MobileAware is founding sponsor of new W3C Mobile Web Initiative
MobileAware, a leading provider of mobile business solutions, has continued its leadership role in setting standards and providing strategic direction for the mobile Web by becoming a founding sponsor of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)’s new Mobile Web Initiative (MWI).
The initiative, which was launched today in Japan, aims to make Web access from a mobile device as simple and convenient as access from a personal computer. MWI brings together leading technology companies including software vendors, content providers, handset manufacturers, browser vendors and mobile phone operators, to develop industry best practices and guidelines for refining the mobile Web experience. MobileAware’s Chief Innovations Architect and principal W3C participant, Dr Rotan Hanrahan, has joined the MWI Steering Committee to lead the Initiative’s work in recommending standards for Device Descriptions.
Despite the proliferation of Web-enabled mobile phones, exploring the Web from wireless devices has yet to fulfil its promise due to obstacles in interoperability and usability. Web sites are often not accessible or not as easy to browse on a mobile phone as on a desktop; content providers are sometimes unable to build Web sites that are optimised for all types and configurations of mobile devices.
Through industry collaboration and consensus, MWI will address the challenges of interoperability and usability by developing a set of industry best practices and support infrastructures for mobile developers, as well as promoting validation and conformance testing services for accessing the Web from mobile devices. These activities will complement current W3C efforts related to device independence, multi-modal Web access and content types for multimedia messaging, and will result in recommending new industry standards that support the expanding Web.
MobileAware has long been a member of the W3C and is currently an active member of the W3C Advisory Committee as well as a lead participant in the recently re-chartered Device Independent Working Group (DIWG). In October 2004, MobileAware hosted Ireland’s first-ever W3C meeting, the International W3C Workshop on Metadata for Content Adaptation, and has contributed to, co-authored and edited several W3C documents.
“Making mobility simple is intrinsic to everything we do at MobileAware, so becoming a founding member of the Mobile Web Initiative is a natural progression to our W3C activities,” commented Brian Kinane, Executive Vice President at MobileAware. “Proliferation of the mobile Web has so far failed to meet market expectations and can only be salvaged by fostering collaborative thinking and consensus among the world’s leading mobile service organisations. We look forward to leading the strategic direction of the mobile Web.”