Mobile Awesomeness Blog

Designing and Developing Web Technologies on the Mobile Web.

Zepto JS Framework

Tuesday November 9, 2010

Zepto is a mobile javascript framework that aims to bring compatible jQuery syntax to mobile devices, while only weighing in at about 2 kb. Any browsers running mobile webkit (iOS, Android and more) should be able to use it.

A pretty cool example that uses Zepto is the new 37signals web app (only for iPad) called Chalk- http://chalk.37signals.com. It's worth a look if you have an iPad!

Posted in Frameworks

The 5-Minute Mobile Site

Friday November 5, 2010

MobStac B! is a hosted (and free) service that helps you setup a mobile site in roughly 5 minutes. Their service includes analytics and several customization options. It's probably not the place to go if you want your website featured in our gallery, but it's a nice little site that can get you up and running quickly.

Posted in Hosted Services

Firefox Mobile Beta is here!

Monday November 1, 2010

A few weeks ago, Mozilla finally released the beta version of Firefox for mobile devices (codenamed "Fennec"). The initial roll-out supports Nokia N900 devices and Android devices running version 2 and up. The desktop simulator is available for OS X, Windows and Linux (available on the same page). The browser is based on Firefox 4 for the desktop, using Gecko version 1.9.2.

Posted in Browsers

48% of Mobile Users are Buying from their Phone

Thursday October 28, 2010

A recent survey from Lightspeed Research shows that nearly 50% of mobile phone users have made a purchase on their phone. The survey was  covered by Mobile Commerce Daily and showed some very fascinating numbers. Methods of purchase include on a website, through an app or via SMS. Of the three, customers clearly seem most comfortable purchasing from a company's website. 36% of those surveyed own an iPhone, 25% own an Android-based phone and 19% have a Blackberry. 

Posted in Reports & Stats

Jo Mobile Framework

Monday October 25, 2010

Jo is a lightweight HTML5 mobile framework that's great for mobile websites or building native apps with PhoneGap. We haven't used it yet, but here is a 12-minute demo of it in action. Visit joapp.com for more ...

Posted in Frameworks

jQuery Mobile Alpha 1.0 Released

Sunday October 17, 2010

On Saturday jQuery Mobile's very first version was let out into the wild. What separates this framework from jQTouch and some of the other mobile frameworks is that it's meant to be optimized for several operating systems, including iOS, Android, Blackberry, Symbian, Palm and more. Our initial tests on iOS were a little clunky, but this is an Alpha release. Nevertheless, jQuery mobile should be a BIG player in the long term.

Posted in Frameworks

25% of American Adults will use the Mobile Web Next Year

Tuesday October 5, 2010

A new study from the Mobile Marketing Association says that 25% of American adult consumers will use a mobile device to access the web on a daily basis in 2011. Nearly half of the people surveyed said that they plan on using their mobile device to access the web at some point in the next year. The numbers just keep growing ...

Posted in Reports & Stats

Mobile Website Testing Tools

Tuesday September 28, 2010

Six Revisions just published a nice run-down of 10 Mobile Device Testing Tools that is worth a read. Keep in mind that simulators aren't always like the real thing, but they can be helpful in a pinch. Whenever possible, we recommend using the official Apple iOS and Android SDK simulators for more consistent results on those platforms.

Posted in Mobile Resources

Rethinking the Mobile Web

Friday September 17, 2010

The folks at Yiibu put together a very well done slideshow presentation full of great mobile data. It's definitely worth a look!

Posted in Reports & Stats

Mobile Web Design Best Practices

Monday August 30, 2010

A recent article from Six Revisions provides a nice overview of mobile web design best practices for developers that are relatively new to optimizing for mobile devices. It's definitely worth a read. 

Posted in Mobile Resources