Featured Post:
2010 predictions: iPhone OS version 4.0 features
As 2009 draws to a close, its a good time to start preparing for upcoming trends and advances in the web and mobile space. The first in a series, this post is all about what should be the buzz of March 2010: the iPhone OS 4.0 announcement. Read the story »
Why the iPad’s user agent string presents a problem
The initial impressions are just about done flowing in on Apple's new tablet device, the iPad. Developers in the iPhone dev program were granted access to the new development SDK immediately after launch, but one area that is still largely in the dark is web development for the iPad.
The iPad simulator included in the SDK does not include mobile Safari, however twitter user yassiryaha managed to figure out the browser's user agent string, probably by applying a UIWebView within a test app and tracing out the value. User agent strings, for those who don't know, are effectively an identification to the page being loaded to say what browser is loading it, it's security level, and other useful information for developers to serve up their content as best as possible for the content consumer's platform.
The user agent string for the iPad, and why it matters, is after the break.
NOTE: Edited after reader Andrew provided more accurate - and more consistent - information.
Website management the mobile way
Over the past two years, mobile apps have redefined the way we are productive on mobile devices. And as more and more apps flood the market, more niche needs are being filled by developers desperately seeking to find that killer app that hasn't been developed yet. The net result is a real win for the end user - more apps designed to provide mobile methods or streamline existing methods of interaction with various services. In this post, I'll be detailing how nine applications on my iPhone have changed the way in which i manage my web presence, all for under $20 cost in app purchases.
Google real-time search accelerating crawls?
Google's recently launched real-time search functionality, which pulls data from a number of real time data sources, including the now publicly accessible Twitter firehose, is enhancing search functionality across the board. It seems that hyperlinks contained inside the microblog posts are being immediately indexed, and in turn is speeding up the time it takes for new content to appear not just in the live feed, but in the actual crawled index as well. Try doing some searches on Google for the title of any new blog posting from a major source, and note that the crawled index lists the post within minutes at most.
The real time feed could cause far reaching benefits for all of Google's services over the next few months as the big G continues their roll out. It's a safe bet that as this technology matures in the coming months we'll see further improvements that are thanks to the accessibility of real time data.
Google real-time search is live
Google real-time search results
Announced on Monday (see Mashable's post on the topic), Google's real-time search functionality appears to now be fully live. Try some timely topical searches (Tiger is a safe bet these days) and you should see comments, posts, and articles streaming in as they are created. As this technology matures this has the potential to blur or completely erase the line that exists between live feed based informational searches and traditional crawl based searches, and the reach of microblogs suddenly becomes that much more vast as well. Google's video demo after the break.
Jeff dePascale is a web and mobile applications professional based in Fairfield County, CT.
