Mobile Devices and Web Site usage
Internet use, was once limited to standard, desktop devices. Slowly this grew to laptop usage – people beginning to surf the web on the go Now, as we move into exciting modern times, almost all mobile devices have the abilities to surf the web and display webpage’s.
The most prominent mobile device to be using websites can be seen as the mobile phone and its bigger brother the smart phone/PDA. All of these devices are ultra portable, allowing the user to partake many different tasks on the move. Increasingly website usage amongst mobile/PDA owners has gone up and now web authors have to consider this audience heavily.
There are many different things to consider when using a website on a mobile device. Firstly, there is the way it will display – as getting all of the content onto a smaller screen can be a hard task indeed. To keep up with the demand, big companies are providing special WAP versions of their websites, alongside the traditional versions. When designing a site, developers aim for cross browser compatibility – now web authors have to investigate the mobile browsers that are becoming common (a major one, being the familiar Opera browser).
The second major thing you consider is the cost. Stereotypically, using a web site on a mobile device is a costly operation. Most services charge you per kilobyte or megabyte that you download, making graphic intense websites a no go area.
It’s not only the mobile phone or PDA that has been touched by web site usage. Other devices, not even intended for web site usage are being included, the most exciting of which is Sony’s PSP. With a few modifications you can happily spend hours browsing the net on a PSP- as long as you can find a wireless hotspot.
Overall, web site usage on mobile devices has dramatically increased over the recent years. Most devices are coming out with different browsing capabilities, and if not – modifications are becoming available. As mobile devices crave the “everything in one device” crown, internet access and web site usage brings them one step closer.
