Just finished a mobile version of my website. So far I’m pretty happy with the 1.0v.
It’s pretty basic stuff, a single profile optimized for iPhone resolution. But I laid a foundation for agile adaptability to displays of different mobile devices by creating a script that links to dynamically-updated device profile info via a Tera-Wurfl database.
Tera-Wurfl is the brainchild of Steve Kamerman, a techie jack-of-all-trades who wanted to address the problems developers have in dealing with the endlessly changing landscape of mobile device manufacturers’ product improvements and releases. In creating Tera-Wurfl, he devised a dynamically generated database of mobile profiles that can be queried by basic scripts and PHP web applications. Steve has recently co-founded ScientaMobile, a startup that is focusing on taking the mobile device detection game to the next level.
I want to take my game to the next level too, by researching the most economical way of designing for multiple platforms. The HTML and CSS is pretty easy, but what about the production of media? How scalable can you make your graphics, video etc. And what about Flash, in a time when Flash performance on Apple devices – even after Adobe’s nobile engineering efforts – may still be dodgy?
My main focus though is not to fall down a tech-dev rabbit hole, but to immerse myself in the capabilities of mobile development – get to know the landscape and how to achieve smooth implementation of content in a world where mobile is gaining more eyeballs and market share. I’ve always liked to be on the frontiers exploring new possibilities of communication and design and mobile is where the action is today.
