Been researching mobile devices for a couple of weeks. Take a deep breath:
Table of Contents
- 1 Books (online and dead tree)
- 2 Blogs/Articles/Resources worth reading
- 3 Design and/or Coding Articles
- 4 Statistics on mobile use
- 5 Best Practices and Design Resources
- 6 Testing/Emulation Sites and resources
- 7 Conferences
- 8 Articles/Resources specific to Health Care
- 9 Devices/Manufacturer Specific info and links
- 9.1 Apple
- 9.2 RIM
- 9.3 Nokia
- 9.4 Palm
- 9.5 Google
- 9.6 Microsoft
- 9.7 Samsung
- 9.8 Opera
- 9.9 Firefox
1 Books (online and dead tree)
- http://mobilewebbook.com/ - gathering of information in one place, by Cameron Moll. Couple of years old but good overview of mobile. Sold as PDF only.
- Designing the Mobile User Experience by Barbara Ballard – LN tech library bought a copy.
- Constant Touch: A Global History of the Mobile Phone by Jon Agar
- Personal, Portable, Pedestrian: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life by Mizuko Ito, Daisuke Okabe, and Misa Matsuda
- Mobile Interaction Design by Matt Jones and Gary Marsden
2 Blogs/Articles/Resources worth reading
- http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2007/01/putting_27_bill.html - overview of just how big the mobile market is in terms of physical devices
- http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2008/12/trillion-with-a.html - mobile is a trillion dollar industry, one of very few
- http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2009/01/a-study-in-digi.html - convergence of digital devices into the phone
- http://mobili.st/ - weekly overview of articles about mobile worth reading
- http://www.mobileindustryreview.com/ - industry site, general news
- http://mobileactive.org/mobile-web-and-your-organization - lots of links to other sites
3 Design and/or Coding Articles
- http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/designing-and-developing-mobile-web-site/ - 3 kinds of mobile users, sort of mini-personas for use
- http://mobiforge.com/designing/story/effective-design-multiple-screen-sizes - example of the data from Device Atlas, showing how to pick a target screen size. Also uses the idea of a single reference device.
- http://www.alistapart.com/articles/returnofthemobilestylesheet - writing CSS for handheld devices only
- http://www.bushidodesigns.net/blog/mobile-device-detection-css-without-user-agent/ - another method for the same goal of writing mobile CSS
- http://smartmobtoolkit.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/not-device-detection/ - detect desktops, not mobile
4 Statistics on mobile use
- http://www.opera.com/smw/ - Opera does a monthly state of the mobile web
- http://www.admob.com/s/solutions/metrics - monthly report on mobile ads and general mobile use
- http://weblog.cenriqueortiz.com/mobility/2009/01/05/top-10-mobile-phones-in-the-us-q3-2008/ - Top 10 handsets in 2008
- http://mobileactive.org/countries/ - stats on each country and mobile penetration in those countries
5 Best Practices and Design Resources
- http://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/ - technical best practices for developing mobile websites
- http://www.passani.it/gap/ - another guide, written by a former author/contributor of the above
- http://mobiforge.com/starting/story/dotmobi-mobile-web-developers-guide - PDF file, requires registration
- http://mobiforge.com/book/mobile-web-developer%E2%80%99s-guide-part-i - online guide, may or may not be the same as above
- http://patterns.littlespringsdesign.com/index.php/Main_Page - wiki for mobile information, run by Little Springs Design
- http://www.w3.org/TR/mwabp/ - for web applications, not just sites. Still in progress.
- http://www.w3.org/TR/mobileOK-basic10-tests/ - test for mobile sites
- http://wapreview.com/blog/?p=184 - validating mobile sites
6 Testing/Emulation Sites and resources
- http://na.blackberry.com/eng/developers/resources/simulators.jsp - blackberry simulator
- http://developer.openwave.com/dvl/tools_and_sdk/phone_simulator/ - openwave simulator
- http://mtld.mobi/emulator.php?emulator=nokiaN70&webaddress=mtld.mobi - nokia simulator
- http://www.projectaphone.com/ - device for capturing screen images/video
- http://www.gotomobile.com/archives/diy-gotomobiles-mobile-cam - homemade version of the above, more or less
- http://www.browsercam.com/Default2.aspx - browsercam gives screenshots of sites on devices
- http://deviceanywhere.com/ - Device Anywhere, remote access to actual physical devices
- http://ready.mobi - more mobile Emulators.
- http://deviceatlas.com – huge resource of data on mobile devices. Visiting the site with a mobile phone registers that information and saves it for others to use.
7 Conferences
- http://design4mobile.mobi/conference.html - run by Little Springs Design
8 Articles/Resources specific to Health Care
- http://www.sacbee.com/140/story/1584982.html?mi_rss=Technology
- http://www.hcireports.com/hcireports/trendswirelesshealthcare/?sub_id=6w1J2Hw2F1Ma - Trends in wireless healthcare tech.
9 Devices/Manufacturer Specific info and links
9.1 Apple
- http://developer.apple.com/iphone/ - PDF files/videos/code samples available on designing for iPhone and Mobile Safari. You will need to register as a developer to access them.
- http://code.google.com/p/iui/wiki/Introduction - HTLM/CSS/Javascript tool that tries to mimic the iPhones. Works well on the iPhone, iffy on others. Would be good for mocking up iPhone application interaction. See next link for demo.
- http://www.joehewitt.com/blog/introducing_iui.php - intro to above, several years old. Has links to a demo.
9.2 RIM
- http://www.blackberry.com/developers/downloads/index.shtml - resources for blackberry
- http://na.blackberry.com/eng/support/devices/ - list of all RIM devices.
9.3 Nokia
- http://www.forum.nokia.com/Resources_and_Information/Documentation/ - resources for Nokia, largest manufacturer of mobile devices
- http://www.s60.com/life/s60phones/browseDevices.do - list of all S60 devices. S60 is the what runs on top of Symbian OS for smartphones.
- http://www.symbian.com/index.asp - Symbian OS
9.4 Palm
- https://pdnet.palm.com/wps/portal/pdnet/developers - resources for Palm
- http://www.palm.com/us/support/device-all.html - list of all Palm devices. Good place to start.
9.5 Google
9.6 Microsoft
- http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsmobile/default.aspx - Windows Mobile for Developers
9.7 Samsung
9.8 Opera
- http://www.opera.com/mini/ - Opera’s mobile phone browser
9.9 Firefox
- https://wiki.mozilla.org/Mobile/UI/Designs/TouchScreen - Firefox mobile platform?