Chapter One
What Is the Mobile Internet?
In This Chapter
* Getting mobile with the Internet
* Distinguishing between the mobile Internet and the regular Internet
* Finding cool tools for your mobile experience
* Seeing and doing things unique to the mobile Internet
* Getting a line on mobile Internet safety
You probably have heard about the Internet by now, but you might not have heard about the mobile Internet. If you haven''t, you''re not alone. In fact, you''re in good company: Billions of people are in the same situation.
If you''re using the mobile Internet, you have connected to the Internet by way of a wireless carrier data connection, usually to get made-for-mobile information and applications to display on your mobile phone screen.
This chapter helps clarify what the heck we''re talking about, what all the fuss is about, and why you should care about the mobile Internet - at least enough to try out the mobile Internet. We''re pretty sure that you''ll like it if you give it a try.
If you think that being Internet-savvy might be beneficial, don''t necessarily bank on it. The mobile Internet isn''t the little brother of the Internet. It''s different enough that you need a different mindset, and a different understanding specific to the mobile Internet maze, to navigate it effectively. Later in this chapter we explain that difference.
Oh, and don''t forget about buzzwords. Lots of new words, phrases, and expressions are used in the mobile Internet world that set it apart from the Internet world. We do our best to acquaint you with them. If this topic is all new to you, take your time; we help you get it right, and at your own pace. Even if you''re a know-it-all who breezes through this book, you can still pick up expert tips to make your wireless world much better - we promise.
The mobile Internet is a new frontier - the Wild West of the mobile-phone business. It''s time to get this mobile Internet show on the road (pun intended).
Welcome to the Mobile Internet
Over the past 20 years, wireless carriers (AT&T Wireless, Sprint-Nextel, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and others) have offered cellular-telephone voice services. Most people have made calls on a mobile phone by now. About ten years ago, wireless carriers introduced SMS (Short Message Service), or text messaging. People almost everywhere now had their mobile phones and alphanumeric pagers built into one device. Text messaging is now a hugely successful service, with billions of text messages sent monthly. If you haven''t voted on American Idol with text messaging or sent a quick note to a friend, ask any kids in your vicinity - they can fill you in on the power of text messaging.
For the next trick up their mobile-phone sleeves, manufacturers such as Motorola, LG, Nokia, RIM, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and many others were quite busy in their little workshops around the world, trying to figure something out: how to make people''s lives even easier. After combining a mobile phone with a pager, what could they possibly dream up next? Someone then thought about making Internet-like services work on mobile phones. They realized that mobile phones could become even more like tiny computers: They had screens, keyboards, and tiny little software applications running them - and they were all connected to a network. Ta-da! Like magic, a new cyberspace was created: Now, people all over the world have Internet access to Web sites from mobile phones anytime, anywhere.
More than 200 million people in the United States, and almost 3 billion people worldwide, are now using mobile Internet services on their mobile phones every day - in every way. Services have advanced from only making calls to family and business associates to text-messaging quick notes to friends; voting on American Idol; reading sports scores from ESPN; sending jokes (yes, we said it) and bank balances to mobile phones; checking e-mail on BlackBerrys and answering Yahoo! instant messaging chats; and surfing a made-for-mobile World Wide Web for the latest ringtones from Avril Lavigne, pictures of The Simpsons, games from Atari, uploads to Flickr, stock quotes from E*Trade, and news from CBS News - all on the mobile Internet. Holy smokes, Batman (yes, you can get Batman on your mobile phone now, thanks to Apple iPhone) - the mobile Internet is truly catching up faster than anyone thought possible. Finally, the Internet and the World Wide Web have hit the wireless world.
Understanding What''s Different about the Mobile Internet
The mobile Internet is a new creature; it''s more than just the Internet gone wireless. First, you must understand that the mobile Internet is a mass-media communications channel - just like newspapers, magazines, billboards, theaters, movies, radio stations, television networks, and Internet Web sites.
Second, recognize that the mobile Internet is as different from the Internet as radio is from television. Early TV shows were quite bland and simple: Actors read their scripts in front of the camera because that was the way it had been done on radio - not very exciting. But as time went by, the two different mass-media channels became quite different in the programming (or content) they offered; each developed offerings to suit its particular strengths. The same concept now applies to the Internet and the mobile Internet.
Two factors make the mobile Internet a unique experience, distinct from the Internet of yore: the tools you use to access it and the content and experience that people are looking for after they start using it. The following sections explore each of these topics in turn.
Checking out the tools you need
Most of the cool stuff you can find on the Internet now, whether you view it, download it, or generate it as a user, is well suited to be delivered by available wired technology: high-speed dialup, broadband, and cable networks. But all that cool Internet stuff may not be as well suited to a mobile phone - or as appealing - if it isn''t produced in the right format or context. That''s because the similarities between the mobile Internet and the wired Internet are (for the most part) skin deep - and the differences are complex. As with all media technologies in the past, evolution takes hold and things change quite quickly - spurred by the need to attract and engage new audiences.
The challenge all along for wireless carriers, mobile phone manufacturers, and Internet-based content companies was how to give customers access to the huge amounts of information and services available on the Internet - on the go. Information, entertainment, and services made for the Internet had the benefit of large monitors, full QWERTY keyboards, computer-based browsers, and high-bandwidth data networks for connectivity.
The mobile Internet, on the other hand, arrives in an entirely different way. Here are the items you need:
A mobile phone (or smartphone or PDA): First and foremost, you can''t jump onto the mobile Internet without a mobile phone. These devices - phone, smartphone, or PDA - are the items that make the mobile Internet different. The size requirements for the screen display on Internet Web sites (and the large amounts of information at those sites) are tough to make work on mobile phones with their small screens and tiny keypads. A mobile phone screen is a fraction of a computer monitor''s size. And, mobile phone keypads versus computer keyboards - let''s not go there (at least not until Chapter 4, which tells you all about phones, smartphones, PDAs, and other devices).
A mobile browser: To make the Internet work on mobile phones, wireless carriers created and installed made-for-mobile Web site browsers in all mobile phones. We don''t get technical about that topic here, but most are based on next-generation WAP 2.0 and xHTML technologies. Although mobile browsers and computer-based browsers have their similarities, you still find that using a mobile browser to navigate the Web is a unique experience. Find out all about it in Chapter 7.
A data plan: The mobile Internet has become more popular as carriers have packaged plans for the wireless data airtime that gives consumers mobile Internet access in a cost-effective way. Such plans include AT&T Wireless Media and Verizon Wireless America''s Choice Premium. For details about providers and data plans, see Chapter 5.
In essence, wireless carriers and their partners built an end-to-end mobile Internet system from scratch for everyday people to enjoy Internet-like services while on the go.
Surfing made-for-mobile sites
Here''s an area where repeating a few mobile-Internet phrases may help you get used to them - in this case, made-for-mobile.
A made-for-mobile Internet site is a Web site that''s streamlined and designed to work on mobile devices. The sites are most easily identified for consumers by their URLs - essentially, the .com part goes away - for example, BMW.mobi (versus BMW.com) and wachovia.com/mobile versus wachovia.com. (We get into mobile Internet Web site naming details later.)
Internet sites, such as the BMW site shown in Figure 1-1, have too many graphics and too much information for everyone''s little mobile phones to access and display in a practical way. Accessing the pure Internet on a mobile phone might not be the best use of a person''s time and money.
The real answer is to make an Internet-like experience work on mobile phones - and that means making it very simple. The information that people want on their mobile phones should be easy to access and display, and quite affordable as an option from their wireless carriers of choice. The made-for-mobile phrase indicates that a site enables you to
Browse more easily on your mobile device: Because a mobile device has a small screen, no large keyboard, and no "real" mouse, a made-for-mobile site has pared-down navigation, lets you enter text easily, and is designed to fit on a smaller screen.
Access highly condensed, small bites of content and services on the go: The sites are specifically designed and developed for your mobile phone, offering (for example) made-for-mobile news, weather, sports, e-mail, instant messaging, ringtones, pictures, and videos. Because you aren''t always home or at the office with full Internet access, made-for-mobile describes the types of services and information you want quickly and easily, anytime, anywhere. REMEMBER
The best use of the mobile Internet is to receive the information, applications, and services that work best on mobile devices when you''re away from your computer. We don''t mean that you need to overload the little gizmos with everything you can see on the Internet. The mobile Internet is the information equivalent of a fast snack on the go. At a bus stop, in a taxi or train, waiting for a plane or a friend, before a business meeting, you can snap up tidbits of useful info like these:
Practical information: Find the nearest restaurant or hotel, receive stock market updates, check out movie listings or flight schedules, look for the best shopping deals, and check local weather.
Pastimes: Download entertainment (ringtones, images, games, videos, and music on demand, for example), find out who won the big game, or update blogs with notes and pictures.
If you get the made-for-mobile versions of all these products and services, before long you''ll be right at home on the mobile Internet.
Find what you need with smaller downloads: Made-for-mobile content, applications, and services make all this stuff as inexpensive as possible to access through your mobile phone and your wireless carrier''s data services.
Figure 1-2 shows the mobile version of the BMW site shown earlier in Figure 1-1. The mobile version is much easier to navigate on a phone than the Internet site.
Determining What to Do on the Mobile Internet (Now That You''re Hooked)
Think about it. When you''re away from your computer, you still have a way to get business information, catch up with friends, find places in an unfamiliar city, or get entertained.
What''s most interesting about the mobile Internet is that it''s right where you want it to be: handy. You most likely have it with you all the time - in your pocket, purse, rucksack, or whatever - on your mobile phone. And, as long as your carrier''s signal covers your device wherever you are, you can use it whenever you''re ready.
Wireless carriers offer package deals that make the mobile Internet usable. Mobile phone manufacturers build mobile Internet capabilities into every new phone now sold. Content providers and applications deliver more made-for-mobile services every day. Here are some of the mobile Internet options available to you:
Entertainment sites: From mobile TV to uploading pictures to updating your blog, it''s all available for you to do whenever you want, wherever you want. If you missed the latest episode of your favorite reality TV show, you can catch the highlights before anyone tells you who got voted off. If you''re standing at the Statue of Liberty after taking the perfect picture from your mobile phone camera, just load up the picture and post it on your Internet Web site, or blog about it right then and there. If you want to Web-surf, the mobile Internet offers a World Wide Web of opportunities to explore. See Chapter 9 for details.
Information: Every month, hundreds or thousands of made-for-mobile text messaging services and mobile Web sites are launched by wireless carriers, media companies, and content providers. They''re fun to browse whenever you have a few spare minutes. See Chapter 6 to find out about text messaging, Chapter 7 for tips on browsing the mobile Internet, and Chapter 8 for information about how to use mobile search tools.
M-commerce: It''s like e-commerce, only portable. If you want to use your mobile phone like a virtual ATM, you can do it. If you want to buy some flowers while you''re stuck on a plane, that''s no problem. If you want to check out the latest reviews on your favorite band after the concert - you got it. Chapter 11 helps you shop till you drop; Chapter 12 introduces mobile money management.
E-mail and instant messaging (IM): Wireless carriers have many ways to help you keep connected to your business and personal e-mail while you''re away from your computer. You can check and send e-mail anywhere you are. All e-mail software and services can be connected to your mobile phone, which makes it easier to keep in touch; you can send and receive messages while on the golf course or on the ski slope. (Why sit in an office if you don''t have to?) Check out Chapter 10 to find out ways to check your e-mail and send instant messages from your phone.
Mobile software applications and widgets: Mobile phones now are really tiny computers, with tiny operating systems that you can use to load tiny applications such as games, expense trackers, and maps. If you have a useful desktop widget that keeps you up to date with RSS feeds from the Internet, a made-for-mobile version is likely on its way. Check out your favorite computer application and widget provider''s Internet Web site - it definitely has something in the works coming to a mobile phone near you. Chapter 7 showcases a few applications and widgets for you to try on your mobile phone. (Continues...)
Excerpted from Mobile Internet For Dummiesby Michael J. O''Farrell John R. Levine Jostein Algroy James Pearce Daniel Appelquist Copyright © 2008 by Michael J. O''Farrell. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
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