Transcript slides

Mobile Browsers
Research Seminar on
Telecommunications Business
T-109.7510
Janne Hakola
Mika Lahti
Content
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Technology and Standards
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Possibilities for Different Players
Success Factors
Solutions and Business Strategies
Conclusions
Mobile Browsers - Introduction
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Development of browsers
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Not only WAP, but also
Internet
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Challenges for devices
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Challenges for browsers
.mobi suffix to identify mobile web
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www.tkk.mobi
How to remember?
Introduction - Browsing
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Recent study showed the
importance of mobile browsing
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Distribution of Packet
Data Usage by Services
63% of packet data usage
Participants were early adopters
Indicates good success for
mobile browsing
Source: Feller 2005
Content
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Technology and Standards
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Possibilities for Different Players
Success Factors
Solutions and Business Strategies
Conclusions
Technology and Standards
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How to access Web content?
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Direct access
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PC-content -> mobile
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Rendering at mobile
Consumes bandwidth
Source: modified from Lawton 2001
How to access?
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WAP gateway/proxy
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Server to convert HTML-> WML or xHTML
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Servers renders the page
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No need for mobile to compute
Less data to be sent
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Faster
Source: OneUpWeb 2005
How to access?
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Caching
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One-way
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Content is first downloaded to device’s cache
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Download magazine to read it later
Bidirectional
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User makes some offline changes to the content
and synchronizes the content with gateway
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Sales representative
Technology and Standards
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Wireless Application Protocol - WAP
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Markup language and a transport protocol for
small device usage
Manufacturer-, vendor-, and technologyindependent
Early hype and exaggerated claims
WAP is in key role to realize mobile browsing
and its widening success
Markup Languages for Mobile Browsing
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At the beginning everyone had their own language
International agreements (WAP forum) -> common language
WAP 2.0 defines xHTML Mobile Profile (xHTML MP) and WAP
CSS as standards
Benefits for
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Mobile Browser
Content providers
Users
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Technicality-issues
Several browsers
Source: Openwave 2006
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Technology and Standards
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Possibilities for Different Players
Success Factors
Solutions and Business Strategies
Conclusions
Success Factors
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Content
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Amount of mobile web content varies between
countries
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Mobile devices can access HTML Web content
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Japan, iMode (mobile web)
Europe, mobile web and HTML web
U.S., HTML web through PDA
-> No lack of content
No mobile web content – no users
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More users browsing – more content
Success Factors
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Price
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Traffic tariff + content price
Content with a price tag
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Easy payment should be possible
Easy access at later time
Content without a price tag (Web)
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Flat rate is preferred
Pricing by bits
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Web content usually contains ads – Who is willing to pay for them?
-> Menu | No pictures
-> Browsing is not like in PC-Internet - bad for mobile
browsing
Usability
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Three layers of mobile browsing
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Holistic experience for the user
Source: Roto
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Should work with all types of content
Easy to use solution is likely to get success
Different solutions to display web pages
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Narrow layout Browsing on Mobile Phones by Virpi Roto
Minimap
Success Factors
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Bandwidth
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When WAP was introduced, bandwidth was
limiting content
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Today, with EDGE, data rates up to 384 kbps
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Nokia 7110 - support for 14,4 kbps GSM (!) data
transmission
And of course 3G
PC with modem connection, only 56 kbps
Mobile content need’s less bandwidth
-> Mobile browsing should be at acceptable level
with current bandwidth
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Technology and Standards
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Possibilities for Different Players
Success Factors
Solutions and Business Strategies
Conclusions
Possibilities for Different
Players – End Users
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There could be identified two groups
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Need-it-now consumers
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Killing-time users
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Accessed when they need some service or information
waiting for example buss and use time to find
information they need in future or just use entertainment
services
Makes possible to reach Web content
anywhere
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Banking in summer cottage etc.
Possibilities for Different
Players – Operators
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Mobile browsing generates 63% of packet
data traffic (Jan Feller)
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Forecast good success for mobile browsing
Good revenue opportunity for operators
SIM-based billing
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Identified through SIM card and after the use of
the third party service operator adds service fee to
user’s phone bill
Revenue for operators by taking care of billing
Nokia Kanavat
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Technology and Standards
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Possibilities for Different Players
Success Factors
Solutions and Business Strategies
Conclusions
Solutions and Business
Strategies
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Mobile browser vendor strategies
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User-installable mobile browsers
Default browsers used by major mobile
phone and PDA vendors
User-installable solutions: Opera
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Supports all current standards CSS2,
JavaScript, Ajax, WML, and XHTML
Obtains Web content directly to device
Solutions and Business
Strategies – Opera / mini
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SSR (Small Screen Rendering) mode in browser
Need quite a lot ram -> used mostly in PDA or
smart phone devices
Commercial / License fee
Opera mini
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Launched in January 2006
Low- and mid-end handheld devices
Communicates with Opera’s proxy servers which
re-process page before sending it to the phone
Solutions and Business
Strategies – Opera / mini
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Available for free
Company offers branded and customized
versions for operators and content
providers
Co-operation with Google
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Default search function in Opera mini
Solutions and Business Strategies
– Series 60 Browser / Pocket IE
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Default browsers used by major mobile
phone and PDA vendors: Series 60
browser
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Standard component of Symbian S60
Platform
Based on open source components
(WebCore and JavaScriptCore)
Main innovation Minimap feature
Solutions and Business Strategies
– Closed Content Browsers
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Browsers which can be used only to browse
limited content
Nokia’s Kanavat multimedia browser
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Launched 28.11.2005
User can only browse content that is specially
designed to Kanavat browser
All Finland’s biggest medias creates content to
Kanavat browser (MTV3, Yle, Helsingin Sanomat)
Browser is available for free via Nokia’s Web site
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Nokia also includes this Kanavat browser in new mobile
phone packets
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Success Factors
Solutions and Business Strategies
Conclusions
Conclusions
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Industry is currently moving from situation with many
different standards, technologies and vendors
towards the times with fewer players dominating the
field
Only six percent of 3G mobile users accessed
Internet with their 3G devices in Finland (Elisa)
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Only early adopters use mobile browsing in Finland
The best vendor strategy for mobile browser software
is to pre-install it into the device
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Easy, only small minority of users downloads and installs
software from the Web to their mobile devices
Mobile Browsers
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Thank you for listening!
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Questions?