User Experience of Mobile Internet - Human-Computer Interaction and Innovation in Handheld, Mobile and Wearable Technologies - page 187

There is a clear need to improve mobile search
services and there are actually quite a few research
activities that aim to develop search technologies.
Heimonen and Käki (2007) propose automatic
categorization of search results to facilitate go-
ing through the results. Startups such as kannuu
already offer search solutions that actively predict
and match the most likely search selections, let-
ting users quickly create search phrases (Com-
munications Direct, 2007). Search can also be
augmented by new techniques such as proactive
notification based on needs and location (Jones,
2007). Kamvar and Baluja (2007) propose using
contextual signals such as application in use, loca-
tion and time to complete queries in mobile use. A
local search that utilizes location data is useful in
searching points of interest in a certain district or
its environs. Simon and Fröhlich (2007) propose
a framework for spatial selection of content based
on the user's field of view.

and 5, with a total average of 3.5 (for comparison:
camera scored 5.5) (Swisscom, 2007). When
purchasing a mobile device, consumers consider
external attributes such as price, size, robustness
or design of a mobile handset rather than Internet
access. In some developing countries, the situation
may be different. In South Africa, for example, the
ability to go online was the second most important
feature after camera when buying a mobile phone
(Kreutzer, 2008)
Mobility is a fashion-driven consumer mar-
ket, and unlike PCs, there are fewer drivers for
technical consolidation. Consequently, leading
handset vendors maintain complex customer
segmentations and large device portfolios. Al-
though many of these devices will increasingly
use common platforms and web standards, there
will still be large variations in all kind of features
influencing the mobile Internet user experience,
i.e. implementation details, display sizes, proces-
sor power, storage capacity, power consumption,
navigation tools, text input interface, broadband
bearers and many variants of web tools, such as
browsers, media players, application viewers or
positioning tools (Jones, 2007).
Mobile devices are increasingly equipped with
facilities that assist in connecting the physical
world to the mobile Internet. Device features such
as cameras that read bar codes and preinstalled
applications on phones let users get directly to
online content and services (Browne, 2007). Simi-
larly, radio frequency tags embedded in everyday
objects can give access to Internet services related
to the object in question (Kaasinen et al., 2006).
An embedded GPS system in a mobile device
facilitates services that are connected to the actual
physical location of the user. However, services
utilizing these new technical facilities have been
suffering from 'chicken-egg' problems: because
only some devices include these technical fa-
cilities, service providers are reluctant to provide
services that utilize these unique features. On the
other hand, as service selection is modest, users
are not willing to invest in the devices and device

MOBILE INTERNET DEVICES
AND INFRASTRUCTURES

To give the user access to mobile services requires
a mobile handset with a browser and a mobile
network. The number of choices available of any
one of these brings in the challenge of numerous
different combinations of devices, browsers and
networks. The infrastructure may also include
proxies that adapt contents to different browsers
and devices. Also pricing policies can be seen as
part of this infrastructure. These elements of the
mobile Internet infrastructure and their influence
on user experience are discussed below.

Mobile Devices

When Swisscom Mobile asked mobile users how
important different phone features were for them
when buying a new mobile phone on a scale from
1 (not at all important) to 10 (very important), 77%
of users rated mobile Internet access between 1