iPhonify your mobile phone
The launch of the Apple iPhone has prompted the creation of numerous cool websites. Some of these websites only work with the iPhone's Safari Browser, but a great many work with any browser - including the one on your phone….
A couple of weeks ago, I commented on these iPhone-specific websites, labeling them as a bad idea. I still think they are, but one can hope that by promoting the creation of mobile-friendly websites, the iPhone adds to the momentum of the »mobile internet«.
So if you have a mobile with 3G - and/or WLAN - plus a decent browser, you are all set to go! And you really should go because there is so much to see and try… (as I hope you will agree after reading this post).
The reason why the iPhone is prompting the creation of websites is of course its current limitations, which do not permit installation of 3rd party applications. The iPhone can only perform new tricks by accessing services provided by websites.
Regarding your phone, it helps if the phone's display is similar to that of the iPhone in terms of size and resolution. I did the following tests on a Nokia N95 using the builtin browser for S60. The display of the N95 is "2.6 with a resolution of 240×320 pixels - the iPhone's display is "3.5 and has a resolution of 480×320 pixels.
Let me first introduce the concept of application launchers for the iPhone. The image on the left shows a screenshot of AppMarks.com - one among several app launchers for the iPhone. Other examples are launchrz.com, Appleopolis, Gridgets, MockDock, Leaflets, Mojits, AppLists and iPhoneAppr. An app launcher acts as a desktop for application shortcuts - most feature the »bejeweled« iPhone look - and strictly speaking, they are not necessary. The application shortcuts could just as well be stored as browser bookmarks. That being said, an app launcher is a nifty way to organize shortcuts and some of them look good.
I have two critical requirements an app launcher must meet:
- It must remember the state of my application list across sessions (preferably also across different devices).
- It should be able to accept a custom shortcut, i.e. one where the user types in the URL.
Most app launchers start you out with a default selection of shortcuts and then enable you to add and remove shortcuts from some sort of catalogue. Even if you do not plan on using it, an app launcher is a great place/way to discover useful or interesting mobile websites.
I am still experimenting with different app launchers and I have yet to decide on my ultimate favorite (AppMarks.com is out since I cannot log in to my account with neither the S60 browser nor Opera). Current runners-up are Gridgets, MockDock and Leaflets (cannot log on from mobile).
One last thing before I show some mobile website examples - I have noticed how my browsing behavior is different when using a mobile - different in the sense that I tend to »adjust« to the site I am browsing. By »adjust« I mean switching the display back and forth between landscape and portrait mode, zooming in and out on the page and using the page overview. This is something I normally would not do on a desktop computer.
These are some of the websites I have added to the various app launchers, I have been testing:
| A brilliant and obvious idea: web-based phrasebooks. Coolgorilla.com also offers the phrasebooks as J2ME applications for a wide range of Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets. Sound files are included with the J2ME versions so there is no downloading. |  |
| Nice looking rendition of the New York Times |  |
| The URL says it all: sudoku4iphone.com |  |
| Tetris for the iPhone |  |
| Recipe site with tasty looking pictures. |  |
| Nice photo sharing site. |  |
| This iPhone blackjack game works very well on the S60 browser. |  |
| Very nice weather site with 10 day forecast. Location can be customized. |  |
| Apparently this sites crawls the net and indexes .mp3-songs, so you can stream them to your phone (ahem…). |  |
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