05.04.10/Mobile Browsers: More Than Just WebKit
In the past couple of years, when we think of developing for the mobile web, we think of Mobile WebKit. And rightfully so. iPhone, Android, webOS and recently BlackBerry have all thrown their muscle behind the increasingly ubiquitous browser. But, what other kinds of mobile devices are people using to access the web?
A lot.
In 2007, Jeff Skinner and I launched the now-defunct Tappity, a site which helped people discover mobile-friendly websites. The other day, I was perusing the Tappity innards and came across something interesting: a database table filled with unique User Agent strings from devices that had visited our site. For those not familiar with User-Agent Strings, they are a sort of fingerprint which helps identify a browser, so the database table represents a large sample of mobile browsers which have accessed Tappity.
The list doesn’t represent every device, nor are the strings exclusively mobile, but it does give you an idea of the diversity that exists in the mobile universe. For example, here are some top manufacturers alongside the number of browser applications/version. Note: Minor version numbers are counted as unique:
Motorola: 357
SonyEricsson: 351
Samsung: 341
Nokia: 300
LG: 169
BlackBerry: 125
HTC: 45
The full list of User-Agents can be viewed on Google Docs. Note: There are two worksheets: one with the raw strings from the database table, and another containing my attempt to identify unique application/version numbers.
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04.30.10/Should You Develop an App or Mobile Website?
Before opening XCode or hiring a developer to build an iPhone/Android app, there are a few questions that you should ask yourself:
- Will my product require use of the camera, microphone or other device-specific hardware?
- Will it access the address book, media library or common user data?
- Will I charge for my product, using an app store as the payment processor?
- Will I send push notifications or need background processes?
If the answer to any of the above is ‘yes,’ then an iPhone/Android app may be right for you. If the answer is ‘no,’ you may want to consider building an HTML5 mobile website instead.
Mobile websites:
- Can access geolocation info.
- Provide offline caching and storage.
- Handle touch and gesture events.
- Are easily deployed (new versions and bug fixes)
- Are cross-platform (Android, iPhone, webOS, etc.)
Comments and discussion: #NotAnApp
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04.21.10/New Duds
Many, many many thanks to Naz Hamid for providing me with a new design for the site. I’m very lucky to be able to call him both a colleague and friend.
Want to see some more of Naz’s beautiful designs? Checkout the Weightshift portfolio.
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01.27.10/Concept: iPad Split Keyboard
Aesthetics aside…
It seems like the iPad’s keyboard, in landscape mode, leaves you no choice but to hold the device in one hand and hunt-n-peck with the other. What if the keyboard was split into two, and placed in the lower-right and left corners? Then, you could hold it with both hands, and type a la the iPhone.
It’d be a sacrifice to the key size, for sure, but it might be more comfortable and functional.
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01.20.10/Easy Full Screen Background Images with jQuery
“There are many like it, but this one is mine.”
A recent Weightshift project, Central, brought about a few development challenges, one of which was background imagery. Naz had designed the page to include photography set behind the content. This raised questions:
- How would we deal with the additional weight of the images (~150–250K) without dragging down the page’s load time?
- Everyone’s browser window will be a different size. How do you determine what is the best/largest size to make the image, so that it fills the entire window?
- How do you account for images that are proportioned differently?
I did some research and found a few good solutions, though each had its limitations.
CSS-based solutions were straightforward, but didn’t address the requirement of triggering the download only after the page was ready. Javascript solutions addressed the page load requirement, but were often more complex than we needed and required the user to have prior knowledge of the image size (something that we couldn’t necessarily predict). The final solution was not novel, it was an amalgam of both solutions, implemented in Javascript.
Backstretch is a simple plugin recreated from the code used on Central, derived from the ideas presented in existing CSS and JS solutions. It is meant to be used by those who want a lightweight, minimalist implementation of dynamically-resized background images that can be executed in one line of Javascript, with nothing more than a link to an image.
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01.13.10/The Tenant Governor of the Little Scott, Legoland
Google’s voicemail-to-text transcription service rarely gets it right. But, what it lacks in accuracy is made up for in laughs.
For instance, a call from my parents which starts as “Hi, Scott, it’s Mom” is transcribed to “My god, it’s Mom!” Or, “Hi, Scotty, it’s your Dad,” becomes “Hi, scaredy.”
I shudder to mention the call I got from “Dr. Balls office.”
For those who don’t have Google Voice, I thought I’d share. Here’s one I received tonight:
Hey the election for the tenant Governor of the little Scott, Legoland, stands out from the crowd other candidates talk about the economy, but Democrats Godly code is doing something about it right now. Scott is holding job fair is to help Illinois. Please get back to work. Scott is not a career politician use of small businesses and the father of Rod must resign a citizens group just want to remove Robert boy from office. Both Democrats. Scott Lee Cohen for. Lieutenant governor. I’m Scott Lee calling tonight group it’s not.
If this sort of thing tickles your fancy, you might want to check out these blogs devoted to GV transcription snafus.
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01.05.10/Netflix Watch Instantly for the Wii?
Just took part in a survey for Netflix where I was asked about my interest in Watch Instantly on a Wii. Interesting that a disc might be required…
Imagine that Netflix offers its subscribers the ability to instantly watch movies & TV episodes on their TV via their Nintendo Wii. You can choose from a library of some new releases, lots of classics and TV episodes. There are no advertisements or trailers, and movies start in as little as 30 seconds. You can fast-forward, rewind, and pause or watch again. The movies & TV episodes you instantly watch are included in your Netflix membership for no additional fee.
Some things to keep in mind:
- You will need a Netflix subscription
- You will need a Netflix Instant Streaming Disc (available for free). This disc must be put into your Nintendo Wii whenever you want to instantly watch movies and TV episodes from Netflix over the Internet
- Your Nintendo Wii must be connected to the Internet
If this functionality were available, how likely would you or someone in your household be to get a Netflix Instant Streaming Disc for the Nintendo Wii (available for free) in order to instantly watch movies & TV episodes on your TV?
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11.17.09/Twitter Statpack: Who’s Following Who
Sasparilla Muckinfuss is now following your tweets on Twitter. Huh? Who’s that?
It’s not an uncommon scenario: someone follows you on Twitter, and you’re not sure how that happened. Of course, there’s a good possibility that they’re spam, but not always. Often it’s hard to tell. You can see that they follow 101 people and are followed by 523, but who are these people, and how are they related to you?
Introducing Twitter Statpack, a Jetpack extension for Firefox. Statpack adds a few more statistic to the Twitter profile page, helping you understand who someone is, and how they relate to you.
Ready to give it a try? Install Twitter Statpack today.
Note: You’ll need to have Firefox with Mozilla Labs Jetpack installed in order to use Statpack.
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10.21.09/Goodbye AT&T, I’m out
I am no longer an AT&T customer. My iPhone is now useful.
I consider myself lucky: I was let out of my contract after a several-month long dispute over AT&T’s quality of service (or lack thereof). Look above; that picture shows what I saw every day: zero to one bars of service within a 1-mile radius of my office. Anyone who’s been on the phone with me me has earned the purple-heart-of-patience award for tolerating my dropped calls (sometimes as many as 2-3 times per chat). And this phone is my only phone, the one I depend on to run my business.
I expect I’m not the only one with this problem. I’ve spoken with you too; your reception sucks.
How did I do it?
I don’t mean for this to be a how-to for those who wish to sneak out of their contract. Mine was a legitimate problem of poor service. If yours is too, here’s what you can do:
- Call AT&T (1-800-331-0500 or 611 from your wireless phone).
- Ask them to open a support ticket. It’s important that you start documenting your problem.
- Remind them that they have the data to confirm this issue: call start/end times and dropped call logs. (Updated: Thanks, Paul)
- Wait at least a month. Let them try and resolve the problem—it’s only fair.
- If they can’t resolve your problem, demand compensation or to be released from your contract.
Seems like common sense, eh? It is.
An open support ticket is the key; it’s your documentation that there’s a problem, and proof that it hasn’t been resolved in a sufficient period of time.
Remember: it’s reasonable to expect that your service works; reasonable to ask someone to repair it if broken; and reasonable to leave if it can’t be fixed.
Good luck.
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09.29.09/Responses to an Informal Survey on Scotch Whisky
I was looking to buy a new bottle of Scotch whisky and posed the question, “What’s your favorite?” Here are the answers that everyone submitted. Hope you find a new, enjoyable drink. And thanks for your help.
| Distillery | Region | Type | Age (yr.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| * Honorable mention for 12-year, Redbreast Irish whiskey, which does not get to stand with its Scottish brethren, though is recommended as a good alternative. | |||
| Laphroaig | Islay | Single malt | |
| Oban | Highland | Single malt | |
| The Macallan | Speyside | Single malt | 12/15 |
| The Glenrothes | Speyside | Single malt | 12 |
| Compass Box | Highland | Blended malt/grain | |
| Benromach | Speyside | Single malt | |
| Bruichladdich | Islay | Single malt | 15 |
| Rosebank | Lowland | Single malt | 15 |
| Bowmore | Islay | Single malt | |
| Glenkinichie | Lowland | Single malt | |
| The Balvenie | Speyside | Single malt | |
| Lagavulin | Islay | Single malt | 16 |
| Glengoyne | Highland | Single malt | |
| The Glenlivet | Speyside | Single malt | 18 |
| The Dalmore | Highland | Single malt | 12 |
| Isle of Jura | Highland | Single malt | |
| Scapa | Highland | Single malt | 12/14 |
