Mobile Widgets: Portable Applications on Mobile Platforms

Mobile Widgets: Portable Applications on Mobile Platforms

Mobile Widgets are beginning to take over the mobile industry and will change the way we use our phones forever. Less than a decade ago our phones changed from portable telephones into mobile computing platforms providing us with a variety of information at our fingertips. This paradigm shift has changed the industry as it has changed carriers’ strategies, attracted software and hardware companies, and even created its own standards for web development. The largest of carriers are changing policy, rate plans, and network access to accommodate the growing market. Microsoft, Apple, Google, Sun, and others have millions of dollars invested in their mobile operating systems. Hardware manufacturers are finding new and innovative ways to make viewing and using our new mobile platforms more intuitive.

Only a short while ago Motorola was the dominant force in the market, now they are selling their handset division. Palm and the Palm OS used to dominate the mobile PDA OS space along with Mobile Widgets, now Palm ships many devices with Windows Mobile. Apple took the industry by storm with their foray into the mobile space with the iPhone, and once again Mobile Widgets changed.

Who will be the big players in the future? What is this year's Killer Application? How will Mobile Widgets change our daily lives? What platforms are strongest for development of Mobile Widgets? How is developing for mobile platforms different than other application development? Mobile Widgets: Portable Applications on Mobile Platforms will address these questions and provide a foundation for understanding Mobile Widgets and the direction of developing applications on mobile platforms.

Select Report Findings

• Mobile Widgets can be based upon hardware, native code, portable code, and web based applications
  
  
• WAP, WML, J2ME remain important but are often replaced with more traditional application development and web applications
  
  
• Mobile browsers are evolving to rival their desktop counterparts and increasingly include unique mobile capabilities
  
  
• Dynamic web technologies such as AJAX, Flash, and soon Silverlight, are finding their way into mobile platforms
  
  
• The ARM processor platform is currently the dominant processor architecture of today’s smart phones
  
  
• Successful Mobile Widgets no longer need to come from handset manufacturers or wireless carriers
  
  
• The Mobile Widget market’s growth rates and recent innovations are predicted to continue to grow
  
  
• Mobile Widgets will continue to impact how carriers and hardware vendors do business

• Wireless Carriers: Carriers will want to understand the dynamics of mobile application development in order to ensure their networks can deliver what their subscribers need
  
  
• Mobile Handset Manufacturers: With innovative applications that leverage new hardware features of handsets, manufacturers will want to include features that leverage Mobile Widgets
  
  
• Business Application Providers: Many of the highly successful Mobile Widgets target the mobile needs of business users
  
  
• Mobile Application Developers: The market is changing and even experienced developers will need to keep up with changes
  
  
• Network Hardware Vendors: As the needs of mobile applications change, so will their demands on the networks that support them
  
  
• Marketing Professionals: The mobile market is a large resource for marketing that has great potential for mobile advertising
  
  
• Handset Accessory Manufacturers: Many Mobile Widgets leverage new hardware features of today’s modern handsets that accessory manufacturers can extend with respect to device feature sets
  
  
• Web Developers: Soon many popular web sites will be accessed by thousands of mobile users. Web developers will need to know what those devices are capable of viewing and engaging content
  
  
• Mobility Data, Content, and Advertising Solution Providers: Mobile Widgets will be developed for markets as yet unrealized by the mobile industry

1 Executive Summary..

2 Definition of a Mobile Widget..

2.1 What Separates a Widget From a Bundled Device Feature?.

2.2 Examples of Current Mobile Widgets.

3 History of Mobile Platform Programming..

3.1 The First Widget.

3.2 Hardware Widgets?.

3.3 Hardware and Software Evolution..

3.3.1 Hardware evolution.

3.3.1.1 The Smartphone revolution.

3.3.2 Development platform evolution.

3.3.2.1 Palm..

3.3.2.2 WAP, WML, and HTML.

3.3.2.2.1 HTML and Mini Browsers.

3.3.2.2.2 Adobe, Flash, and Director

3.3.2.2.3 JavaScript

3.3.2.2.4 AJAX..

3.3.3 Development future.

4 Platform Architectures.

4.1 Platform Specific Development.

4.1.1 Symbian.

4.1.2 Windows Mobile.

4.1.3 Blackberry OS.

4.1.4 iPhone OSX..

4.1.5 Linux.

4.1.6 Palm OS.

4.1.7 Danger Hiptop, SideKick.

4.1.8 Android.

4.2 Portable Widget Development.

4.2.1 J2ME Platform..

4.3 Web Based Widgets.

4.3.1 WAP/WML/XML.

4.3.2 HTML.

4.3.2.1 Browser Constraints by Platform..

5 Key Development Concepts.

5.1 Size Constraints.

5.1.1 Compact Code.

5.1.2 Compact File Space.

5.2 Display Constraints.

5.2.1 Display Sizes and Standards.

5.2.2 Multiple Displays.

5.3 Input and Controls.

5.3.1 Input device types.

5.3.1.1 Keypad.

5.3.1.2 Keyboard.

5.3.1.3 Touch Screen.

5.3.1.4 Scroll Wheel

5.3.1.5 Thumb Sticks, Roller Balls, and Direction Pads.

5.3.2 Environmental Controls.

5.3.2.1 Motion and Orientation Sensors.

5.3.2.2 Light Sensors.

5.3.3 Peripheral Access.

5.3.3.1 GPS onboard and off

5.3.3.2 Bluetooth.

5.3.3.3 Infrared.

5.4 Network Access.

5.4.1 Connection Persistence.

5.4.1.1 Dial on Demand.

5.4.1.2 Always On.

5.4.2 Connection Types and Limitations.

5.4.2.1 Cellular Data.

5.4.2.2 WiFi

5.4.2.3 WiMax.

5.4.2.4 Bluetooth.

5.5 Processing..

5.5.1 Platforms and Speeds.

5.6 Web Widget development.

5.6.1 Limitations of Web Based Applications.

5.6.2 A note about WAP/WML translators, compression gateways, and proxies.

5.7 Licensing..

5.7.1 License Model Table by Platform..

6 Markets.

6.1 Mobile Advertising..

6.1.1 The Advertising Double Edged Sword.

6.2 Market Summary..

6.2.1 Case Study RIM...

6.2.2 Case Study Apple.

6.2.3 Case Study PopCap Games.

6.2.4 Platform Market Share.

6.3 Market Sizing..

6.3.1 Predicted Mobile Sales.

6.3.2 Predicted Smart Phone Sales.

6.3.3 Predicted Mobile Application Sales and Revenue.

6.3.4 Recent Market Developments as Growth Indicators.

7 Mobile Application Examples.

7.1 SalesForce.

7.2 Dexterra..

7.3 America’s Emergency Network..

8 Carrier and Vendor Adaptations.

8.1 Topology and Network Changes.

8.2 Policy Changes.

8.2.1 Open Network Movements.

8.2.2 Billing Plan Changes.

8.3 Infrastructure Hardware Changes.

8.3.1 Location Based Services.

8.3.2 WiFi Localized Service Hosting.

8.3.3 Network Monitoring Changes and Effects.

8.4 Handset Manufacturer Changes.

8.4.1 Integrating New Handset Features.

8.4.2 Evolving the Handset

8.5 Software Changes.

8.5.1 Mobile Browser Evolution.

8.5.2 Multiple Platform Mobile Operating Systems.

9 The Future of Widgets.

9.1 Innovative Solutions on the Horizon..

9.1.1 Context and Location Sensitive Applications.

9.1.2 Pay Point Solutions.

9.1.3 Swarm Data Mining.

9.2 Predictions for the Next Generation..

9.2.1 Obsolescence of the Wallet

9.2.1.1 Digital ID..

9.2.1.2 Electronic Signature.

9.2.2 Convergence of Portable Devices.

9.2.2.1 Geo Tagging Multimedia.

9.2.2.2 Geocasting, Personal Broadcasting.

9.2.3 Breaking the Phone Mold.

9.2.3.1 Unlocking and Starting Your Car

9.2.3.2 Authentication on a Computer and Elsewhere.

9.2.3.3 Remote Control

10 Summary..

11 Index of Tables.

12 Image Credits.

13 References.

Companies Mentioned

Adobe

America’s Emergency Network

Apple

AT&T Mobility

CoolTek

Danger Mobile

DEC

Dexterra

FasTap

FireFox

Google

Handspring

Intel

Land Rover

LG

LiMo

Marvel

Microsoft

MIT

Modu Mobile

Motorola

OpenMoko

Opera

Palm

PopCap

Qualcomm

RIM

SalesForce

Samsung

Sony Ericsson

Starbucks

Sun Microsystems

Symbian

T-Mobile USA

Verizon