Molecularist

Here’s one convoluted (but from the People!) solution to Gmail’s lack of a mobile version. Alas, I don’t have a PHP server I can install this on.

Link: SourceForge.net: Project Info – Gmail Mobile – Gmail on the move.

A PHP app to access Gmail (Google email) accounts on WAP/WML devices. A convenient alternative access method to your email account while on the move, Gmail Mobile incorporates as many Gmail features as possible within the limitations of a mobile phone.

Hmmm, might this evolve into a simple service someone can start up until Google wakes up and uses the code themselves. 😉

I’ve been talking with folks about transcoding for a long time, and it’s slipped into and out of my thoughtstream many times, mainly because I thought transcoding to be leading our thinking down the wrong path.

Transcoding is the re-rendering (through some proxy server) of a Web page into something that looks good and works well on a mobile. One fine example of transcoding is Google.

If you do a Google search from your phone, Google recognizes that it’s a phone searching and gives you a results page that is slightly different from what you would see on your PC browser. Then, when you click the link, Google serves you a text-only page that works on a mobile browser.

I guess that’s Transcoding 101 for you.

But, the simplicity is misleading. If you try to save the bookmark of the page Google served up to you, it will have a Google proxy address, not the direct address to that page. Also, some simple items like text boxes, say, for a site search, do not show up (this is actually the problem that set off this nano-rant). And finally, to add to (my) frustration, there is no way to view the page natively – while there are some helpful links that Google puts at the bottom of the pages they served, there is no way for me to get out of the Google transcoding.

So, while Google transcoding of all sites that you Google search for with your mobile can be very helpful, it highlights the pitfalls of transcoding – proxy issues, level of lost info, etc. – I am still not won over by the transcoding believers.

If you want to explore this topic further, search for ‘Google’ ‘transcoding’ ‘mobile’.

This is a good first list of options for all of you who don’t have mobile-readable sites (including service providers, such as Six Apart).

Link: The Mobile Device Detection Problem | Mobile Design.

Publishing a mobile version of your content is harder then is should be. One significant technical leap must be made in order to give users a seamless experience… device detection, the relatively simple concept of routing different devices to the most appropriate content for that device.

Here’s a great tip for those of you who are in the process of building something and are getting feature request overload.

The key thing is that you should read all the requests, and the ones that stick in your head either by repetition or appropriateness will be the ones that you should work on. With the experience I have in product creation, this great tip can be squashed very easily if the recipient of the feature request has no interest in feature requests, even if they are memorable and appropriate. Hence, this only works if you have an open mind to developing your product.

Link: Getting Real: Forget feature requests – Signal vs. Noise (by 37signals).

Those are the important ones. You don’t need to track or remember everything — let your customers be your memory. They’ll remind you.

Link via Erik: Airtime – Gizmodo.

As mobile phones become more powerful and pervasive, it was inevitable that they’d spawn the same kind of homebrew hacking culture as computers and the Internet. While the locked-down nature of cell phones and the closemindedness of wireless carriers has stunted that culture’s growth, a few developments are afoot that promise to give a big boost to DIY mobile programming. Whereas programmers must typically pick up platform-specific skills to develop for mobile, a number of ways for independent and casual developers and even enthusiasts to use skills they’ve already got—or can relatively easily learn—to build applications.