04 · 15

New Study Shows the Mobile Web Will Rule by 2015 [STATS]

In a dense, 87-page report, Morgan Stanley analysts have charted the most important online trends and predicted the future of the Internet. In addition to forecasting more online shopping and showing the geographical distribution of Internet users, the study also shows a dramatic shift toward mobile web use.

Including devices such as the Kindle, the iPhone (iPhone

) and other smartphones, web-enabled tablets, GPS systems, video games and wireless home appliances, the growth of the mobile web has been exponential — and we’re still just at the beginning of this cycle. Morgan Stanley’s analysts believe that, based on the current rate of change and adoption, the mobile web will be bigger than desktop Internet use by 2015.

The mobile wealth creation/destruction cycle is in its earliest stages. The proliferation of better devices and the availability of better data coverage are two trends driving growth; having better services and smaller, cheaper devices has led to a huge explosion in mobile technology that far outpaces the growth of any other computing cycle.

And speaking of coverage, global 3G penetration is expected to hit 21% this year. In Japan, where the U.S. looks to find its mobile roadmap for the future, 96% of mobile subscribers already have 3G coverage. In Western Europe, the penetration is around 54%, just slightly above 46% in the U.S. In developing and/or economically depressed areas, including the Middle East, Africa, parts of Asia, Eastern Europe and South America, 3G penetration is still in the single digits. Morgan Stanley identifies 3G access as a key point in the success of the mobile web.

Finally, mobile e-commerce is ramping up faster than online e-commerce, now making up 4% of total retail sales. In certain categories, such as computers, consumer electronics, music, movies, tickets, video games and books, online sales account for between 45% and 20% of the total retail market. Japan’s Rakuten shows how the mobile share of e-commerce is growing as well, from 10% of e-commerce in 2006 to nearly 20% now.

Notes on the Social Web

Social network use has already eclipsed e-mail use. People started spending more time on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace (MySpace

) back in 2007; in 2009, there were more users on social networks than users of e-mail.

In the past three years, two sites have gained a huge amount of mindshare around the world. The number of minutes spent online from a global audience was dominated by Yahoo and MSN in 2006. Today, Facebook is the website that gets by far the most attention, minute for minute, with YouTube (YouTube

) holding a steady second position.

Other Stats of Interest

  • 48% of all Internet users come from just five countries (Brazil, Russia, China, India and the U.S.).
  • Video (video

    ) accounts for 69% of mobile data traffic.

  • Facebook is the single largest repository for user-generated content such as pics, videos, links and comments.
  • Apple and Android (Android

    ) platforms are gaining in the mobile OS market, while Windows Mobile, RIM and Palm decline.

  • More and more, we are expecting to have access to our “stuff,” i.e. music, documents and applications, in the cloud.
  • The overlap between mobile users and social web users continues to grow; more and more users are accessing the social web from a mobile device.
  • If Skype were a telecommunications carrier, it would be the largest carrier in the world, with 521 million registered users.
  • Games are bigger than any other app category — both for the social web and for mobile devices.
  • Real-time technology and location-based services are expected to drive mobile retail.
  • Online ad sales are growing, but virtual goods, premium content and other models are big business, especially for the mobile web.
  • The average iPhone user only spends 45% of his on-device time making voice calls.

04 · 15

Drag and drop attachments onto messages - Official Gmail Blog

04 · 15

Mobile Web and App Development Testing and Emulation Tools - Speckyboy Design Magazine

There are almost twice as many mobile phones in the world than there are computers. With that phenomenal thought in mind you can understand why developing mobile apps is so lucrative, its a huge market with its users demanding ever more powerful and functional applications bridging the gap between mobiles and computers.

Keeping up with demand and trends is only half the battle for mobile app developers. They face the huge challenge of testing there application across a multitude of different handsets and OSes. Each handset is slightly different and each has its own little quirks that can not be ignored, and that is before you even contemplate the huge differences from the mobile operating systems.

In this article we have compiled a list of free tools for testing your application across the most popular mobile operating systems, including iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Symbian and Palm. Some of the tools have been officially released (with the exception of the iPhone) and are available to download with there respective SDKs, Other tools, which maybe a little bit basic, can be used as a reliable testing environment.

There are also tools below for checking your web sites “mobile-friendliness”. Some will allow for visual views, others will give you detailed reports and grade your site on its mobile effectiveness.

Google Android Emulator

Google Android Emulator

For those of you who want to test drive Android you can use this Android Emulator which is patched to run on a Windows PC as a standalone app without having to download and install the complete and complex Android SDK, and you can even install and test Android compatible apps on it.
Google Android Emulator Download Package »

Official Android SDK Emulator

Official Android SDK Emulator

The Android SDK includes a mobile device emulator which mimics all of the hardware and software features of a typical mobile device (although, without the calls). It provides a variety of navigation and control keys, which you can "press" using your mouse or keyboard to generate events for your application. It also provides a screen in which your application is displayed, together with any other Android applications running.
Official Android SDK Emulator »
How to Install Applications on the Android Emulator »

MobiOne

MobiOne

MobiOne Developer is a mobile Web IDE for Windows that helps developers to code, test, debug, package and deploy mobile Web applications to devices such as iPhone, Blackberry, Android, and the Palm Pre.
Recently updated with its seventh version, it now includes a new drag-n-drop mobile Web visual designer for mockups, mobile HTML code generation, convenient mobile design templates, updated OSS components, screen capture, multi-touch and gesture support.
MobiOne Homepage & Downloads »

TestiPhone.com – iPhone Application Web Based Simulator

TestiPhone.com - iPhone Application Web Based Simulator

TestiPhone is a web browser based simulator for quickly testing your iPhone web applications. This tool has been tested and works using Internet Explorer 7, FireFox 2 and Safari 3.
TestiPhone.com – iPhone Application Web Based Simulator »

iPhoney

iPhoney

iPhoney gives you a pixel-accurate web browsing environment – powered by Safari – that you can use when developing web sites for the iPhone. It's the perfect 320 by 480-pixel canvas for your iPhone development.
iPhoney is not an iPhone simulator but instead is designed for web developers who want to create 320 by 480 (or 480 by 320) websites for use with iPhone. It gives you a canvas on which to test the visual quality of your designs.
iPhoney will only run on Mac OS X 10.4.7 or later.
iPhoney Homepage and Downloads »

iBBDemo – Blackbaud iPhone Browser Simulator

iBBDemo - Blackbaud iPhone Browser Simulator

iBBDemo correctly renders Webkit targeted html including the custom -webkit CSS extenstions, effectively giving you a compelling demo/test platform for iPhone Web content from the comfort of a Windows desktop (who said it could not be done?).
iBBDemo – Blackbaud iPhone Browser Simulator »
iPhone Browser Simulator for Windows Screencast »

Emulator – Palm Developer Center

Emulator – Palm Developer Center

This official Palm emulator emulates the Palm webOS device on a Linux, Mac and or Windows. If you already the SDK installed, you will already have the emulator on your computer.
Pre Emulator – Palm Developer Center »
Download the Palm Pre SDK (Mac, Linux and Windows) »

BlackBerry Simulator

BlackBerry Simulator

There are a variety of official BlackBerry simulators available to emulate the functionality of actual BlackBerry products. With any of the BlackBerry device simulators, you can demonstrate and test how the BlackBerry device software, screen, keyboard and trackwheel will work with your application. These simulators will also simulate behavior in various wireless network conditions.
BlackBerry Simulator »
Software Downloads for Blackberry Device Simulators »

Nokia Platform and Device SDKs

Nokia Platform and Device SDKs

When coupled with your favourite development tool, the S60 platform and device SDKs provide all the features required to quickly and efficiently build and test Symbian applications on a PC.
Nokia Platform and Device SDKs »
Nokia Device Specifications »
Nokia Mobile Browser Simulator 4.0 »
NMB 4.0 is a mobile Internet browser SDK that can browse mobile Internet content from your local computer. This resource has been archived because it is not considered relevant for developers creating commercial solutions today, but it was still fun playing about with it.

WinWAP Smartphone Browser Emulator

WinWAP Smartphone Browser Emulator

WinWAP Smartphone Browser Emulator let's you use WAP services on your Windows PC. The browser is a mobile Internet browser that emulates the way you would use the mobile Internet services on the built-in browser of a smartphone.
This Smartphone Browser Emulator is more about providing an experience that mimics the one you would have on a real smartphone. It looks like a smartphone on the desktop of your PC, you can click with the mouse on the buttons of the phone to scroll the screen and select links, and use the keyboard of your PC to enter text.
WinWAP Smartphone Browser Emulator »
WinWAP Smartphone Browser Emulator Downloads »
WinWAP Smartphone Browser Emulator Skins »

Windows Mobile 6.1.4 Emulator Images

Windows Mobile 6.1.4 Emulator Images

This official Windows Mobile 6.1.4 Emulator Images package adds emulator images to Visual Studio 2005 or Visual Studio 2008 that allows you to test applications for Windows Mobile 6.1.4, including Internet Explorer Mobile 6. The emulator images CAN also be used as standalone application without Visual Studio.
Windows Mobile 6.1.4 Emulator Images »

MicroEmulator

MicroEmulator

The MicroEmulator is a versatile and expandable CLDC/MIDP 1.0 mobile device emulator. It can be used as a standalone application on any Java enabled workstation. It will allow you to demonstrate MIDlet based applications in a web browser applet and can be run as standalone java application.
MicroEmulator Home »
Skinning the MicroEmulator »
In this tutorial the developer describes how to skin the MicroEmulator to look like his favorite mobile platform, the SonyEricsson T610, using the Applet presentation layer.

Perfecto Mobile -Test Mobile Applications on Real Devices

Perfecto Mobile -Test Mobile Applications on Real Devices

The Perfecto Mobile Handset Cloud service will allow you to test your mobile applications, websites or services on a multitude (over 450 hand-sets) of REAL handsets. It will allow you to access real mobile devices via the web and control them as if you were holding them in your hands.
This service is not free, you can choose from either paying $16 per hour or buy a subscription from $12 per hour.
Perfecto Mobile -Test Mobile Applications on Real Devices »
Perfecto Mobile Demo »

mobiReady – dotMobi Compliance & mobileOK Checker

mobiReady - dotMobi Compliance & mobileOK Checker

The mobiReady testing tool evaluates your websites mobile-readiness using industry best practices ands standards.
The free report provides both a score (from 1 to 5) and an in-depth analysis of pages to determine how well your site will perform on a mobile device.
You can either test individual page (by URL input), test the markup or you can choose to Site Test, which will give you detailed reports for an entire site.
mobiReady – dotMobi Compliance & mobileOK Checker »

W3C mobileOK Checker

W3C mobileOK Checker

The W3C mobileOK Checker is a free service from the W3C that helps check the level of mobile-friendliness of Web documents, and in particular assert whether a Web document is mobileOK.
W3C mobileOK Checker »
W3C Mobile Web Best Practices »

iPad Peek

iPad Peek

iPad Peek is a nifty tool that lets you see how any website will be rendered on the iPad. Click on the top border to switch from landscape to portrait mode. The virtual keyboard and the buttons on the iPad browser are just for show, but the reload button works.
iPad Peek »
iPad Peek: See How Your Website Looks on the iPad » article via Mashable.

Opera Mini Simulator

Opera Mini Simulator

This MicroEmulator (see above) powered live demo of the world’s most popular mobile Web browser, Opera Mini 5. It functions exactly as it would when installed on a handset.
Opera Mini Simulator »

You might also like…

14 Free Mobile Application Development Icon Sets »
10 Cool and Advanced Mobile Phone Concepts »
Top 20 Free Windows Mobile Social Media and Networking Apps »
Showcase of 20 Mobile-Friendly Popular Design Blogs »
49 Free Windows Mobile 6+ Smartphone Apps and Services »
45+ Cool Google Android Apps – The Perfect iPhone Replacement »

04 · 15

50 Social Bookmarking Icon Sets for Bloggers – Part 2 - Speckyboy Design Magazine

04 · 15

The Path To Advertising Nirvana - Smashing Magazine

With advertising, a curious thing happens: most people want its benefits but are rarely willing to put up with its hassles. Those who run websites and applications have enough on their plates without having to worry about handling transactions, putting banners across their website or hearing requests from advertisers. Moreover, users have little to no interest in even looking at advertisements that flank a website’s content, some going so far as to block ads before they’re delivered. So, what’s a website owner to do?

Advertising hasn’t always been this way. Some people even enjoy them. Scary thought, I know, but stay with me. You know those previews shown before movies and those signs outside of gas stations announcing fuel prices? Those are rarely seen as advertisements at all. That’s because people find them informative, helpful and engaging. Heck, some people say they watch the Superbowl for the advertisements themselves. So why are websites any different? What has changed online that people (apparently) find less acceptable than offline? Not much, really… well, not much unless you count that whole “Internet” thing.

As a general rule, when people surf the Web, they’re in control of the experience. If someone wants information about a particular topic, they might query Google or look up an article on Wikipedia. Regardless of what they do, they choose how to obtain the information they want. The traditional advertising model — shout at your audience until it listens (as Groundswell would put it) — is diametrically opposed to this.

So, if advertisers are working against the model, can’t they just leave us alone? The answer is almost universally no; not until we come up with a better solution. Just as user experience designers carefully craft experiences throughout a website, advertisers must pay attention to how they affect the perceived value of the publications in which they appear.

The subject of “advertising experience” itself is too broad to cover in one article, so I wouldn’t suggest that this is final word on it. Instead, I’ll attempt to provide an overview of how our website, the UX Booth (a user experience design publication), has approached advertising in the past 18 months, an approach that has been evolving with our understanding of the advertising model.

[Offtopic: By the way, did you know that Smashing Magazine has a mobile version? Try it out if you have an iPhone, Blackberry or another capable device.]

First Things First: Why?

A good question to ask yourself when first considering whether to put advertisements on your blog or website is, why are you advertising in the first place? Some of the major reasons that we’ve heard of (at meet-ups, conferences and from other publishers) follow.

1. Quality Content Costs Money.

The most common argument. When a website owner creates and manages content, they’re providing a service; and they have to spend time continually maintaining it. No surprise then that they want to be compensated for that time. Unless the owner is marketing a salable product, this almost inevitably leads them to consider advertising as their chief source of revenue. Erin Kissane recently reflected on this, the content conundrum, after taking part in SXSW’s publishing panel:

Content isn’t free. If it’s good, it’s very expensive to make. We can subsidize its production and maintenance in any number of ways, but we have to start being honest — with ourselves, our clients and sometimes our readers — about its true cost.… Publishing requires resources: planning, big doses of both creativity and disciplined analysis, writing, editing, design, project management, production, ad sales and so on. It doesn’t usually require a separate person for each of those tasks, but it still tends to be a lot of work — more than most readers and clients tend to imagine.

Jeffrey Zeldman, who manages Happy Cog, the consultancy that publishes A List Apart, corroborates this in his post “Content Wants to Be Paid For.”

2. Advertising Builds Credibility.

This point isn’t as straightforward, so let me explain. People like the familiar, and ads are certainly familiar. Not only can the mere presence of ads build trust (as ironic as that may be), the companies that do the advertising can lend credibility to the website. Consider a website that is sponsored by Adobe and that puts Adobe’s logo next to some of its content. The presence of this established brand sends two distinct yet related messages: first, this content is supported by money from Adobe (and all the good or evil that that entails), and secondly (perhaps more importantly), Adobe essentially endorses this website’s content. Having a major brand as a partner gives the website authority.

Delve-sponsors in The Path To Advertising Nirvana
Although Delve:UI was Fritz Desir’s first event, the support of so many well-known sponsors lent it credibility.

3. Advertising Supports the Community.

Websites aren’t run in a vacuum. They exist in an eco-system, a niche. Relevant advertising beside content can introduce readers to products and services that are of interest to them. If similarly targeted websites follow the same logic, the community as a whole is strengthened. Remember webrings? (… No?)

Whatever your reasons, understand first why you’re advertising. This understanding will inform future decisions that you make throughout the advertising process.

Second Things Second: Who?

Now that you’ve decided that advertising is for you, it’s time to meet the individuals who are a part of the advertising equation. Unlike traditional user–centered design, which involves a complex interplay between two parties (stakeholders and users), advertising is a three-way conversation: between stakeholders, readers and advertisers.

Advertisers

Know them, love them, cherish them. Advertisers are the people who want to show their products to the people who visit your website. To do this, they start at the top, contacting publications that interest their target demographic.

Sponsor-uxbooth in The Path To Advertising Nirvana
In lieu of a dedicated sales team, UX Booth gives advertisers a sponsorship page as well as a single point of contact on staff.

Anyone interested in advertising on your website will thus need a way to get in touch with you. While you might have a general contact form, does that page contain details about your advertising opportunities? If not, consider making the process easier for interested companies by creating a dedicated page. This is the solution we ended up going with.

If creating an “Advertise with us” page sounds like too much work, consider using a service like BuySellAds.com. BuySellAds.com does something equally effective, putting your website in an advertising database. Advertisers that are interested in buying a spot can quickly compare their options across various websites and make an informed choice in just a few clicks.

Bsa in The Path To Advertising Nirvana
Using BuySellAds.com is a great way to kickstart your blog’s advertising presence.

When a company expresses interest in advertising in your publication, give them a single point of contact with your organization. When it’s time to renew, include a kind note thanking them for their support and asking whether you can adjust anything to improve their stay on your website. A mutually beneficial relationship will emerge over time. Remember that, like readers, advertisers are people, too.

Readers

Because advertising is such a touchy subject for readers, listen to their feedback. If something’s not working and you’re listening closely enough, you’ll know it.

When the UX Booth launched, we attracted advertisers that were used to targeting visual designers. (Note that UX design is commonly mistaken for UI design.) Although this worked well for the first few months, we eventually surmised that readers weren’t engaged with our advertisers’ products. The discussions in our comments section, Twitter stream and Facebook fan page weren’t about PSD-to-HTML services or CSS galleries, so why would we advertise products related to them?

Facebook in The Path To Advertising Nirvana
Facebook allows publishers to look at their reader demographics.

If possible, check your Facebook fan page for demographic information. If all else fails, just ask your readers directly. Facebook has seen marked success with its own advertising network because of the context it derives from the profiles and explicit preferences of users. Google, too: it targets advertisements in Gmail based on the contents of email messages.

Okay Then, How?

Once you understand your reasons for advertising and have a basic grasp of the users in your niche, how do you marry the two? Well, with design, of course. But doing this is far from straightforward. Essentially, we’re designing for opposing goals: advertisers want users to give more conscious attention to their products and services, while usability-minded interaction designers want them to give less. (Steve Krug’s popular book is called Don’t Make Me Think for a reason.) Thankfully, UX luminary Karen McGrane spells out all of the idiosyncrasies of this space in her (aptly titled) presentation “Designing For, With and Around Advertising.”

Delivery

As mentioned, the online advertising space is littered with faux pas. What kind? Consider the following behavior:

  • Pop-up ads,
  • Pop-under ads,
  • Overly-busy animated ads,
  • Ads with unsolicited sound.

All of these kinds of advertising have a bad reputation for a reason: they distract readers from what they intended to do. Consider carefully whether the reward of displaying these kinds of ads is worth the negative impact it could have on the user experience.

If you do allow animated attention–seeking creatives, then set clear boundaries. Give advertisers a media kit that ensures that everyone agrees on what kinds of advertisements are acceptable and what kinds are not. For example, for ads that hover over the page, what are the requirements on how long they can appear and how users can close them?

The state of online ad delivery methods leaves much to be desired. The only universally well-received options are static text-based ads and static banner advertisements. Banner ads are good because they’re usually discrete, but they’re also bad because readers usually ignore them. This well-documented phenomenon is known as banner blindness. Web usability professional Jakob Neilsen confirms that “Users almost never look at anything that looks like an advertisement.”

So with “loud” advertising out, and banner blindness being so prevalent, how can we make this work? Perhaps not the way you would expect. Simply placing more ads around your website won’t solve it, as Paul Scrivens recently reminded us. We’ve got to try something new.

Sidebar-banner in The Path To Advertising Nirvana
While sidebar banners are the most popular form of advertisement, they’re arguably the least noticed.

Engagement: A Sliver Of Hope

To bring readers back into the conversation, we have to figure out two things: what they interact with and why they do it. The answer to the first question is pretty obvious for a blog with a steady readership: readers interact with the articles; they read them. So, what does this mean for advertising? Should blogs “publish” ads, too? Perhaps. Consider the unique approach taken with the location-based game Gowalla.

And Now for Something Completely Different…

Gowalla is a game that allows players to “check in” at various locations. Checking in is an abstract concept that involves “stamping” your passport and adding an item to your “backpack.” Most items collected in Gowalla are useless: teddy bears, lattes, tour buses. Recently, though, Gowalla added a unique kind of item to the system. Thanks to a partnership with Apple and Apple-accessory manufacturer InCase, players can now pick up special Incase items (and coupons) when they check into an Apple Store location. Checking in becomes much more valuable and exciting in an Apple Store because players might win something. The net effect? Because of the clever delivery mechanism, what might otherwise be seen as blatant advertising becomes a fun, engaging game element.

Passport in The Path To Advertising Nirvana
Gowalla introduced in–game advertising in a unique way.

We learn from Gowalla’s approach to advertising that, rather than deliver ad content in a boring, predictable format, everyone wins when the solution is altogether unique. Am I suggesting that each website implement a unique system for delivering ads? Of course not. Custom solutions like Gowalla’s require far more infrastructure and development time than many publications can afford. What I am suggesting is that by taking a slightly different approach to advertising, we can change our audience’s perception (and reception) of advertising entirely.

At UX Booth, for example, instead of displaying a banner ad for a relatively unknown product, we might choose to introduce that product to our readers by way of a blog article. If we think it’s of sufficient interest, we’ll conduct an interview with a potential sponsor to find out how they develop their user experience (which is the subject of our blog). Because these kinds of articles are what UX Booth is all about, everyone wins. Participants view these discussions as being inherently valuable precisely because of their participation. Rein Henrichs echos this sentiment in his article “Conversation Is King.”

Attaining Advertising Nirvana

Now that we’ve covered some of the nuances of advertising, what’s the best way to proceed? Unfortunately for you, after an article as long as this one, I hate to say that “it depends.” The best advertising model for any website is always the one that balances the team’s business objectives with the objectives of advertisers and of readers. In the case of UX Booth, we like to think that we know our audience pretty well, but we’re certainly aware that none of our solutions are perfect. But what I want to know is, how could they be? What would you do in our position?

I’m aware, for example, that inviting would-be advertisers to write blog posts is an extraordinarily fine line to walk; but it’s a path I’m willing to explore. A publication’s credibility comes down to the discretion of its editors. This is my decision to make. It’s up to readers, then, to decide whether or not my decision is a correct one, providing content that they enjoy. Do posts on UX Booth written by product owners come off as information pieces or infomercials? I can’t say. Obviously, I prefer the former to the latter, but the decision isn’t made in a vacuum — I must balance my desire to provide relevant content with my ability to justify (to myself and others) the time we spend maintaining site.

A publisher’s job is to match readers to content they will enjoy (or to interactions they will enjoy, in GoWalla’s case). Our community is capable of caring about content, which is why they show up in the first place. What we need to do is show them why they should care about related content. But wait! Doesn’t introducing people to things they might enjoy sound like marketing? Well, yes… Yes it does.

In this new open-source/cluetrain world, I am a marketer. And so are you. If you’re interested in creating passionate users, or keeping your job, or breathing life into a start-up, or getting others to contribute to your open-source project, or getting your significant other to agree to the vacation you want to go on… congratulations. You’re in marketing. Now go kill yourself.

Kathy Sierra

Even if, upon reflection, we realize that we’re doing the work of marketers, one thing is apparent: the digital advertising industry is mature enough for newcomers to quickly suss out its worst practices… which isn’t a good thing either. The question going forward is, what’s the best way to make marketing more or less invisible? — more like those movie previews we talked about. We need advertising that doesn’t frustrate us. Figure that out, and you’re well on your way to helping us all attain advertising nirvana.

Further Reading

  • Content Wants to Be Paid for
  • Kyle Reddoch

    I am an aspiring Web Developer, Android Fanatic, Family Man, and all around Web Geek! I also do Freelance Development work.

    About

    My Journey through the Interwebs!