Mobile Blog
An infrequent log of anything but not everything in my mobile world.
- Device Anywhere
- AU dumps CDMA2000 for W-CDMA in next generation mobiles
- E-Plus kills i-mode
- QR code tombstones
- Acid3 launched
Device Anywhere
In the heady early days of the mobile web, I would throw mobiles into either a pass or fail tray (I've heard of larger labs using buckets) depending on how they handled the current mobile site we were working on. Although mobiles browsers have got a lot better, you still get surprises and the need to test on multiple mobiles hasn't gone away.
If you're in Japan and focused on a Japanese audience, getting your hands on a plethora of mobiles for testing isn't too difficult but once you move beyond Japan's shores, testing gets a whole lot more complicated when GSM mobiles won't work here and overseas carrier performance varies considerably. Device Anywhere offers one alternative to a lot of international travel with a service that lets you test mobiles all over the world from the comfort of your browser and they've recently expanded their device list to include mobiles from Japan.
I haven't had a chance to test Device Anywhere yet, but will blog my impressions once I have.
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2008-04-10
AU dumps CDMA2000 for W-CDMA in next generation mobiles
Wow, the Nikkei is reporting 
KDDI, the parent of AU, plans to dump CDMA2000 for W-CDMA in next generation high-speed mobiles.
AU has had a tough time competing with Docomo and Softbank on the roaming front with both carriers offering GSM + W-CDMA mobiles that can work just about anywhere. Adding the very non-CDMA concept of a SIM card to the latest AU mobiles has helped but you still need to swap over to another mobile whenever you roam. Going W-CDMA should also save AU a bundle on mobile production costs.
2008-04-01
E-Plus kills i-mode
The Register is reporting E-Plus has joined the long list of non-Japanese carriers pulling the plug on i-mode.
2008-03-21
QR code tombstones
QR codes are fairly ubiquitous in Japan so one company has had the bright idea to offer QR code equipped tombstones which link to web page with a profile of the deceased.
Equipping permanent structures like this with technology that will most likely be obsolete in ten years is a bad idea but if you have a million yen lying around you can order yours here 
.
2008-03-18
Acid3 launched
Just when browser vendors were feeling good about passing Acid2, the good people at WaSP go and launch Acid3 to show just how miserable your browser's support for the latest web standards is.
Safari was the first major browser to pass Acid2 but now the race is on to see who will take the Acid3 crown.
2008-03-03