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Today, more consumers access the Internet through mobile devices (1.05 bn.) Than with any other strategy, including PCs (1 bn). The Internet is no longer restricted to a personal computer and a web browser. Run on a mobile device, the Internet has become an always accessible entity with countless life-enhancing features: iTunes App Store; GPS; gaming; Email; camera; contacts; photo albums: your life, anytime, anywhere.
Even the field of home computers is developing rapidly with the highly interactive Nintendo Wii or Microsoft Xbox, which will radically change multimedia entertainment centers. Businesses are increasingly incorporating video conferencing technology into their workplaces and providing staff with office-setting mobile devices, from customer emails to meeting reminders to on-the-go web research, at their fingertips.
While 84% of mobile web users access the web at home, 87% of people with web-enabled mobile devices access the web every day. Now is the perfect time to create an innovative and engaging mobile strategy. As the functionality and accessibility of the cell phone increase, so does the ability to make your mobile product more comprehensive. When expanding your brand online, you can’t ignore the mobile web; Chances are your customers are already looking for you on their phones.
Developing your mobile plan
There are 2 completely different schools of thought on mobile app development. In Part II, two leading developers offer some recommendations on these contrasting development philosophies.
Sean Christmann supports a universal approach, allowing the maximum number of users to access an application on their preferred mobile phone.
John Blanco, on the other hand, believes that developing an application in native language or on a specific platform (sometimes called ‘native’) offers a better overall user experience and is more likely to be adopted by the masses.
Before making a mobile strategy, it is important to understand that different mobile phones speak different languages. For example, iPhone applications can connect to cell phone hardware, allowing rich local applications to use GPS, multi-touch, and accelerometer functions and display content from any web browser except Flash content. While Flash is the leader in web animation technology, it is not supported by mobile applications.
Some smartphones may have similar hardware capabilities, for example GPS, but they can only handle Flash Lite, a lightweight version of the platform. Others might just be able to display HTML. Because capabilities between mobile devices change, it is difficult to develop universal solutions. This has become especially challenging, courtesy of a market that heavily favors the iPhone.
According to NPD Group, the following were the best-selling smartphones in the US in the first quarter of 2009:
RIM BlackBerry Curve (all 83XX models)
Apple iPhone 3G (all models)
RIM BlackBerry Storm
RIM BlackBerry Pearl (all models except flip)
T-Mobile G1
The problem is this: Do you develop an application that less than half of the cell phone market can understand, or do you create an application that takes advantage of the full capabilities of the phone that your audience carries? However, do you build two native applications on the BlackBerry and iPhone addresses, which enjoy the best market share?
In the second part of this article, we’ll let the experts chime in with their opinions.
