Mobile Devices - User Interface Issues

The mobile devices, as named are commonly used while the user is moving with the devices. As the size of the mobile device is small, it is improper to attach normal interfaces like keyboard, mouse etc. So special interfaces like touch pads, touch screens, pointing devices and navigation pads have been designed and widely used for mobile devices now a days. Though miniature keyboards are used for mobile devices, they are difficult to use with speed because of their size.

A major problem with user interfaces is while using the Internet on mobile devices. Many of the web pages are designed for viewing them on large screens that is on our PCs. Because of the limited display size of the mobile devices, if we want to go through a web page we have to struggle a little. When we consider mobile phones while accessing any application we need go through a series of menus to reach the desired application, this consumes lot of interaction and time.

The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) is designing framework to design pages in such a way that, the web page will be opened in specific manner based on the capabilities of the device and also user preferences. If these two changes are bought into the usage of mobile devices, the user interfaces problem can be rectified to some extent.

What is a mobile application?

Mobile applications are add-on software for hand-held devices, such as smart phones and personal digital assistants (PDA). In the initial days when applications came into markets they were only for entertainment purpose like a game, an audio video player or something that turns the screen of our phone into (for example) a functioning piano keyboard.

Recently though, useful applications have become popular. These include programs for tracking expenses, foreign language phrase books, location detectors and currency converters. Other applications provide reviews of nearby restaurants, lists of local events, or audio walking tours of tourist sites, which require an Internet connection. The GPS application available in smart mobile phones helps us to reach our destinations in new places.

Music and video player related applications such as real player, smart movie player etc. can play all formats of audio and video data. One more interesting and thrilling entertainment application is games that made mobile devices more popular in smaller age groups.

In the month of July 2009, just one year from the time of their launch, 1.5 billion mobile applications were downloaded from the Apple Inc.'s website for iPhone or iPod Touch. This huge, unexpected growth has prompted more and more manufacturers to join the mobile application race.