Deserving of a separate post I think – those mobile browser stats show one important thing:
Nobody cares about the web on mobile phones.
The top 3 mobile browsers added up to a paltry 0.16% of web traffic, which for most Websites is approximately nothing. Of course if you are Google it’s a lot of pages, and they do have a mobile version.
Interestingly, if you look at the full stats, the iPhone has over four times the share of browsers than Windows 95.
But it all means that the whole mobile web thing is essentially irrelevant right now, though the growth is strong in the US/Europe.
However, we should recall that the iPhone and other newer phones have full web browsers, so there is no need to make pda versions of those web pages going forward.
“However, we should recall that the iPhone and other newer phones have full web browsers, so there is no need to make pda versions of those web pages going forward.”
This is the biggest mistake that most people make, just because the phone has a browser that supports the full web doesn’t mean that a site shouldn’t be redesigned for the smaller device. People want different information when they are mobile and want to get it quickly. Sites should be designed with this in mind, pages should be tuned to get the information out as quickly as possible. Trade Me would be a great example of a site where you _could_ use the normally site on an iPhone but the experience would be so much better if the site was optimized for the phone.
So saying that there is no need to make a pda version is very short sighted and will only stunt the growth of the mobile web.
I’d slightly disagree, those browsers may look the same as their desktop counterparts, but there are definitely different in terms of the html/css/javascript they support. There’s also the interface factor, your app/site may work well on a desktop at 1024×768, but if I’ve got to zoom in and out, and scroll a lot to get content it’s going to put me off.