I’ve mentioned before that mobile browsing is fast growing in popularity – it is forecast by some to overtake PC browsing in the next five years – and I think that Google’s acquisition of Motorola will help drive this growth and maybe even accelerate it. It also makes mobile website optimisation increasingly important for online businesses when it comes to designing or redesigning their websites.

Motorola will enable Google to better develop its Android mobile device product, not least because of the large number of patents the manufacturer holds. In short, it lets Google do hardware – to date it has remained software-focused.

This investment should help it enormously in its fight with Microsoft and, more importantly, with Apple in the mobile device arena. How long before we see a Google mobile device to really take on the iPhone and iPad? Apple’s huge profits should certainly be a major incentive.

A player of Google’s profile and resources in the mobile device marketplace will not fail to make waves and businesses should be aware of the likely impact. Having an online presence that is not only compatible with but is able to exploit a rising amount of mobile browsing will be crucial.

By supercharging its mobile device profile with the acquisition of Motorola, we can expect to be using the likes of Google
Wallet (mobile payment) and Google Places (location-based loyalty schemes) a lot more and businesses will have to be ready for this.

To find out more about Chichester Design’s web design and development services, including mobile website optimisation, contact Michelle on +44 (0) 1243 787542 or info@chichesterdesign.co.uk.

Buying online – I’ve blogged recently about how we trust the internet more than we do the TV – but this time it’s a different aspect of e-commerce that’s on my mind. The launch of Google Wallet has got me thinking about mobile browsing and mobile payments.

Mobile payment is by no means a new format, and the technology is much more developed in the Far East, so Google is hardly a pioneer. However, it has the power to bring the technology to the masses and quickly. So, if I were an online retailer, I’d be seriously considering how my website works on a mobile phone.

How we use the internet, whether it’s using maps to get round, reading the news or striking up conversations on Facebook or Twitter, has changed remarkably in recent years: we are doing a lot more of it on our mobile phones. Nearly a year ago, Ofcom said that almost a quarter of the UK’s mobile phone owners used their handsets to access the internet and that this number was rising.

So, as consumers are increasingly doing their browsing on the go, it is important that online retailers have websites that are fully accessible in this format. And, this format means not just one smaller size, but several. From Google Android handsets and BlackBerry to iPhones and iPads, there are a lot of different screen sizes, and a website design has to be adaptable to them all. Mobile optimisation is a must, both in terms of reading and navigating content and purchasing from an e-commerce website.

I’m looking forward to the growth of mobile payments. “Wave and pay” is the future – I already use a bank card that allows me to do that. The emergence of Google Wallet will undoubtedly speed things up. Orange is working with Barclaycard and Samsung, and O2 is planning something similar this year. We are living in an ever more mobile world.

To find out more about Chichester Design’s web design and development services, contact Ben on +44 (0) 1243 787542 or info@chichesterdesign.co.uk.

Sound ridiculous? All a bit sci-fi? Not to some. According to an article I read the other day, that’s where the development of mobile internet access is going. And who is taking us there? None other than Facebook.

Around a third of Facebook traffic is already conducted using mobile devices and this percentage is expected to grow, thanks to the advance of technology and our own demand for on-the-go usability and convenience. The invention and success of the app, the launch of Facebook Places and the arrival of the Google places app for the iPhone have pushed us further towards a reality where our lives are mapped instantaneously in the digital world.

Think about it. If we’re able to update where we’re going for dinner, how long before our smartphones and mobile devices are able to automatically let us know bus or train times for the journey home? As the article suggests, perhaps it won’t be beamed onto our eyeballs for a while, but how about onto a pair of specially designed glass? iGlass anyone?

And, you won’t need to a lift a finger or eventually utter a word. No more fiddling with touchscreens, and perhaps one day no more voice control. You’ll just have to think it and the bus timetable will appear in front of your eyes, literally.

That could be just the start – how about marrying technology with commerce? Just look at the new Tesco shopping app – wave your phone over the product barcode and it’s on your list. Imagine doing this but without the smartphone – just look at it, think it and a shopper could be packing it for you.

This technology would be truly incredible (and a little scary), but who would pioneer it? Again, going back to the article, Facebook are favourites thanks to their power to be able to access and share people’s recommendations. With search engines, such as Google, we’re bored fishing in a pond whose content is limited by our own knowledge. Facebook and recommendations take us beyond these constraints.

We shall see, but we’re already seeing the power of recommendations in action, not at least in relation to the growth of social media marketing in the business world. Companies are fast waking up to the potential of personal recommendations and referrals through social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

But first things first, your website has got to work properly beyond a PC. In a world where accessing the internet using a mobile device is increasingly the norm (it’s already the primary means in the developing world), your content has to be accessible on the small screen.

To find out more about Chichester Design’s web design and development services, contact Amy on +44 (0)1243 787542 or info@chichesterdesign.co.uk.

On the day of its release the people who deal in business intelligence for digital and social media Trendrr revealed that, despite the usual delays that trending topics from Haiti to the death of Michael Jacskon create, there were no less 177,000 Tweets just in the first hour.

I know that Chichester Design’s Managing Director Ben was very excited about the impending launch and was checking the Apple website as well his favourite forums more than hourly to get a peek at Apple’s new addition, but what did those Tweeters really think?

It seems that opinions were almost split down the middle, with 48% feeling as excited and passionate as Ben but slightly more of you (52%) were of the same opinion of me i.e. could iCare less?!

Call me controversial (no, please do!), but I’m not that fussed about Apple as a brand, I don’t have spare £££s to burn, I don’t like computer games and I would rather read a good old fashioned book that’s made of paper, thanks all the same.

Ok, there were the 29% that said they intended to buy the iPad and 19% who appreciated it as a great new bit of technology. However, 21% of all tweets couldn’t stand the name – I for one think it sounds like a feminine hygiene product or something a pirate would wear (?!)

There were a further 19% who weren’t in any way turned on by Apple’s shiny new toy, they were particularly peeved that the iPad can’t support Flash or multitask, and then there were the 11% who were just sick of the hype.

Find out more for yourself here. What will you think? I wonder…