Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
iPhone (Released in 2007), you only had 2G speed, using protocols including GPRS,
EDGE, and 1X. Data coming to you over 2G was just about twice as fast as a dial-up
modem, around 115KbpsSo while email and text-based web pages would load
reasonably fast, anything with too many images or multimedia would take approximately
eternity
2
.
Around 2001, the initial designs for what we consider 3G (or third generation) data
networks were drafted andcould reach theoretical speeds of over 7Mbps These
networks, which include protocols like UMTS, WCDMA, and EV-DO, can move data
much faster than their 2G counterparts. For the first time, thisallowed forinnovations
such as streaming movies and music directly to a phone. The limiting factor in showing
complex web pages was no longer the speed of the data connection but the speed of
the phone. By 2007, most telecom providers had adopted and “rolled-out” a 3G network
and devices, such as mobile broadband cards, became common.
In the past few years (2008-2010), new and approved versions of current 3G
technologies have become available. While there is considerable argument about what
exactly the differences between the 3G technologies we were privy to before and this
newer 3G-based technology that is being dubbed "4G" are, it is obvious that newer
protocols, such asHSPA, HSPA+, WiMAX, and LTE, are faster than their 3G
predecessors. Unfortunately, while all of the major carriers are gradually moving forward
with their plans to increase data speeds and network capacity, those updates and
changes will not become immediately apparent to the end user until they purchase a
phone with the right internal hardware to take advantage of these numerous changes.
One common trap that many web developers who target mobiles may fall into, at least
early on, is the notion that speed is all one needs to consider when developing a mobile
app. If I know my users will need a 3G network to use the feature I'm developing, it
might be tempting to skip streamlining other areas of the app, given the fact I know I'll
have a faster data connection. However, as mentioned above, speed isn't the only factor
one needs to consider.The actual processing and software power of the device (i.e., the
capabilities of its web browser) can also slow down an app. If you want evidence of this,
use your own Smartphone or Tablet on Wi-Fi instead of cellular data and observe how
certain sites and apps still lag when connecting to the Internet, despite a connection
much faster (generally) than 3G or 4G. We'll discuss how to avoid programming bloated
unresponsive apps as we continue through the topic.
Languages and Protocols, Yesterday and Today
Now that we know how fast we can go, we should probably talk a bit about how web
pages were shown to handheld users over the past 10 years and the current state of the
mobile world.
In the beginning, handheld devices, such as the earliest modern personal digital
assistants (PDAs), had no direct connection to the Internet. This meant that any content
2
At least it felt that way.
