Internet on the road…

I spend almost 30% of my Interent time on a mobile device, with a screen size of 2.1 inch 320×320, a band-width of 4.xk/s on a GPRS, limited CPU resources, and the a not so clever browser call WebPro on my Palm, many website are really not accessible…

Email was OK, with quite some work of build my own mail server for a better centralized email solution.

Browsing was not such a good experience (Google Mobile do help a lot, but not all sites are fully supported), I end up with RSS reading most of the time, or develop CGIs/PHP to “filter/slim” those FAT HTMLs to mobile friendly layout…of coz, the example of PUMB mobile and HK3Zone mobile I developed earlier for dicussion forums..

Non-accessible open services
In many cases, it really disappointed us…

Example, I would like to check my account balance by online banking on my mobile, opps, sorry, NONE of the bank in HK works with a Palm smartphone. (don’t think PPC works either….)

Ok, how about betting on the lotteries for a little bit of fun on the road? (legally I mean, from the Hong Kong Royal Jockey Club)
Nope, sorry man, please find the nearest betting station, queue up and WAIT, as you need MS IE + Java enable to be able to “use” their online betting system, or the next option is purchase their “so call” mobile betting device (no please, not YET ANOTHER device in my bag, and that thing look UGLY)…..

How about checking the current traffic condition on my smartphone before I get into a traffic jam on the road?
Sorry either, MS IE only,
I think thats so stupid….Thats the time we need it most! ON THE ROAD!
They can’t expect us getting our notebook out and boot it up isn’t it?
HK Traffic Department – Realtime Traffic Condition.
CGI Slimed version – Realtime Traffic Condition.

Think these services should be real good to use on mobile, but too bad, we just can’t enjoy them….

Or do we need IE and JavaVM on our smartphone?