Scope brings Web content to mobile devices

Scope brings Web content to mobile devices

Zatni Arbi, Contributor/zatni@cbn.net.id

When my cell phone operator Telkomsel introduced the General
Packet Radio Service (GPRS) over its cellular phone network, I
did not jump straight into the habit of browsing the Internet
using my cell phone.

It was not because I could not read the text on my cell phone,
as my beloved Nokia 6800 has a fairly crisp display with large
characters. It was because I did not really feel the need to
increase my monthly cell phone bill while I have other means of
staying online, including cable Internet at home. Besides, I
subscribe to The Jakarta Post, and when I am away on a trip
overseas I usually have my notebook connected to the Internet
using the broadband service, if it is available in my hotel room.

My experience of being cut off from the Internet during my
recent 11-day trip to Sumatra Barat changed my perception a lot.
In Padang, and in Bukittinggi, I was unable to access my mailbox,
let alone browse the Web comfortably. That was when I began to
look at my cell phone as a means to read the latest news.

Coincidentally, the Post had announced that we can now access
its news on any mobile device, as long as it supports GPRS. I
tried it out, and I was quite surprised to see how easy it was.
As easy as A-B-C.

To be able to access the Web via GPRS, we must first make sure
that the facility is already activated. Some operators will
automatically do it for you, especially if you are a post-paid
subscriber. Some will require you to activate it yourself. You
may also have to configure the setting on your cell phone, but
the operator will certainly help you, if you don't know how to do
it. Operators are more than happy if their subscribers use GPRS,
as it will increase their earnings.

Once we have the GPRS facility activated, we can just select
the Services menu on our cell phone, and then select Go to
address. After the http://, we just type
mobile.thejakartapost.com. The cell phone will then access the
Web and, after a while, we will be able to read the mobile
Website of this newspaper.

Needless to say, browsing on a desktop or notebook computer
differs from browsing on a mobile device such as a cell phone.
The screen is smaller and the keypad requires a lot more thumb
dexterity. Unless, of course, if you use the N6800-or the camera-
equipped N6820, which has a foldable QWERTY keypad. By the way,
it is the keypad that makes me love this model so much.

For now, the mobile news service of this newspaper is free of
charge, and only headline news is accessible. However, we still
have to pay our cell phone operator for the GPRS service based on
the amount of data that we upload and download. The rate varies
from one operator to another, but in general it has become much
more affordable than when the service was first made available to
cell phone users.

Because of the difference in the number of characters that
each of the mobile devices allows per line, an adjustment has to
be made to the content as it is being downloaded and displayed on
the screen. So, while accessing the content is as easy as A-B-C,
the underlying technology is pretty complex.

To make it possible for us to read the latest news on our
mobile devices, the Post uses mScope technology from the five-
year-old mobile information solution provider OceanLake. The
company, which has offices in Toronto, Santa Clara, Tokyo and
Singapore, picks up the content from the Post's Web server and
stores it on their own Web server in Singapore.

As you must already know, Web content is formatted using
various languages, which are called markup languages. We have
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Extended HTML (XHTML), Wireless
Markup Language (WML), etc. The languages enable the content
developer to place frames, tables, etc., where they want them to
appear. mScope enables the content to be delivered to our mobile
devices without any modification and displayed based on the
profile of the mobile device.

There are a lot of challenges that mScope has to overcome, and
it does a good job. For instance, on the client side, each of our
mobile devices has its own micro browser. These micro browsers do
not have the capability to use plug-ins such as JavaScript and
Flash.

Second, the processor inside our cell phones has only a
fraction of the horsepower that an Intel Pentium processor can
deliver. The memory is also very limited. Fortunately, most
mobile device users are not interested in such rich media, so all
the "bells and whistles" can actually be stripped down.

Because of this advanced functionality, which frees Web
developers from the task of customizing their content to
individual devices -- and the cost-saving involved -- mScope is
widely used by different companies, including financial services,
e-commerce, non-profit organizations and travel companies.

By the way, this week I will be traveling once again to Hong
Kong, and I look forward to testing the mobile service of this
newspaper during my trip.