Easier Access to Web Content on Your Phone

For all of you out there who are addicted to the web but need to be on the go, new services have become available to give you the optimal experience on the web through your cellphone. As phones become more sophisticated, the need to transcode webpages decreases, but for older phones, the service is great.

Sprint recently became the first U.S. carrier to serve the OpenWeb solution produced by Openwave Systems Inc. that takes standard webpages and converts them into a mobile-friendly format. The release has been quiet and limited on its availability, but it’s an encouraging sign that transcoders will become more widely available. The transcoding service is automatic for anyone who currently is a Sprint customer.

Web developers are adapting to a growing population by becoming more mobile friendly in their designs or providing a mobile option for users. While it’s not advertised very well, Google has a service which can be used by mobile users and web developers alike to convert webpages into a mobile-friendly format. The mobile converter (link to http://www.google.com/gwt/n) is a simple webpage which allows you to enter a URL, select whether or not you want to have images displayed, and click “Go.” When you click the button, the application spits out a simpler version of the HTML that won’t make your cell choke.

If you want to make sure your web content is available to mobile users, then you should check out services like MoFuse and Mobile Ready. They will do the work for you to make sure that your website is displayed (the important part) as well as displayed in the most aesthetically pleasing manner possible. Of course, conversion companies like Mobile Ready cost money, but sometimes it’s necessary to give up a little bit of your wallet to make sure that mobile web users can navigate your page.

The downside to the transcoding services is that you only get to see a certain part of the content. Anything that confuses OpenWeb or Google’s application is thrown out. There is the possibility that you will miss some information, but the majority of it will be retained. I’ve also read some reviews of OpenWeb that state that it’s not worth your time as it inserts and deletes HTML tags in such a manner that the information becomes much harder to decipher. If you’re on an older phone, though, sometimes an ugly webpage is better than no webpage at all.

If you have one of the new-fangled phones which acts as a hand-held secretary, personal computer,  mp3 player, camera, lawn mower, and happens to also be able to make calls, then you don’t have to worry too much about crunching pages anyway. It might be useful if you want to get down the meat of the website without all the flash, but who can resist all those pretty colors?

Related News:

1. Sprint Mobile Internet Sprint Web
2. Sprint OpenWeb, Content Adaptation and the impact on Mobile Advertising
3. NETBISCUITS MAKES MOBILE WEB DEVELOPMENT EASIER WITH A FREE EDITION OF THEIR MOBILE WEB DEVELOPER PLATFORM
4. Bytemobile Launches New Release of Mobile Internet Services, Bringing All Web Content to All Mobile Devices
5. Devicescape and Deutsche Telekom enable easier access for users and devices to T-Mobile Networks