Surfs Up!....naaah not just yet!

I eventually succumbed to it. The data charges (WAP, GPRS) scared me away at first but once the apprehension had faded slightly I decided to take a leap of faith and try what I would normally do on my laptop on my phone.
I started with browsing my favourite sites. Facebook,eBay, Newgrounds, MySpace ….Surfing the Internet from a mobile phone always seemed to me to be a peculiar user experience. Screens are too small to capture the amount of data normally included (y’know the important things such as group photo’s I may be tagged in on facebook!).Speeds are slow compared to broadband and a lack of unique content for mobile has often resulted in really ugly WAP pages (those rendered for PC screens just don’t sit well on small screens) .No pictures, just text. Now what’s the point in that!? The overall feel I got from this experience is simply that Web surfing should be left to big boys aka the big screen computers. Sounds like the prehistoric days of web pages…..remember those early pages that are now worse than the output from beginner level students on web authoring classes! Time and technology moves on and so does our tolerance of what is interesting and useful.
When people think of the internet now they think, high speed, broadband, information appearing before our eyes within millisecond’s of a simple ‘click’.
They don’t think loading-loading–loading………. for around a minute until some pathetic excuse for a web page appears on their screens.

Today, what people see on PC full screen browsers and what appears on people’s tiny mobile screens are poles apart. The user expectations, motivations and circumstances are entirely different. So should be the end product.
You see, people who browse on-the-move have different uses, needs and preferences for accessing the net on their mobiles. Tailor-made content for your mobile is the key to driving these users to addictively use the Internet on their mobiles as much as they do on their computers. Not too much, just snappy bits of useful relevant data that we need on the go and more importantly delivered to the user immediately .Snappy answers, quick guides rendered in small graphics. No elaborate designs needed just clarity and speed.
The heavens have already answered this call in the States where mobile network Helio is already selling phones with pre-loaded MySpace features. MySpace have treated the consumer to tailor made applications to view friend’s profiles, and apparently MySpace hope to, by the end of 2007 have all handsets preinstalled with the MySpace application. Now that’s what I’m talking bout’.

Reports show that an average 29 percent of European Internet users access the Web on mobile devices. This includes users in Germany (34 percent); Italy (34 percent); France (28 percent); Spain (26 percent); and the U.K. (24 percent). In the U.S., 19 percent of Internet users access the Internet on cell phones and other mobile devices. Across all six countries, mobile Web users are predominantly male (55 percent). comScore Networks, 2006.These stats prove that yes , there is indeed a mobile market out there for use of the Internet ,but they also prove that there’s also plenty of room for this market to grow provided it is given the means to!Lack of high bandwidth 3G network is the convenient excuse to why mobile Internet usage hasn't picked up yet, but it is the user experience, the content and applications that haven't convinced users of their mobile value. There are tremendous opportunities for relevant applications initiated over Internet mobile networks, but these should be defined clearly to the mobile user and rendered appropriately. Simply taking Internet applications and trying to run them on mobile phones does not work and that’s the situation today.
I mean what’s the point in having bebo on my mobile if I can’t l can’t browse through friends of friends photo albums, see peoples flash box’s ,or check out my celebrity look-a-likes!?
Let’s get relevant mobile browsing based applications in front of the user. Google maps, quick answers, searches, location based info, driving directions, ticket purchases and most importantly social networking sites are what the busy mobile user wants.
These days’ people are expecting more and more from their mobile phone. Their time is spent increasingly in transit and their mobile phone is supposed to be their trusty companion to see them through these time, it wouldn’t want to be letting them down!

Casual game on!

What is it about things in their simplest form that makes them so appealing?

We live in such complicated societies where everyday people are looking to cut steps out, rationalise and simplify. The same could be applied to mobile gaming.
The concept of ‘casual gaming’ is a relatively new one to all spheres of the mobile gaming world and is growing in popularity; all anyone has to do is take a look at other mediums of gaming to see this. Take online gaming, sites such as Newgrounds, Pop Cap, and addicting games .com have cropped up and get hundreds of thousands of hits each day, organisations such as MSN and Real Networks have launched successful casual game download sites for PC user. Also Nintendo has hit this demand head on with casual gaming on the Nintendo DS with the ever popular Brain Trainer and even developed a whole console based on casual games, one of Dot’s favourites, the addictive Wii.
So why has this new genre of games proved so successful?
I put it down to two factors. Firstly, cost. Gamers, hardcore or not resent having to fork out at least 50 to 60 euro for a top of the line console game .This requires commitment, and lots of mullah.
Casual games are cheap and plentiful, a gamer can purchase one, give it a play if it’s a good game great, if its not how bad, just get another one. Nothing ventured nothing gained! As Rob Fahey put it “Sometimes, a snack between meals is what’s desired, not a four course dinner,” well said Rob.
And although this snack’s graphics and levels may not be as sophisticated as its console counterparts its gaming experience rests on its simplicity, with minimal control keys and limited levels. And it is in this simplicity that lies its second key to success.
Because of this simpler playability it appeals a wider audience in particular to the older generation who were not given mobile phones at the age of seven to purchase frog ringtones and buy pretty wallpapers. It also appeals to the non-gamer consumer, Tony Pearce CEO with Player X a major distributor of mobile games and content says “It isn’t the big style action-packed format anymore. The average consumer isn’t a gamer.” These games are simple, approachable to the technologically illiterate user and because operators are making it easier and easier to download them, booming. People want to play games they recognise and already know the rules how to play. Crosswords, puzzles, card games etc. are no longer in the form of magazines, books and papers carried around in bags and briefcases, they are now saved onto mobile phones and whipped out of the pocket whenever a free moment arises. I mean before Dot got her mobile Sudoku you should have seen my Sudoku book, full of cross outs to the point where you could barely read the numbers!

One recently new type of mobile gaming technology that caters for this surge in popularity is Flash lite. It allows Flash game developers to transfer their expertise into the mobile version that is Flash lite. And with 33 million flash enabled handsets worldwide, flash lite games are bound to take off hand in hand with casual gaming.
It is clear that there is a huge market for casual flash games on the net. The joy of these games is that they will transfer well onto other mediums and I reckon it’s only a matter of time before these flash games are brought to our mobile phones. Selatra has already began to do this with games such as Reversi (otherwise known as puzzle classic Othello) and Invaders.

People will look towards these games seeking diversion, socialization and competition and will get in return an immediately rewarding experience!

Slim and Trim from the Sim:Yo!ga

It’s summertime, although who would have guessed given the torrential rain and what not. People are starting to go on health kicks slimming down to that perfect bikini body, so they don’t look like an oversized beached whale when they strip down on that much needed trip to the sun.

I decided it’s about time Dot did a bit of Health kicking herself, I started roaming through the various sports and activities one could take up easily. I looked at team sports, but was pretty unenthused by the idea that other people would be depending on my fitness to win a game. I then started looking towards ‘flying solo’ fitness. There was walking , gyming, cycling and many more “ings” which all sounded highly taxing and involving a LOT of energy .

Then someone mentioned Yoga to me. They spoke of its soothing and de-stressing qualities, and I was sold.
Now Dot’s a busy gal, to find a few free hours a week to attend a class of complete strangers is notably difficult if not impossible.
Therefore, I started investigating other ways I could take up this new health kick.
There was dvd’s, internet sites, but I wanted to be able to access yoga instructions whenever I wanted in case another e-commerce stressful scenario arose.
My trusty mobile phone saved the day. I found three mobile applications to do this very thing .Whenever I get a few free minutes spare I just roll out my yoga mat ,scroll through my phone, follow the easy steps and within minutes feel completely relaxed and rejeuvenated.
These applications did not only show me the moves but had comprehensive backround information about the names of them and varying levels like beginner , intermediate and so forth.
Take for example the Natrajasana move

“Nataraja represents the dancing form of Lord Shiya , the Supreme Consciousness,who blissfully dances the entire universe into existance’’
Enchanting isn’t it?

With this kind of aid and enthusiasm Dot shall be Slim and Trim in no time!