4 billion connections to mobile devices worldwide! Sure enough these devices have disparate capabilities. With more and more subscribers accessing the web from their mobiles, the challenge of delivering content to them in the most efficient and functional way is critical to the success and sustenance of web-on-mobile. This can be done using Device profiling - by building a repository of device capabilities, wherein a user agent can supply the profile to be used to the content provider (server), which can then adapt the content to suit that device and deliver it.
Several standards have evolved for defining the structure of profile data. Let’s look at some of them here.
CC/PP (Composite capabilities/Preferences Profile) specified by W3C, is a standard for describing device capabilities and user preferences. It is based on XML Serialized RDF, the Resource Description Framework. A CC/PP profile defines a set of attribute names and associated values. It allows usage of one or more vocabularies. CC/PP vocabulary is extensible.
UAProf (User Agent Profiles) developed by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), is a concrete implementation of CC/PP primarily aimed at mobile devices that support WAP. It has six components, each having a predefined set of possible attributes. The profiles are stored in publicly accessible repositories. A device needs to state the URL of its UAProf, which applications can retrieve and dynamically transform the content suitably for that device.
Wireless Universal Resource FiLe (WURFL) is an open source database of wireless device capabilities. It is based on the concept of family of devices. This will let a phone inherit capabilities of its family. WURFL is basically an XML file. The sources for WURFL are the UAProf as well as open source community contributors.
Both CC/PP and UAProf use profile repository maintained by the manufacturers. UAProf is widely accepted standard in the industry to represent device capabilities. WURFL goes a step further to UAProf in allowing open source community to update device information, thereby enabling the data to be more practical and up to date. WURFL appears to be gaining momentum, particularly with the developer community since profile XML file can directly reside on the server giving them better control.
As mobile device capabilities improve on one hand, future browsers would support wider technology base as well. Though focus currently is on delivering content on mobiles, I am sure it would soon extend towards user experience and preference. Any device profiling standard hence has to be extensible, scalable and be able to keep pace with a dynamic market. For now, we have all these standards available, with no single one being a globally accepted standard.
Certainly, having these standards defined does not in itself provide ways of transforming content. That, to me, is a bigger challenge (read opportunity). There is still a long way to go in developing middleware tools/platform that can do the job. This can get very interesting (and tricky)!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
Challenges in Usability Testing of Mobile Applications
With a rapid change in the Mobile Industry and the penetrating use of mobile devices, many innovative mobile applications are emerging, aiming to provide users with unlimited access to information. Many businesses have deployed mobile application to gain a competitive advantage. Some of the applications specifically developed for mobile devices are restaurant listings, daily news alert services, wireless web portals etc. High demand and fast growth of mobile applications coupled with the fast growth of the Mobile phone usage has drawn a high interest in this area.
How do we define Usability? If we go as per the ISO standards, usability for a product is measured on three parameters i.e. “Effectiveness”, “Efficiency” & “Satisfaction”. How do we customize this definition when it comes to testing mobile application? Listing mobile applications in the same category as that of software application, we can define usability testing as an evaluation method to measure how well users can use a specific software system. Unique features of mobile devices and wireless networks pose a number of challenges. Some of the major challenges in the Usability testing of Mobile applications are due to the below wide spectrum of device classifications.
1. Screen Size
Screen size is one of the biggest limitations of mobile devices and it has a significant impact on the usability of mobile applications. Taking into consideration only the color mobile, the smallest screen size is 128 x 128 and the largest is 800 x 480. Smaller screens have a portrait orientation and the large screens have a landscape orientation. Between them are the phones that can change orientation i.e., they work in both landscape and portrait modes. So far 240 x 320 is the overall dominant screen size. Small screen resolution makes web pages almost illegible.
2. Display Resolutions
Different mobiles have different resolutions. Low resolution can degrade the quality of multimedia displayed on the screen of mobile device.
3. Connectivity
Network Connectivity largely decides the data download time and also the quality of streaming media. Slow and unreliable wireless network connection with low bandwidth is a common hindrance for mobile applications.
4. Data Entry Methods
Mobile devices come in 2 flavors; soft keyboards and physical keyboards. Small buttons and labels limit the user’s effectiveness and efficiency in entering data. This result in slowing down the input speeds and introduces the chances of error.
Apart from the above listed classifications, we also see mobile devices with voice and touch (keypad or stylus) features, live instructions, on-screen visual displays and expansion of network operator service to enhance the User Experience. But blending new avenues to enrich the mobile device increases the challenges in a dramatic way for the engineering teams.
How do we define Usability? If we go as per the ISO standards, usability for a product is measured on three parameters i.e. “Effectiveness”, “Efficiency” & “Satisfaction”. How do we customize this definition when it comes to testing mobile application? Listing mobile applications in the same category as that of software application, we can define usability testing as an evaluation method to measure how well users can use a specific software system. Unique features of mobile devices and wireless networks pose a number of challenges. Some of the major challenges in the Usability testing of Mobile applications are due to the below wide spectrum of device classifications.
1. Screen Size
Screen size is one of the biggest limitations of mobile devices and it has a significant impact on the usability of mobile applications. Taking into consideration only the color mobile, the smallest screen size is 128 x 128 and the largest is 800 x 480. Smaller screens have a portrait orientation and the large screens have a landscape orientation. Between them are the phones that can change orientation i.e., they work in both landscape and portrait modes. So far 240 x 320 is the overall dominant screen size. Small screen resolution makes web pages almost illegible.
2. Display Resolutions
Different mobiles have different resolutions. Low resolution can degrade the quality of multimedia displayed on the screen of mobile device.
3. Connectivity
Network Connectivity largely decides the data download time and also the quality of streaming media. Slow and unreliable wireless network connection with low bandwidth is a common hindrance for mobile applications.
4. Data Entry Methods
Mobile devices come in 2 flavors; soft keyboards and physical keyboards. Small buttons and labels limit the user’s effectiveness and efficiency in entering data. This result in slowing down the input speeds and introduces the chances of error.
Apart from the above listed classifications, we also see mobile devices with voice and touch (keypad or stylus) features, live instructions, on-screen visual displays and expansion of network operator service to enhance the User Experience. But blending new avenues to enrich the mobile device increases the challenges in a dramatic way for the engineering teams.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Device Anywhere
DeviceAnywhere is a mobile testing product developed by Mobile Complete. It provides an end to end testing solution for mobile developers and other testing labs. DeviceAnywhere allows end users to have real time interaction with mobile handsets that are connected to live networks by allowing them to connect and control handsets which are present globally. End users get access to all handsets and controls as if the device was physically held in their hands. Without DeviceAnywhere, organizations would have had to invest in buying the different handsets with connections and would have had to take help from sources globally to test out the applications.
Where will DeviceAnywhere not work?
- If you have to test on Mobile devices which are not yet released to market. It takes some time for the new devices to get loaded in DeviceAnywhere. If your organization is involved in development/testing on handsets which are pending release, your best bet is the emulator that comes with the new device.
- If your scope of testing is limited to certain handsets ONLY (E.g. Testing of IPhone apps, Touch screen devices etc) then it might make more sense to purchase the actual device and do the testing manually instead of going for DeviceAnywhere. Basically, you need to work out the ROI benefits before investing in DeviceAnywhere. Pricing information for DeviceAnywhere can be found here
- DeviceAnywhere does not cover all the networks across the world. Though they cover a wide range, there is still a major set which is not yet supported. If your testing needs are more on the geographies which are not yet supported, then it is probably a better option to wait till Device Anywhere is extended to that geography
- Device Anywhere is for manual testing only. For automation testing purposes, you can use DeviceAnywhere Pro
Monday, December 1, 2008
Outsourced Device Testing – A Key to Success
The Future:
According to the industry watch group, Wireless Intelligence, the number of wireless devices in use worldwide exceeds more than two billion currently and in terms of dollars its approaching a trillion dollar market. To further increase sales, manufacturers are releasing more and more complex models in marketplace, which opens up abundant options for consumers, to choose the best. Manufacturers must differentiate themselves from competitors by shipping a high-quality, durable, intuitive device in the language best understood by consumers. (i.e.) User friendly devices. In other words, they must meet the customer’s expectation of a flawlessly functioning device. When it comes to buying or replacing devices, consumers are behind brands they’ve had best experienced or the one recommended by their friends. As a result, in this highly competitive market, there is no room to ship a device which has not been fully tested.
Device Testing – A Business Necessity:
Intensive device testing will certainly provide manufacturers with a value add on – Quality – which takes no compromise for staying upfront in market; this business imperative is being realized and the success wave is slowly gathering momentum by now.
More complex devices mean more complex testing. A consumer using a smart phone can talk to a friend and at the same time send a picture of a car he sees and say, “This is the car I want to buy.” The friend may be using an entirely different device, from a different provider, and from a different country and the image rendered may not be as desired, we still expect all this to work fine. The manufacturer who claims his device can do it, and when fails, will quickly lose reputation, market share, profitability and goes unseen in market.
Testing Challenges:
Device Testing is not as easy as we speak, it’s not cake walk or anybody’s cup of tea, it’s as challenging as trekking Mt.Everest. Mobile device manufacturers wage a tug of war with competitors to stay alive in market by keeping their customer happy with durability and dependability of the device they ship. They need to offer high quality products, to build brand loyalty. On the other hand, they must also provide variety of mobile devices to carriers like Vodafone,Verizon ,Cingular,Deutsche and O2 as required and open new markets by innovating high-end devices, functions, and applications. Hence, each and every device they ship has to be completely tested to make sure they sustain in market.
Challenge 1- Number and range of devices: The number of devices each manufacturer release to the market is always on the rise - The market leaders ship almost 50 new variants each year. Coupled with the fact, they are providing multi-lingual support for each handset and adding new functions and applications. As they do this, Manufacturers are left with a question on the testing front and strategy to support this growth,
Challenge 2- Security: Security is the need of the hour; OEM’s (Original Equipment Manufacturer) must know and ensure that their prototypes are well protected against theft, both physically and intellectually. Any lapse on these will eliminate them from market and all their research investments will go in vain.
Challenge 3- Time to market: Any loss of time will affect market share as competitors leap ahead in new devices launches, especially during festive seasons like the one during Christmas.
The remedy to all the challenges is unanimous, it’s “Outsourced Device Testing”.
Outsourcing device testing provides specific benefits
• Improved quality and reduced time-to-market, resulting from standardized testing practices.
• Third-party testing partner can offers objective opinions and value -add suggestions about the device and requirement that are out of internal conflicts of interest.
• Internal staff team (In-House team) freed to concentrate on strategic issues of device and application releases in respective markets.
• Costs of hiring, training, and maintaining a test staff, especially during off-peak periods, is eliminated.
• Testing done in secure environments and all security procedures followed carefully.
• Confidence that brand will be associated with high quality mobile devices.
• Minimal time to grow revenue from more efficient and timely testing by an outside resource.
According to the industry watch group, Wireless Intelligence, the number of wireless devices in use worldwide exceeds more than two billion currently and in terms of dollars its approaching a trillion dollar market. To further increase sales, manufacturers are releasing more and more complex models in marketplace, which opens up abundant options for consumers, to choose the best. Manufacturers must differentiate themselves from competitors by shipping a high-quality, durable, intuitive device in the language best understood by consumers. (i.e.) User friendly devices. In other words, they must meet the customer’s expectation of a flawlessly functioning device. When it comes to buying or replacing devices, consumers are behind brands they’ve had best experienced or the one recommended by their friends. As a result, in this highly competitive market, there is no room to ship a device which has not been fully tested.
Device Testing – A Business Necessity:
Intensive device testing will certainly provide manufacturers with a value add on – Quality – which takes no compromise for staying upfront in market; this business imperative is being realized and the success wave is slowly gathering momentum by now.
More complex devices mean more complex testing. A consumer using a smart phone can talk to a friend and at the same time send a picture of a car he sees and say, “This is the car I want to buy.” The friend may be using an entirely different device, from a different provider, and from a different country and the image rendered may not be as desired, we still expect all this to work fine. The manufacturer who claims his device can do it, and when fails, will quickly lose reputation, market share, profitability and goes unseen in market.
Testing Challenges:
Device Testing is not as easy as we speak, it’s not cake walk or anybody’s cup of tea, it’s as challenging as trekking Mt.Everest. Mobile device manufacturers wage a tug of war with competitors to stay alive in market by keeping their customer happy with durability and dependability of the device they ship. They need to offer high quality products, to build brand loyalty. On the other hand, they must also provide variety of mobile devices to carriers like Vodafone,Verizon ,Cingular,Deutsche and O2 as required and open new markets by innovating high-end devices, functions, and applications. Hence, each and every device they ship has to be completely tested to make sure they sustain in market.
Challenge 1- Number and range of devices: The number of devices each manufacturer release to the market is always on the rise - The market leaders ship almost 50 new variants each year. Coupled with the fact, they are providing multi-lingual support for each handset and adding new functions and applications. As they do this, Manufacturers are left with a question on the testing front and strategy to support this growth,
Challenge 2- Security: Security is the need of the hour; OEM’s (Original Equipment Manufacturer) must know and ensure that their prototypes are well protected against theft, both physically and intellectually. Any lapse on these will eliminate them from market and all their research investments will go in vain.
Challenge 3- Time to market: Any loss of time will affect market share as competitors leap ahead in new devices launches, especially during festive seasons like the one during Christmas.
The remedy to all the challenges is unanimous, it’s “Outsourced Device Testing”.
Outsourcing device testing provides specific benefits
• Improved quality and reduced time-to-market, resulting from standardized testing practices.
• Third-party testing partner can offers objective opinions and value -add suggestions about the device and requirement that are out of internal conflicts of interest.
• Internal staff team (In-House team) freed to concentrate on strategic issues of device and application releases in respective markets.
• Costs of hiring, training, and maintaining a test staff, especially during off-peak periods, is eliminated.
• Testing done in secure environments and all security procedures followed carefully.
• Confidence that brand will be associated with high quality mobile devices.
• Minimal time to grow revenue from more efficient and timely testing by an outside resource.
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