Mobile Friendly Websites

The Mobile web  refers to the use of Internet-connected applications, or browser-based access to the Internet from a mobile device - such as a smartphone or tablet PC - connected to a wireless network.
In fact, the shift to mobile Web access has been accelerating since 2007 with the rise of larger form factor multitouch smartphones, and more recently since 2010 with the emergence of multitouch tablet computers. Both platforms are more conducive to Internet access and better browser- or application-based user Web experiences than have been afforded by previous generations of mobile devices.
 Limitations:
Mobile Web access  still today suffers from interoperability and usability problems. Interoperability issues stem from the platform fragmentation of mobile devices, mobile operating systems, and browsers. Usability problems are centered around the small physical size of the mobile phone form factors (limited resolution screens and user input/operating limitations).

• Small screen size – This makes it difficult or impossible to see text and graphics dependent on the standard size of a desktop computer screen.
• Lack of windows – On a desktop computer, the ability to open more than one window at a time allows for multi-tasking and for easy revert to a previous page. Historically on mobile web, only one page can be displayed at a time, and pages can only be viewed in the sequence they were originally accessed. However, there are apps for the iPhone (e.g. Oceanus), as well as browsers such as Opera Mini for Java ME, allowing multiple windows, but sometimes a limited number, and not multiple windows in the same screen.
• Navigation – Most mobile devices do not use a mouselike pointer, but rather simply an up and down function for scrolling, thereby limiting the flexibility in navigation.
• Lack of Javascript and cookies – Most devices do not support client-side scripting and storage of cookies (smartphones excluded), which are now widely used in most Web sites for enhancing user experience, facilitating the validation of data entered by the page visitor, etc. This also results in web analytics tools not being suitable for uniquely identifying visitors using mobile devices.
• Types of pages accessible – Many sites that can be accessed on a desktop cannot on a mobile device. Many devices cannot access pages with a secured connection, Flash or other similar software, PDFs, or video sites, although recently this has been changing.
• Speed – On most mobile devices, the speed of service is very slow, often slower than dial-up Internet access.
• Broken pages – On many devices, a single page as viewed on a desktop is broken into segments, which are each treated as a separate page. Paired with the slow speed, navigation between these pages is slow.
• Compressed pages – Many pages, in their conversion to mobile format, are squeezed into an order different from how they would customarily be viewed on a desktop computer.
• Size of messages – Many devices have limits on the number of characters that can be sent in an email message.
• Cost – the access and bandwidth charges levied by cellphone networks can be high if there is no flat fee per month.
• Location of mobile user:
  • if advertisements reach phone users in private locations, users find them more distressful (Banerjee & Dholakia, 2008)
  • if the user is abroad the flat fee per month usually does not apply
• Situation in which ad reaches user – When advertisements reach users in work-related situations, they may be considered more intrusive than in leisure situations.

Popular Mobile Browsers:
The following are some of the more popular mobile browsers
Android browser
BlackBerry Browser
Blazer
Firefox for mobile
Internet Explorer Mobile
Iris Browser
Nokia Series 40 Browser
Opera Mobile
Polaris Browser
Safari
WebOS Browser

Mobile OperatingSystems:
Mobile os and browsers are headed in opposite directions.
Smartphone Operating Systems:

Symbian
RIM
Windows Mobile
iPhone
Linux
Palm OS
Android
WebOS
Windows Phone 7
Bada OS
MeeGo
Other OSs