Linked by Eugenia Loli-Queru on Thu 26th Jan 2006 05:51 UTC
PDAs, Cellphones, Wireless Times change. If Internet was the main tech revolution of 1990's, mobile communications is the revolution of our time. The next step will be to fully merge these two concepts and allow users to browse the web via their phone at very cheap rates. Today, we look at the various offerings found on most phones. Our hope is that we will familiarize you with some of these solutions and so the next time you buy a phone, you actually also check what browser it's using. That will be a good step towards making carriers and phone manufacturers aware that the mobile web users exist!
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tried the mobile web, didn't like it.
by stew on Thu 26th Jan 2006 11:32 UTC
stew
Member since:
2005-07-06

"That will be a good step towards making carriers and phone manufacturers aware that the mobile web users exist!"

They do? Since my provider offers a WAP flatrate, I gave the mobile web a chance for a few months and was completely dissatisfied. I doubt a different browser or http instead of WAP would have a made any difference: I found that the usability was constrained on the hardware side, a tiny display and a numeric keypad made it a very unpleasant experience, combined with slow transfers.

I could see myself using the mobile web with a properly sized PDA, pen input and access technologies like WLAN or UMTS/3G, but that is far out of my budget, when instead I can just use the notebook I own anyway and look for a WiFi hotspot.

Maybe in two years, when we have affordable UMTS/3G flat rates and devices like the XDA mini S don't cost an arm and a leg, yes - but for now, I stick to a tiny RAZR I use for phone calls and text messages only.

Stappjarv Member since:
2006-01-26

If you expect "the web, but smaller", WAP will definitly dissapoint you. On a day-to-day basis, WAP is excellent for small, focused tasks that can be represented as moderate amounts of textual information. Checking timetables, news headlines (you know that OSNews is avaliable both as WML and XHTML MP?), surveillance (it's easy to whip up dynamic WML pages that poll allready computerized system) and occassional time killing.

For most other things, WAP is at best functional as an emergency or special-case solution. (you can read/write mail, IRC, search google, do banking).


But anyhow, if you have a charged laptop and are in the vicinity of an open wifi-hotspot that is always the most confortable way.

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