The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) today jumpstarted a bid to make it
easier to access the Web from a mobile device, a dodgy feat that threatens
to thwart advanced mobile communications globally.
The standards body launched the Mobile Web Initiative to show users
that it is serious about improving the quality of Internet access on
handhelds, wireless pagers and smart phones.
The effort is being overseen by W3C Director and Web creator Tim
Berners-Lee, who said that mobile access to the Web “has been a second class
experience for far too long.” Berners-Lee discussed the MWI in his keynote
at the World Wide Web 2005 Conference in Chiba, Japan.
The chief problem lies in the graphical representation. Browsing the Web
from a mobile device is challenged by the lack of technology,
interoperability and standards to represent Web pages in form
factors as small as a one-inch screen.
Unlike pinpointing information from a browser configured for desktops, the
small screens of smart phones or PDAs make Web sites hard to access, if they
may be accessed at all, according to the W3C.
It follows that content providers have a hard time building sites that work
well on all types of Web-enabled phones because there is no suitable
development standard.
Many experts believe this is one of the key barriers to broader adoption of
more sophisticated mobile computing gadgets. In fact, convergent devices
that combine voice, video and other Internet communication forms are
supplanting traditional mobile devices, according to a new IDC report.
IDC said today that handheld device shipments decreased 12.1 percent
year-over-year and fell 30.6 percent sequentially in the first quarter of 2005. Conversely, the
worldwide converged mobile device market grew 134.6 percent year-over-year.
MWI will work to make sure device usability and mobile services improve even
more, said Evan Smouse, director of strategic technology at HP, which is a founding sponsor. Additional founding MWI sponsors include
France Telecom, MobileAware, Segala M Test, Vodafone and Volantis.
“We believe the MWI will accelerate the development of rich media content
services and will be a catalyst for the next
generation of engaging communications experiences,” Smouse said in a
statement.
The MWI will consist of two core groups. One group will write “best
practices,” developing guidelines and checklists to help content providers
develop Web content that works on mobile devices. The “device description”
group will log a database of descriptions that can be used by content
authors to mold their content for a particular device.
MWI will complement W3C’s work in the mobile Web space, including the
creation of Web standards for multimodal interaction and profiles for mobile devices. Related standards include XHTML, SVG Mobile Profiles, and the SMIL Basic Profile.
The W3C also works on
standards with the Open Mobile Alliance. Both groups share information to
avoid competing standards for making it easier for users to access the
Internet via mobile gadgets.
