The Mobile Web Initiative at the World Wide Web Consortium
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Outline
- W3C Overview
- Mobile Web Challenges
- W3C's Mobile Web Initiative
- Future Work and Implications
- (extra slides)
Mission: Leading the Web to its Full Potential
Founded by Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee in 1994, W3C
is:
- Providing the Vision to Lead.
- Engineering the Standards that Make the Web Work.
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- From a Web of Documents ...
- ... toward one Web:
- of Data and Services
- on Everything
- for Everyone
- ... that is Interoperable, Trustworthy, Evolving with time
...
|
(Membership / Benefits
/ New "At a Glance"
brochure)
Vision: Web on Everything
One Web ...
where Web technologies provide the means of interacting via all devices,
including computing, communications, entertainment, embedded, personal, home,
transportation, industrial, health care, etc. systems
... worldwide.
Why Does this Make Sense?
- Web model has proved successful for users
- Users want to access data and services from more than just
computers
- Content providers want to author data and services once
- Web technologies are becoming very rich and adaptable
- The Mobile Web is the next thing in the "Web on Everything"
Why Mobile Devices Should be the Next "Thing"
Source: Steven Pemberton
Rapid Increase in Internet-Capable Phones
Total
mobile phone units sold: 680 million in 2004, 800M million in 2005
(est)
Source: T-Mobile, modeled on Credit Suisse First Boston, Mobile Data 2004,
Pyramid Research, Global Mobile Capex Handbook, August 2004
Mobile Web is Underachieving, Today
Low - Stagnating Data Average Revenue Per User :
- 61% of the total installed phones are Web-capable
- 50% (of the 61%) are *not* configured to access the Web
- 24% (of the 61%) have tried only once to hit a Web site
Source http://blog.webservices.or.kr/hollobit/
Mobile Web is No Fun for Users, Today
- While commuting to work, user sees a URL on a bill-board.
- "Hey -- I've just bought a cool new mobile phone with Web access --
I'll give it a try!"
- Works for 15 minutes to figure out how to enter a URL.
- Seems to load something, but logos and images are so large that it's
impossible to make sense of the user interface on the small phone
screen
- "Wait -- I'll try my mobile operator's web site -- that'll
work!"
- No joy ... Same unpleasant result.
- Tries to log in to favorite web mail system.
- "Sorry, your browser doesn't support cookies!"
- Throws phone out train window.
Mobile Web is Expensive for Content Providers, Today
Works only when content is authored for particular phone/browser/operators
combos
Source: RusselBeattie.com
... Even in Unexpected Places
- Different URIs needed to access radio station, and automobile service
association in Japan.
Solution for Web Mobility?
... We can probably do better than this :-)
Goal of W3C's Mobile Web Initiative
Birth of the MWI
- W3C MWI Workshop (Barcelona 18-19 Nov 2004)
- Output : Things that are missing ...
- ... interoperability / agreement on the global framework
- ... guidelines and best practices for content authors
- ... a reliable way to find device information
- ... a reliable way to find mobile-accessible sites
(discovery)
- Mobile Web Initiative was launched on 11 May 2005, starting with:
- Initial focus: Support for authoring of adaptable
content
Best Practices Working Group
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- Scope (draft)
- Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 (draft)
- Guidelines for authoring content for good user experience,
through effective delivery to and display on mobile
devices.
- "mobileOK" trustmark
- ... for Web sites that provide good user experience
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Device Description Working Group
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- Adaptation of content requires knowledge of the device
characteristics
- Group will:
- Paint landscape of existing solutions and actors in device
information ecosystem
- Describe device properties to guide content adaptation
- Identify requirements for a device information
repository
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How This Might Come Together
Leveraging Next Generation Web Technologies
- Current W3C Activities that are or could be leveraged:
Liaising with Other Efforts and the Public
Leadership
- Sponsorship (Steering Council)
- Afilias*, Argogroup, Bango.net*, Drutt Corporation*, Ericsson*, France Telecom*, HP*, Jataayu
Software*, Mobileaware,
Ltd.*, mTLD Top Level Domain Limited,
Nokia*, NTT DoCoMo*, Opera Software*,
Segala M Test*, Sevenval AG*, TIM Italia*, Vodafone Group Services Limited*, Volantis Systems Ltd* (* = Founding
Sponsors)
- Group Participants
- Sponsors plus: AOL, AT&T, BBC, Boeing, CDAC, ETRI, El
Mundo, Fondation CTIC, Fondation ONCE, Google, HTML Writers
Guild, Indus Net Technologies, ICRA, Openwave, Royal National
Institute for the Blind, T-Online, University of Helsinki,
WURFL Team ... with others expressing interest.
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Possible Next Steps
- Within W3C's Mobile Web Initiative
- Framework/profile of Web technologies
- Validation services
- Training
- Test suites
- Discovery
- etc.
Focus on Authoring Fosters Benefits Elsewhere
Extra Slides
- W3C Overview and Membership
- Future technology trends (in addition to those mentioned
previously)
International Web Standards Organization
W3C's expanding base of international operations and
participation
- Leadership
- Introduce ideas through submissions & workshops
- Influence standards through Working Group
participation, review, implementation
- Provide strategic direction through seat on Advisory Committee
- Each Member has
one AC Representative
- Early insight into market trends
- Access Member & Team technical experts
- Track emerging technologies & markets through Member-confidential
access
- Implement standards & plan for procurement of new technologies
ahead of market
- Promoting image as innovator
- Participate in international media activities, press releases, testimonials
(e.g., MWI)
- Display organization and logo on W3C
site (250K visits/day)
- Display W3C Member
logo on organization's page
- Ensure & enjoy benefits of royalty-free implementation of Web
standards
How to join W3C
Selected Technology Areas
- XML
- Document Technologies
- Web of Data and Services
Web of Data and Services
- Web Services
- Web of programs
- Standards for interactions between programs, linked on the
Web
- Easier to Expose and Use services (and data
they provide)
- Semantic Web
- Web of data
- Standards for things, relationships and descriptions, linked on
the Web
- Easier to Understand, Search for, Share,
Re-Use, Aggregate, Extend information
- Semantic Web Services
Web Services
Semantic Web
Expanding Web Use and Safety
Thank you
