3G TV big hit with Vodafoners: "VODAFONE UK customers have accessed one million streams of mobile TV in 14 days. This follows the launch of Sky Mobile TV on the Vodafone 3G network but does include some viewing of Channel 4 too."

Thailand enforces PAYG registration (via Dave): "From midnight all unregistered phones will have their signals blocked, a move Thai officials hope will prevent their use as improvised bomb detonators."

Vision and ambition for the mobile web, Philipp Hoschka

WAP 1.0 was the result of the first W3C event: not massively successful (he says).
Today mobile services focus on messaging, ringtones, music, TV... not web access.
What's changed:
- diversity of handsets
- large installed base: 1.1b web-capable handsets worldwide: 63% of all handsets
- installed base growing!
- but disappointing usage: 50% of web-capable phones not set up to use web; 24% only used once for web access
Positive signs:
- Browsing is #1 data packet generating service, especially for 3G users (source: Nokia study, 2005)
Another change: web has become a mass medium.
Want to make mobile web as easy as desktop
MWI approach:
- Solve interop and usability issues for content providers and end users
- developer program: explaining how to use existing tech and improving implementations, not introducing new tech
Many sponsors

Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group
Audience: content providers/web developers
Making web content work on mobile: guidelines and pitfalls
Chair: Dan Applequist
Best practices: first draft
Studies tips and tricks (from W3C accessibility, iMode, Opera, Openwave, Nokia etc.)
Distilled these into a single document
Is a work in progress: feedback is sought!
- Best practices say you should identify the cost of following a link.

Device Description working group
Needed for content adaptation
Mission: how to improve quality and sharing of device info
Ongoing work:
- survey of existing technologies
- understand who does what and why
Potential future work: shared, open device description database
Sounds like they're planning to reinvent the wheel WURFL-wise

Future work for MWI
MobileOK validator
Device description database
Test suites
Training
... all still under discussion

Mobile web feels like web 1995: Philipp draws analogies:
- too slow
- lack of interop
- child protection
- not accessible (handicapped etc)

But there are differences:
- mobile web has more users than web95
- lots of potential mobile content
- there is an industry around the mobile web, supporting it

"When will we party like it's 1999?"

The Long Tail, Franklin Davis of Nokia

We recognise that most of the long tail of content won't bother adapting their content.
HDML -> WAP 1.0 -> WAP hype -> WAP crash -> I-Mode success -> I-mode non-replication -> WAP 2.0 -> Walled gardens
(but this isn't actually accurate; WAP 1.0 and I-mode launched near-simultaneously, not consecutively)

If I have 5, 10, 15% of my traffic coming from mobile devices, then I will have users complaining that my site doesn't work, and it's then in *my* interest to fix my site. There's no motivation for content providers to do this until they have traffic.

Mobile browsing vision: "By 2015 most people will have access to most of human knowledge wherever they are all the time"

Key browsing use cases:
- LBS
- Subscriptions
- Infotainment (top one, filling odd moments of time or meeting spontaneous information needs)
- Content discovery.download (portals)
- Personal publishing
- Image galleries (how does this differ from PP)

Mobile browsers are stuck "before the chasm" - it's an early aadopter thing

New S60 web browser based on same core as Safari: KDE Konqueror
Based on zooming in and out of web pages
"People understand web pages"
Making it possible to use the full web. The idea being that once these sites are getting mobile visitors they'll start following W3C recommendations.
Has an RSS reader; right now doesn't do updating of feeds (future versions will do this)

I'm not massively impressed by the browser; if it's any good then why will anyone want to have content adapted for it. If it's bad, then why will anyone use it to browse sites in the first place? Seems to rely on a groundswell of users who are prepared to use it to have a poor experience.

The Integrated Operator's Perspective on Mobile Web, Keith Waters of France Telecom

FT does mobile, web and internet, and recognises the value of cross-platform delivery.
One web is an ultimate goal, not a solved problem
Profileration of devices: author once, publish many
Increased mobility: right content in the right place at the right time

Mobile web of tomorrow != desktop PC of today

Two examples of consistent user experiences:
- web mini-applications (e.g. desktop widgets)
- consistent user experience from desktop to mobile
- apple widgets can be used on mobile

- browser based application to display LBS info and signal strength