http://www.mobiledesign.org/ 2012-05-25T12:52:21-07:00 http://www.mobiledesign.org/ http://www.mobiledesign.org/lib/images/favicon.ico text/html 2011-03-28T22:39:42-07:00 fling http://www.mobiledesign.org/the_smartphone_era?rev=1301377182&do=diff FIG 1-6Early smartphones came from companies like Nokia, Handspring, and Research in Motion (RIM) The Smartphone Era occurred at the same time as the third and fifth eras and spans from around 2002 to the present. What is and isn’t a smartphone (see FIG 1-6) has never been defined, which explains the overlap in chronology. Although smartphones have all the same capabilities of a feature phone, like making a phone call, sending an SMS, taking a picture, and accessing the mobile web, most smartph… text/html 2011-03-28T22:38:00-07:00 fling http://www.mobiledesign.org/the_feature_phone_era?rev=1301377080&do=diff FIG 1-5The Motorola RAZR, probably the most iconic device from the Feature Phone Era The third era, the Feature Phone Era (1998–2008), wasn’t nearly as radical a technological leap as the leap from the Brick Era to the Candy Bar Era, but it was an important evolution nonetheless. Up to this point, mobile phones had done three things: make voice calls, send text messages, and play the Snake game. The Feature Phone Era (see FIG 1-5) opened the floodgates to a variety of applications and services … text/html 2011-03-28T22:36:49-07:00 fling http://www.mobiledesign.org/the_candy_bar_era?rev=1301377009&do=diff FIG 1-4 The second era, the Candy Bar Era (1988–1998), represented one of the more significant leaps in mobile technology. “Candy bar” is the actual term used to describe the long, thin, rectangular form factor of the majority of mobile devices used during the Candy Bar Era and even today (see FIG 1-4). At this point, network operators started to see the clear value (and big profits) in their burgeoning cellular networks, and a “perfect storm” ensued. The network shifted to second-generation (2… text/html 2011-03-28T22:35:47-07:00 fling http://www.mobiledesign.org/the_evolution_of_devices?rev=1301376947&do=diff Every story has a beginning, and mobile development is no different. Understanding context is something discussed often in this book, and I can think of no better place to start than to go down memory lane and give you the backstory, or historical context, of how we arrived at the mobile technologies of today. text/html 2011-03-28T22:35:23-07:00 fling http://www.mobiledesign.org/in_the_beginning?rev=1301376923&do=diff For those of us who are older—that is, over the age of 30—when we think of what a telephone is and try to picture it, we might think of the phone illustrated in FIG 1-1. FIG 1-1 The telephone is undoubtedly one of the greatest inventions of mankind. It revolutionized communications, enabling us to reach across great distances and share thoughts, ideas, and dreams with our fellow man, making the world a much smaller place in the process. In fact, the telephone is probably one the most defining … text/html 2011-03-28T22:35:02-07:00 fling http://www.mobiledesign.org/a_brief_history_of_mobile?rev=1301376902&do=diff I like to compare the history of the mobile industry to the work of Umberto Eco: you get what is going on, but it makes your head hurt in the process. The evolution of mobile networks, the devices that run on them, and the services we use every day have evolved at an amazing rate, from the early phones that looked more like World War II field radios to the ultra-sleek fashion statements of today. text/html 2011-03-28T22:30:05-07:00 fling http://www.mobiledesign.org/home?rev=1301376605&do=diff " “Brian has hit the mark with this title! Mobile development is about so much more than APIs and the latest models of phones—it is about making a difference in the way we live, work and play. Reading this book should be the first task in any new mobile development project. Period.”" text/html 2011-03-14T16:51:33-07:00 fling http://www.mobiledesign.org/adapting_to_devices?rev=1300146693&do=diff Not all mobile devices are created equal. Thus the age-old problem in mobile design and development: devices can be vastly different from each other. It would be easy if different devices simply supported different attributes—one supports CSS3 and one doesn’t. But it isn’t that easy. One device might support CSS3 and another device might support CSS3 poorly—or worse, incorrectly.