The worldwide use of mobile devices is growing exponentially and part of this phenomenon is due to the emergence of smart devices or smartphones. Internet browsing and mobile applications are some the most useful services offered by this type of devices. Browsing the Internet couldn’t be left only to desktop computers, so mobile phone companies could not let the opportunity go and started offering this service to their customers. The ubiquity of mobile devices added to the popularity of Internet and has turned this service into one of the most widely used, putting the main uses of mobile phones aside (calling and sending SMSes), by stealing the exclusive use of this service from desktop computers.
According to a new report by Experian Marketing Services’ Simmons Connect, this is the way an adult American spends the time on his mobile device:
The most acclaimed mobile operating systems, iOS and Android
There are many mobile operating systems that allow Internet browsing. According to IDC, at a global scale Android phones sell a lot more units than Apple sells of the iPhone. In the fourth quarter of 2012, Android had more than 70% of the market share, whereas iPhone had only 21% of the market share.
Android, the most used OS: 79.3% usage
Currently, the most widely used mobile operating system and the platform who has the biggest amount of applications on the app market (up to more than 1,000,000), whereas Apple has more than 900,000 apps, Windows Phone has 126,000 apps and BlackBerry World has 235,000 apps.
Apple iPhone OS: 13.2% usage
iOS ended the second quarter of 2013 as the number 2 mobile OS. It remains to be seen how the new iOS 7 will be received once it reaches the market later this year, no matter how much the user interface has been redesigned.
Windows Mobile OS: 3.7% usage
Windows Phone has shown the greatest increase among the top 5 mobile operating systems. Nokia was the one that made this possible, by releasing 2 new smartphones and grew its presence at multiple mobile operators. Nokia phones accounted for more than 81.6% of all Windows Phone smartphone shipments during the second quarter of 2013.
RIM Blackberry: 2.9% usage
According to IDC, BlackBerry saw its market share decrease during the second quarter of 2013. Nevertheless, BlackBerry has shown some increase since the release of its BlackBerry 10 platform. It’s still too soon to talk about this new platform and BlackBerry will need time and resources to get more end users.
Palm / HP WebOS: 2% usage
HP trusts in the development of webOS and plans to evolve, keep up to date and give maximum support to this mobile techonology in order to achieve one of the first positions in the mobile market.
Source: Nielsen
Symbian: 0.2% usage
Although it was the most popular smartphone platform back in the days, Symbian is now officially out of the market. The Financial Times reported that Nokia has manufactured and shipped the last units of Symbian smartphones it will ever produce.
Mobile websites adaptation
Apart from the device and the operating system, mobile Internet has certain requirements in order to display correctly websites and apps. Java, Flash and other third-party solutions shouldn’t be interpreted on mobile Internet the same as they’re interpreted on desktop computer. A new technological solution has just been found: the adaptation of desktop websites to mobile websites.
In the near future they will be oriented to mobile markets. As the popularity of mobile devices is constantly increasing, optimizing for mobile will certainly experiment a strong increase, and providing mobile support to customers will become a crucial matter.
The best mobile phones to browse the Internet
Display size: 360x480px, 3.25 inches
Camera: 3.15 MP, 2048x1536px, autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging, image stabilization
Memory: 2GB, microSD
OS: BlackBerry (5.0.x)
Battery capacity: 1400 mAh
Motorola Q9
Display size: 320x240px, 2.4 inches
Camera: 2 MP
Memory: 96 MB RAM/256 MB ROM, microSD
OS: Windows Mobile Standard (6.0)
Battery capacity: 1170 mAh
Sony Ericsson Xperia X1
Display size: 480x800px, 3 inches
Camera: 3.2 MP, Auto focus, Digital zoom
Memory: 256 MB RAM/512 MB ROM, microSD
OS: Windows Mobile Professional (6.1)
Battery capacity: 1500 mAh
