry initiative launched in May to foster a consistent Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR environment across desktop computers, mobile devices and set-top boxes to simplify the efforts of developers and content companies seeking to deliver a streamlined user experience. Adobe Flash Player 10 for ARMv6 and ARMv7 architecture-based hardware is expected to be available royalty-free for all Open Screen Project participants. Adobe will also make available Flash Player 10 for ARM processor-based devices to OEMs.

For more on the Adobe/ARM partnership:
- read this release

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American Airlines intros mobile boarding passes

Jason Ankeny — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:08:42 -0500

American Airlines--the world's largest airline in terms of passenger miles and passenger airccraft fleet size--announced that travelers departing from select airports may now receive boarding passes on their mobile phones or PDAs, sidestepping the requirement of printing and presenting a paper boarding pass at check-in. American will introduce the 2-D barcode mobile boarding passes for passengers traveling on domestic flights departing from Chicago's O'Hare International, Los Angeles International and John Wayne Orange County--the airline is rolling out the program in partnership with the United States Transportation Security Administration, and said it will extend the initiative to additional U.S. airports if the trial proves successful.

To use the mobile boarding pass option, customers must have an active email address where their boarding pass may be sent and a web-enabled mobile device--travelers may list only one person in their reservation and must be traveling on American or American Eagle nonstop or same-plane direct to a domestic destination from Chicago, Los Angeles or Orange County. According to American, its family of airlines serves 250 cities in 40 countries, with an average of more than 3,400 daily flights--the AA.com website is now its largest distribution channel, with more than 1.6 million site visits per day.

For more on the American mobile boarding pass program:
- read this release

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Microsoft poised to debut Internet Explorer Mobile 6

Jason Ankeny — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:24:23 -0500

Microsoft announced the availability of emulators and documentation for the Internet Explorer Mobile 6 browser, which the software giant will soon release across new devices based on its Windows Mobile operating system. According to Microsoft, Internet Explorer Mobile 6 promises a browsing experience that more closely resembles conventional desktop browsing, complete with a series of features including:

Support for full-fidelity desktop rendering
Layout fixes to accommodate mobile screens
Enhanced Script and AJAX support (Javascript v5.7 from Internet Explorer 8)
Improved multimedia experience (Adobe Flash Lite 3.1 for Adobe Flash content)
Deeper integration with search
Enhanced cursor navigation model
Touch and gesture support/pan support
Multiple zoom levels
Efficient switching between mobile/desktop versions of sites via UA string specification

In addition, Microsoft released the Internet Explorer Mobile 6 Emulator for developer download.

For more on Internet Explorer Mobile 6:
- read this Windows Mobile Team Blog entry

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Opera Mini 4.2 mobile web browser launches

Jason Ankeny — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:12:53 -0500

Browser development firm Opera Software released a preview of its Opera Mini 4.2 mobile web browser, timed to coincide with the Mini surpassing the 20 million unique mobile user benchmark. According to Opera, the 4.2 beta promises a faster, more personalized user experience via new skins, improved support for YouTube and related mobile video services--in addition, improvements to Opera Link enable users to share notes between their mobile handsets and PCs, as well as bookmarks and recently-visited URLs.

For more on Opera Mini 4.2:
- read this release

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iSkoot developing mobile web platform for AT&T

Jason Ankeny — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:28:04 -0500

Mobile web services iSkoot is reportedly developing a new mobile platform for AT&T that promises to enable the operator to offer a variety of services optimized for low-end phones. According to VentureBeat, the iSkoot platform will begin trials on Nov. 14, and will offer features including mobile social networking, email and RSS feeds--microblogging services like Twitter are said to be in the pipeline as well. VentureBeat adds AT&T initiated the partnership based on iSkoot's deep integration of Skype VoIP services in its software stack, anticipating the firm can apply the same integration principles to embed mobile data applications.

In on-the-record iSkoot news, the firm announced the completion of a $19 million Series C financing round led by Vision Opportunity Master Fund, with additional participation from existing investors Charles River Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Jesselson Capital Corporation and ZG Ventures. iSkoot said the funding is earmarked for the introduction of a "suite of mobile communication solutions" (presumably the AT&T platform). iSkoot recently acquired Social.IM, a desktop IM client enabling real-time communication and notifications across social networks.

For more on the iSkoot/AT&T deal:
- read this VentureBeat article

Best Western goes mobile

Jason Ankeny — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:48:43 -0500

Hotel chain Best Western International and mobile web platform provider Usablenet announced the launch of Best Western Mobile, promising travelers access to all features of the Best Western website from their mobile device. According to Best Western--which at over 4,000 hotels in nearly 80 countries stakes its claim as the world's largest hotel chain--the mobile site will enable customers to reserve rooms, check the status of a reservation and get directions. Best Western notes it hosts more than 400,000 guests worldwide each night.

For more on Best Western Mobile:
- read this release

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New Nokia web services target emerging markets

Jason Ankeny — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:13:46 -0500

Concurrent with the announcement that it will cut hundreds of jobs, reorganize its Nokia Research Center and shutter its Turku, Finland office, handset giant Nokia said it will introduce a range of affordable mobile devices and new web services targeting consumers in emerging markets. Citing demand based on customer feedback, Nokia said it will initially focus on email, agriculture and education: Mail on Ovi, enabled on Nokia Series 40 devices, offers users email accounts directly on the mobile phone sans PC access. Mail on Ovi trials will launch in select markets by the end of November, with a global rollout planned across all currently shipping Nokia Series 40 devices by the end of 2008.

Nokia will also introduce Nokia Life Tools, a series of agriculture information and education applications created especially for rural and small town communities in emerging markets. The services boast an icon-based, graphically rich user interface complete with tables that can display information simultaneously in two languages. Nokia adds that related SMS-based services will guarantee Life Tools services work anywhere within network range, without the complexities of additional settings or the need for GPRS coverage. Nokia plans to launch the service in the first half of 2009. In addition, Nokia announced the launch of seven new budget-priced mobile phones, including the Nokia 7100 Supernova and the Nokia 5130 XpressMusic.

For more on Nokia's emerging markets efforts:
- read this release

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Bell Mobility debuts content access controls

Jason Ankeny — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:04:23 -0500

Canadian operator Bell Mobility and its youth-centric Solo Mobile subsidiary announced the introduction of a content access control solution enabling parents to limit their children's access to mobile web content they deem inappropriate. The solution--based on Unipier Ltd.'s Intelligent Policy Manager content identification and filtering system--offers parents the tools to apply guidelines in real-time to any over mobile content; to activate the Parental Control service, payment-responsible account holders must visit My Bell or Solo Mobile websites and follow the instructions on password-protected sites. Parental Control is available on most Bell and Solo handsets for $5 a month on both prepaid and postpaid accounts.

For more on Bell's Parental Control:
- read this release

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Survey: Half of top websites not optimized for mobile

Jason Ankeny — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 09:15:35 -0500

Half of Nielsen Online's top 20 most trafficked websites are not optimized for mobile devices, despite the fact that mobile web users now account for an average of 5 percent of all site visitors, according to a new survey conducted by mobile web solutions provider Bango. The survey reports that websites are not keeping pace with mobile browsing trends, with many websites admitting to Bango they do not even know how much mobile-originated traffic hits their sites--Bango's own research suggests mobile web surfers now account for anywhere between 3 percent and 10 percent of all site traffic.

Bango's response: Analytics for PCs, a new plug-in tool that measures the actual number of mobile users hitting a PC-based website and offers detailed metrics including the percentage of mobile traffic as a unique visitor count plus the country, network and device mobile users connect through. According to Bango, after the webmaster puts a line of code into the home page of the website, Analytics for PCs begins measuring unique mobile visitors, with all data viewable in real-time via the Bango Management tools console.

For more on the Bango mobile web traffic survey:
- read this release

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Poll: Mobile web users favor Obama over McCain

Jason Ankeny — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:09:58 -0400

U.S. voters who surf the mobile web overwhelmingly favor Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama over Republican rival John McCain, according to a survey conducted by mobile advertising solutions provider JumpTap and polling firm Zogby International. The survey--conducted from Oct. 7 to 24 via an ad banner campaign running across the JumpTap premium mobile ad network--reports that among the 3,462 likely voters surveyed, 71 percent support Obama, 25 percent favor McCain and the remaining 4 percent are either undecided or prefer another candidate. Seventy percent of respondents believe Obama is better for the economy, 65 percent feel he is best suited to manage the war in Iraq and 70 percent say he is most likely to improve their quality of life.

A little more than half of the JumpTap/Zogby survey respondents fall between the ages of 30 and 49--24 percent are between the ages of 18 and 29, and 20 percent are between 50 and 64 years old. Seventy percent of respondents listed themselves as white, followed by African-Americans (14 percent), Hispanics (11 percent) and Asian/Pacific (4 percent)--62 percent of respondents are male. JumpTap and Zogby add that respondents hail from the nation's eastern, western and southern regions in roughly comparable numbers--the central/Great Lakes region contributed the smallest percentage at 16 percent.

For more on the JumpTap/Zogby poll:
- read this release

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Google Maps for Mobile adds voter information

Jason Ankeny — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:00:55 -0400

With the U.S. presidential election less than two weeks away, Google announced a new multi-platform maps effort to simplify and centralize voting locations and registration information. According to an entry on the Official Google Blog, the online U.S. Voter Info mapping service enables users to enter their home address to determine the location of their respective polling place--mobile subscribers may obtain the same information via m.google.com/elections or by searching for the word 'vote' with their addresses on Google Maps for Mobile.

Google developed the U.S. Voter Info site in association with state and local election officials, the League of Women Voters, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Voting Information Project. The web services giant said it will seek to stimulate further political participation by opening the polling place data to third-party sites and developers through an API created by its open-source engineering team.

For more on the Google voter effort:
- read this IDG article

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Research In Motion debuts BlackBerry Web Signals

Jason Ankeny — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:05:41 -0400

Research In Motion announced the launch of BlackBerry Web Signals, which promises to leverage the handset maker's push technology to automatically notify smartphone users when relevant content is published and enable one-click access to online information. According to RIM, BlackBerry Web Signals offers content providers a range of new services connecting consumers to news, weather, sports, entertainment and financial information based on their opt-in preferences, promising users will spend less time searching the mobile web. BlackBerry partners including Thumbplay, the CBC and Dada Entertainment are already planning Web Signals-based services.

For more on BlackBerry Web Signals:
- read this release

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NBC Universal to cut 2009 budget by $500 million

Jason Ankeny — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:02:12 -0400

NBC Universal is looking to slash about $500 million from its 2009 budget, becoming the first U.S. media giant to outline specific cuts in the face of a looming economic meltdown. According to The Wall Street Journal, the General Electric-owned unit--which counts a series of mobile multimedia efforts alongside its broadcast and cable-TV networks, local television stations and movie studio--seeks to shave about 3 percent of its budget for next year. "We are living in a time of unprecedented economic challenges," writes NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker in a company memo mailed Friday. "It has become evident that the decline in consumer confidence and spending will impact our operations."

NBC Universal executives are still determining where and how deeply the budget cuts will fall. The Zucker memo said staffing costs, promotional expenses and discretionary spending like travel will all come under the microscope. The WSJ adds that NBC Universal has not yet determined a target figure for reducing employee headcount, citing a source close to the situation. The shakeup follows just two years after the "NBCU 2.0" initiative, which proposed trimming $750 million in expenses and reducing NBC's work force by 700 people, or roughly 5 percent.

For more on the NBC Universal cuts:
- read this Wall Street Journal article

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Opera Mobile 9.5 beta adds widget support

Jason Ankeny — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:26:55 -0400

Browser development firm Opera Software announced the addition of widget support to its Opera Mobile 9.5 beta, which heralds the browser's second release for Windows Mobile and its first for UIQ-based devices. T-Mobile USA previously announced it will offer Opera Mobile with Widgets as part of the operator's web'n'walk mobile Internet initiative--according to Opera, the release of the 9.5 beta enables rival operators to incorporate widgets as well, offering subscribers access to web content via homescreen icons. A number of Opera Widgets are already pre-installed in the Opera Mobile 9.5 beta builds, promising access to Twitter, shopping lists and weather reports--other downloadable widgets are available here.

In addition, Opera said it updated its Opera Widget Software Development Kit to include two new features: An Opera Dragonfly debugging tool (optimized for debugging JavaScript, inspecting Cascading Style Sheets and the Document Object Model) and a Widget Manager for on-device testing. Opera will celebrate the release of the revamped SDK with the X Widget Challenge, offering $10,000 in cash prizes for the best cross-device widget submissions. Details are available here.

For more on Opera Mobile 9.5's widget support:
- read this release

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Breaking news: Men prefer sex to the mobile web

Jason Ankeny — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:02:42 -0400

To the surprise of absolutely no one, 74 percent of red-blooded men ages 18 to 34 would rather have sex than surf the Internet, according to a new study released by online entertainment community Break Media. That being said, the demographic in question still spends close to 22 hours online each week, looks to the Internet for entertainment and prefers to spend time surfing the web rather than watching TV, with 69 percent of respondents stating they can't live without the Internet, compared to just 31 percent for television. Break Media additionally reports that 63 percent of men ages 18 to 34 own a smartphone, and one in four now connect to the web via mobile device.

For more on the Break Media survey:
- read this MarketingVOX article

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Firefox for Mobile browser to debut this week

Jason Ankeny — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:31:10 -0400

Open-source software development initiative Mozilla is poised to debut the alpha release of Firefox for Mobile, a full-featured web browser optimized for the mobile platform. Codenamed "Fennec," the browser boasts the Gecko HTML rendering engine also found in desktop Firefox, with full JavaScript capability and AJAX--in addition, it will feature to so-called "awesome bar," an intuitive URL box the promises to minimize manual text input. Firefox for Mobile is initially limited exclusively to the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, but Mozilla vice president of mobile Jay Sullivan tells PCWorld that a release for Windows Mobile-based handsets is in the works, for release within the next few months--Sullivan adds that the alpha release is designed to encourage developers to create new add-ons for the Firefox platform, and to that end the browser will include a JavaScript-based geo-location interface to enable various location-based applications.

For more on Firefox for Mobile:
-read this PCWorld article

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Study claims iPhone usability could be improved

Sue Marek — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:02:03 -0400

Keynote Systems conducted a user satisfaction study on certain mobile Web sites being accessed via the iPhone and found that when asked to find a news story, read an article and search for a story on a specific topic, many iPhone users reported low satisfaction with the Web-surfing usability of the sites.

The study tracked 75 iPhone users and used the Keynote WebEffective measurement product to measure the results. WebEffective is a software product that offers insight into a mobile Web site's effectiveness and performance.

The study found satisfaction rates were low for both Yahoo! (51 percent) and Fox News (64 percent) mobile Web sites; less than half the users found these sites appealing. The Keynote study also found only four percent of users accessed the advertisements on the site and only 25 percent noticed the ads but didn't click through.

For more:
- See this article

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Trilibis Mobile scores $5.7 million in Series B

Jason Ankeny — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:24:15 -0400

Interactive network applications publisher Trilibis Mobile announced the close of a $5.7 million Series B financing round led by Altos Ventures, with participation from ATA Ventures and a handful of early individual investors. Trilibis develops and publishes applications and mobile web services via its patented SmartPath mobile publishing platform, which enables development, deployment and management of cross-platform mobile apps--the firm said it will earmark the new financing to fund development of native applications for BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Mobile and Android devices as well as enhance its marketing and sales efforts.

For more on the Trilibis funding:
- read this release

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