Which Browser is Best?

July 22nd, 2008

Ever since the emergence of internet enabled mobile phones, there has been a heated conflict among Mobile Web Service providers; a true fight to the finish, which continues today.  On one side, there are the direct connectors, the radical liberals who want the user experience to be as limitless as possible, who want the mobile internet to be the same internet that you access from your computer, and who want the data plan charges to be off the charts.  But on the other side, there are proxy servers, fascist service providers that want to regulate and simplify the mobile web as they so choose, all to make the mobile internet ‘easier’ and more ‘efficient’.  Who will win in this battle royale?  I have no idea… To be honest I just thought I’d try and play up the drama.  Here are the basic pros and cons on each service.

Direct Connection: 

• (pro) supported by major companies such as Internet Explorer Moible, and the emerging FENNEC (mozilla)
• (pro) internet is just as you view it on a computer… you phone therefore has full internet capability
• (pro) can view images, listen to songs, view videos just as you would on your computer
• (con) full internet capability means huge amounts of data streaming = huge bills for those that don’t have unlimited data plans
• (con) because the mobile web is slower than a computer connection, large amounts of data means more time to transfer and proccess it… moible browsing through direct connection is much slower

Proxy Servers:

• (pro) supported by successful established companies such as Opera, and Blackberry’s use proxy servers too
• (pro) web pages are simplified, streamlined for mobile phones… they therefore can load much faster
• (pro) streamlining also means less data per page = more internet browsing for your buck
• (con)  a compressed website limits which pages can be viewed… also the capability for images and video and music is much more limited
• (con) there are no regulations as to how third parties should compress websites… they could potentially steer you to wherever they choose

There really is no right or wrong choice… For now both are equally important options for different user preferences.  Ideally, the combination of faster wireless service, cheaper data plans, and better mobile technology will allow direct connection to be the standard… If you want to read more, check out the article.

Technorati Tags: mobile web browser, WAP, proxy server, direct connection, internet explorer mobile, fennec, blackberry, opera, data plan