Ajax on Mobile Phones: Accelerating Key Features, Minimizing Fragmentation

1. Ajax on Mobile Phones:Accelerating Key Features,Minimizing Fragmentation Jon Ferraiolo IBM and OpenAjax Alliance November 5, 2008

2. Agenda • Mobile Web Runtime – The Vision • Mobile Web Runtime – Today’s Reality • Mobile Device APIs • Mobile Ajax Ready Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

3. Mobile Web – the new frontier • Most humans will have a Web-connected phone • Mobile Web will overshadow the desktop Web • Changes the game • Constraints (small screen, battery, keypad, etc.) • Opportunities (GPS, voice, camera, …) • Increased importance of “widgets” Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

4. Winning Technologies not yet established • Open Web has good momentum on mobile • But major players are making large investments in Flash, Silverlight, J2ME, Dalvik, Cocoa, … • Community is likely to make platform decisions in next 1-3 years • Followed by inertia • Threats to Open Web on Mobile • Fragmentation • Mobile Web development and testing cost might skyrocket • Slow adoption of key features • Innovative mobile apps will require new features, such as Mobile Device APIs, video, vector graphics, and offline Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

5. Web Runtime xHTML CSS SVG Web app Widget JavaScript Responsiveness Rich UI UI toolkit Application APIs e.g., S60 Web Scripting Middleware e.g., Symbian Kernel H/W abstraction layer (HAL) Hardware What do we mean by a Web Runtime? Mobile browsers today… Browser Browser xHTML CSS SVG JavaScript Embracing “Ajax”: HTML, JavaScript, CSS, DOM Evolve the browser as a new Web Runtime for hosting mobile apps and services But evolving the Web beyond the browser: Widgets & other device-resident applications (alternative to J2ME) Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

6. The Web Runtime • Why? • Open formats (not controlled by a single vendor) • Open source options (WebKit and Mozilla) • Acceptable to all vendors (Web capabilities becoming a hygiene factor across all devices) • Huge pool of developers, tools, existing sites and low entry barriers to get started developing for mobile Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

7. Terminal functionality & user data Web information Web app Enhancing the Web Runtime with device APIs Device APIs: • File system access to pictures, music & video clips • PIM data (contacts, calendar) • Messaging (SMS, MMS, email) • Call handling • System data (battery, coverage, roaming, location) • Camera (get new picture) Adds context Enables mashups Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

8. Agenda • Mobile Web Runtime – the Vision • Mobile Web Runtime – Today’s Reality • Mobile Device APIs • Mobile Ajax Ready Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

9. Before the iPhone • Until recently, only smart phones could really browse the Web, and usually not very well: • Smart phones: NETFront, OpenWave, Obigo, Opera • Volume phones: WAP, cHTML, XHTML-Basic, … • Result: mobile browsers didn’t get much usage • iPhone - the tipping point • Able to interact with entire Web • Fixed-rate data plan • Acceptable performance (network & rendering) • Result: lots of real usage (50x versus other phones) Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

10. iPhone Take Advantage of Inflexion Points • Moore’s Law for mobile phones • Mobile CPUs are faster, memory is cheaper • Mobile networks are now fast enough • 3G is rolling out, HSPA will be even faster • Touch screens • Nearly all of the phone area can be used for rendering • Also, Apple took care of key details • Fixed-rate data plan, great UI, good reliability, … Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

11. Other phones are catching up • WebKit open source browser • Google Android (HTC Dream and many others) • Nokia Series 60 (and likely Series 40 in future) • WebKit announcements from Motorola and Samsung • Mozilla Fennec • A second open source option • Opera • The “grand old man” of bringing desktop browsing to mobile • Motorola, Nintendo, Sony/Ericsson, Samsung, … • Internet Explorer Mobile 7.0 • In 2009 Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

12. Mobile Web Developer Issues • Mobile Ajax constraints and opportunities • Constraints: screen size, keypad, CPU, memory, bandwidth, etc. • Opportunities: Portability, GPS, camera, messaging, voice, etc. • Browser fragmentation (see next slides) Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

13. Desktop Web vs Mobile Web • Desktop Web – minor fragmentation • 4 primary browsers: IE, FF, Safari, Chrome • Ajax developers complain about the cost and difficulty of developing and testing against multiple browsers • IE6/7/8, FF2/3, Safari 2/3, Chrome, Opera • Ajax libraries help a lot • But browser-specific problems still crop up • Mobile Web – greater fragmentation • Other browsers: Opera, IE Mobile, Netfront, RIM, … • WebKit variations • Different branches ship on different phones • Different memory and performance characteristics • Device/network differences (next slide slide) Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

14. Mobile Web fragmentation • Device/network divergence • Different browsers with different functionality • Input devices (keypad vs touch vs jogwheel vs …) • Screen sizes • Memory • Network speed • Operator pricing schemes • At the same time as HTML5 contributors are rapidly defining and implementing their own favorite new features • Mozilla, WebKit, Opera: vector graphics (SVG and Canvas) • Google Gears (offline, worker threads, geolocation) • Apple (CSS animation, HTML video) • Mobile represents major technology opportunities • Which means more vendor-specific innovation going forward Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

15. Fragmentation inhibits mobile development • Developers have to choose between rich and reach • Rich => take advantage of features found on only a subset of devices (e.g., only support the iPhone) • Reach => simplify the application to LCD • A small number of major developers have sufficiently deep pockets for both rich and reach • But even the big guys incur major opportunity costs • The vast majority of developers will choose to wait before mobilizing their applications • Or use proprietary technologies • As a result, Mobile Web 2.0 potential is not realized: • Consumers don’t get innovative new products and services • Businesses don’t gain productivity benefits Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

16. Mobile widgets • Write-once, run-anywhere? Not yet • Each vendor’s widget format is different • Web Runtime differences • As a result, only a fraction of content providers can support only a fraction of phones • Standardization efforts under way • W3C Widgets • See subsequent slides about OMTP BONDI • Ajax-based mobile widgets will roll out in a big way in the next couple of years Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

17. Agenda • Mobile Web Runtime – the Vision • Mobile Web Runtime – the Reality • Mobile Device APIs • Mobile Ajax Ready Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

18. Three Standards Organizations Working together, along with key companies (e.g., Vodafone) to advance the Open Web on mobile devices Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

19. Mobile Ajax Summit: Feb. 2007 • Vodafone hosts Mobile Ajax summit at 3GSM 2007 • ~20 companies • Consensus: organize a Workshop on Mobile Ajax Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

20. Workshop on Mobile Ajax • Took place Sept. 28, 2007 in Mountain View, CA • Preceded by call-for-participation, sent out by W3C and OpenAjax Alliance • 37 position papers, 45 attendees • ACCESS, AOL, Aplix, Coactus, Dojo, ETRI, Gemalto, Gemino Mobile, Google, Harvard Medical School, IBM, ICEsoft, Ikivo, Microsoft, Mobile Aware, Mobile Complete, Mobix, Motorola, NEC, Nexaweb, NHN, Nokia, Novarra, NTT Docomo, OpenAjax Alliance, Paving Ways, RIM, SAP, SK Telecom, Sprint, Sun, University of Helsinki, Volantis, W3C WAF WG, Wake3, Yahoo! Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

21. 2007 Conclusions • Ultimately, a common Ajax platform will become available across desktop and mobile devices • Thereby providing the industry with a universal content and application platform • It will be the Web on mobile… not a separate mobile Web • Ajax running on mobile devices has its own set of special requirements and opportunities • Constraints: screen size, keypad, CPU, memory, bandwidth, etc. • Opportunities: Portability, GPS, camera, messaging, voice, etc. • Mobile Ajax (the “Web Runtime”) is not just for browsing • Mobile “widgets” for installed applications • Often need access to device APIs Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

22. Mobile Device APIs Early Work • Vodafone • MobileScript open source from Vodafone R&D • 2nd Mobile Ajax Summit (MWC, Feb 2008) • OpenAjax Alliance should launch fast-track efforts around Mobile Device APIs • OpenAjax Alliance: March to May 2008 • Industry due diligence • Use case definition • Requirements gathering • Security (requirements and high-level approach) • In parallel, W3C launches geolocation API activity • initial proposal from Google Gears team • In parallel, OMTP BONDI ramps up Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

23. OMTP BONDI • (switch to BONDI slide deck) Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

24. Agenda • Mobile Web Runtime – the Vision • Mobile Web Runtime – the Reality • Mobile Device APIs • Mobile Ajax Ready Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

25. Mobile Ajax Ready Strawman • Industry comes together to define “Mobile Ajax Ready” • List of feature and performance requirements • Acid tests to verify conformance • Key leadership comes from the user and developer communities • Enterprise suppliers: IBM, Oracle, Salesforce, TIBCO, … • Consumer sites: Google, Yahoo, Facebook, MySpace, … • Ajax toolkits: Dojo, Prototype, jQuery, GWT, Ext JS, … • In partnership with mobile infrastructure companies • Operators • Device manufacturers • Browser developers Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

26. Objective: Growth of innovative mobile applications • Interoperability across a range of mobile platforms • Ideal: write once, run anywhere • More realistic: minimize development/testing costs • Accelerate availability of key features • HTML5: video, local/session storage, server push, postMessage(), … • Graphics: SVG and Canvas • Device APIs: telephony, address book, mail, messaging, camera, connectivity status, … • Mobile innovation • Vendors focus on innovation instead of porting • Entire technology stack uses open technologies • Open source options for most features • No one taking tolls Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

27. Mobile Ajax Ready • 100% Open Web • Starts with today’s desktop Ajax as the starting point • De facto standard platform supported by today’s Ajax toolkits • Includes various (non-W3C) quirks modes and extensions • Then adds selectively: • Critical features from HTML5 (e.g., offline) • Critical features from OMTP, particularly BONDI • On an exceptional basis, other open technologies defined outside of HTML5 • OK for mobile devices to include open plugins to achieve conformance • In case browser code bases aren’t keeping up • E.g., Google Gears or Yahoo! Browser Plus Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

28. Acid tests • Modeled after tests from Web Standards Project (WSP) • Not attempting to be comprehensive • Basic checks on features • Relies on other organizations to produce detailed tests • Highly visual results (e.g., “Passes 70/100 tests”) • Supplements the WSP’s Acids tests • Devices need to pass both the WSP Acid tests and the Mobile Ajax Ready acid tests • Get test cases from leading Ajax libraries • Ajax libraries push browsers to the limit (e.g., Dojo offline storage) • Several leading Ajax libraries already share their test suites with browser teams • Most mobile Ajax applications will use an Ajax library (just as on the desktop), so this is a natural part of being “Ajax Ready” Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

29. Driven by content developers • Enterprise suppliers • IBM, Oracle, Salesforce, TIBCO, … • Consumer sites • Google, Yahoo, Facebook, MySpace, … • Ajax toolkits • Dojo, Prototype, jQuery, GWT, Ext JS, … Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

30. Lightweight, dynamic, fast-moving process • “Mobile Ajax Ready” will need regular updates • Updated definition every 6 months? 9? 12? • Good to give advanced warning about likely features in future versions • Allows platforms to see what is coming and start implementing before final approval Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

31. Recruitment • Key mobile companies: Vodafone, Nokia, … • Key consumer companies: Google, Facebook, MySpace, … • Key Enterprise companies: IBM, … • Key Ajax toolkits: Dojo, … • Key browser companies: Mozilla? Opera? • Web Standards Project Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

32. Leadership • ? Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future

33. Thanks! Ajax on Mobile Phones: Past, Present and Future