Keitai

So i’ve noticed a strange thing about mobile emulators. The added context is great but sometimes it’s just not enough. Then again—sometimes it’s too much…

Mobile emulator 1 (two weeks ago)

• How it looked: Flash Lite application (swf) embedded on a web page directly a background image of a Nokia 6630. So to the user, it looks like a handset with an an application running in it.
• How it worked: Users would navigate the app. using their arrow, pgUp, pgDwn, number keys + the Enter key on their computer keyboard.
• Disconnect: Looks like a phone, but doesn’t behave like one! (Can’t use the handset keypad)

Mobile emulator 2 (last week)

• How it looked: Flash Lite application (swf) embedded on a web page by itself. Just a lonely little 176 x 208 rectangle
• How it worked: Same as week 1.
• Disconnect: Doesn’t look like a phone, doesn’t work like a phone. Looks like a web based Flash movie—but doesn’t behave like one (Can’t use the mouse!)

Mobile emulator 3 (this week)

• How it looks: Flash Lite application (swf) embedded within a swf, embedded on a web page. Looks like an app. running in a handset (and/or the Adobe CDK emulator :-).
• How it works: Users navigate the app. using their handset keypad. Hold on—that explanation doesn’t really do it justice. Users use their mouse to click the handset keys embedded into the browser to navigate.
• Disconnect: Sort of like a handset, sort of like a Flash web app.

The funny thing is, being able to click on the handset keys is initially great—but I miss being able to navigate without looking.
Example: A few days back Bryan asked me to look at something new he’d added to one of the apps. I sat down, starting clicking around with my mouse, but couldn’t figure out what was new. (enter aggravated Bryan who doesn’t understand why I missed the big change he’d made) Turns out, I was too busy looking from my mouse cursor, to the handset keys, then back up to the app. to catch all the nuances of the content.
You see one of the reasons mobile applications are so fun (I think), is that—when well built—you can almost use them while looking at the screen. Like your thumb is a remote control. There’s almost a rhythm to it.
Make the controls mouse-based and you loose all that.
So emulators are great for testing but you discover a whole new piece of content when you get it on to the phone. Kind of neat really…