Jonathan Trevor

From desktop to phonetop: a UI for web interaction on very small devices

While it is generally accepted that new Internet terminals should leverage the installed base of Web content and services, the differences between desktop computers and very small devices makes this challenging. Indeed, the browser interaction model has evolved on desktop computers having a unique combination of user interface (large display, keyboard, pointing device), hardware, and networking capabilities. In contrast, Internet enabled cell phones, typically with 3-10 lines of text, sacrifice usability as Web terminals in favor of portability and other functions. Based on our earlier experiences building and using a Web browser for small devices we propose a new UI that splits apart the integrated activities of link following and reading into separate modes: navigating to; and acting on web content. This interaction technique for very small devices is both simpler for navigating and allows users to do more than just read. The M-Links system incorporates modal browsing interaction and addresses a number of associated problems. We have built our system with an emphasis on simplicity and user extensibility and describe the design, implementation and evolution of the user interface.

m-links: An infrastructure for very small internet devices

In this paper we describe the Mobile Link (m-Links) infrastructure for utilizing existing World Wide Web content and services on wireless phones and other very small Internet terminals. Very small devices, typically with 3-20 lines of text, provide portability and other functionality while sacrificing usability as Internet terminals. In order to provide access on such limited hardware we propose a small device web navigation model that is more appropriate than the desktop computers web browsing model. We introduce a middleware proxy, the Navigation Engine, to facilitate the navigation model by concisely displaying the Webs link (i.e., URL) structure. Because not all Web information is appropriately “linked,” the Navigation Engine incorporates data-detectors to extract bits of useful information such as phone numbers and addresses. In order to maximize program-data composibility, multiple network-based services (similar to browser plug-ins) are keyed to a links attributes such as its MIME type. We have built this system with an emphasis on user extensibility and we describe the design and implementation as well as a basic set of middleware services that we have found to be particularly important.

DoKumobility: Web services for the mobile worker

Mobile users often require access to their documents while away from the office. While preloading documents in a repository can make those documents available remotely, people need to know in advance which documents they might need. Furthermore, it may be difficult to view, print, or share the document through a portable device such as cell phone. We implemented DoKumobility, a network of Web services for mobile users for managing, printing, and sharing documents. In this paper, we describe the infrastructure and illustrate its use with several applications.