Web 2.0 and mobility

Two topics in particular on the blogosphere this week has cought my attention: discussion about web 2.0 and recent announcements around mobile search.

Although difficult to define precisely, web 2.0 is all about the modern, rich internet crafted by services like Google, Technorati, Flickr, del.icio.us, Wikipedia, &c, and driven by syndication and aggregation technologies (RSS&atom), XHTML+CSS, AJAX (UI enhancements), open API’s, etc. In a nutshell, the modern web is an open platform.

See here, here, here and here for more discussion and definitions of web 2.0. Click here for blog posts tagged as web 2.0.

While the web 2.0 phenomena has been ongoing for years, things have stood still on the mobile side until recently. The mobile space, usually viewed as a closed and controlled environment (carriers get to call the shots), is opening up due to increased competition, more evolved handsets, and an increasing extent due to the web 2.0. API’s offered by various web based services make incorporating functionality and services into the mobile realm easy, optimizing the end-user experience for the task at hand. An example of this is MGMaps, a J2ME application that displays maps, through the google maps service, on the handset. There are a lot of similar projects/products out there, and we will continue to see many more. The current generation of browsers on mobile devices are not (even close to) web 2.0 capable, but various programming interfaces found on phones can be used to expose the services in a user friendly way.

It is interesting to note that handset manufacturers are waking up this. This week, Nokia announced its mobile search application. This application, which is available for download, and will be included in some of Nokia models by default, provides a nice and easy-to-use interface for mobile search (including local- and mobile content search). Sure, this application isn’t perfect, but its the right way ahead.

For the full benefits offered by the modern web, two things need to happen: the browsers bundled in handsets need to get a lot better, and service providers need to think about mobile users when designing their services. Luckly, these are things that are being worked on (Nokias mobile browser plans, recent announcements from search engines regarding mobile).

In conclusion, even though we are living version 1.0 of the mobile web currently, a lot of catching up is being made. The mobile web will converge at some, not too distant point, with the rest of the web (and wether that is called web 2.0 or whatnot isn’t relevant). It is this convergence that will be the ultimate trial for the business plans of todays carriers and mobile content&service providers.