Firefox 3.5 passes IE7 as most widely used browser

Firefox 3.5 has recently overtaken Internet Explorer 7 as the most widely used browser according to StatCounter. The belief is that more people are switching to Firefox because of its added speed and better adherence to widely accepted web standards.

What does this mean for website patrons? As browsers that poorly adhere to web standards, such as Internet Explorer, decline in use developers are able to utilize more advanced techniques (such a CSS3). These techniques empower developers to improve the end user experience by making sites more interactive and responsive. It also insures that web pages will look more uniform across a wider range of browsers without having to use special Internet Explorer "hacks". By minimizing the time developers spend on special-case formatting and tweaking more time can be spent on optimization and other techniques which makes sites faster and easier to use.

First Scribe continues to monitor technology trends in order to provide the best possible end user experience on sites we design. Contact us today for more information.

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Website Designs for iPhone Still a Question

Our First Scribe technology team uses our blog to talk about the latest trends in our industry. We try to point out the technology that has an impact on web design, development and SEO topics (or will in the near future).

That being said, this post is in regards to an old topic --

Websites for the iPhone

Back in June of 2007 we posted about the iPhone's upcoming release and the concern that client websites were not iPhone compatible. Of course, most pieces of the website are compatible save for Flash and Javascript. But the question is, "Will your website render as well as it could?"

By the way, if you think the iPhone is passe, remember that it only launched 2 years ago!

Here we are 2 years later and we are still talking to people about their corporate website's appearance in an iPhone browser. One of the most common concerns raised during our design sales cycle is the impact of a mobile version of the site (or just the stylesheets).

Lately we discussed the topic in-house. After 2 years, don't you think this topic would go away?

Design concerns for iPhone is still highly relevant

That old blog post happened to be one of the first iPhone/website pages to hit the market so it rules in Google searches on said topic. That old page still produces a major amount of traffic for us.

Why? Because it's still relevant.

In fact, a visitor from Apple.com landed in our website today due to a search for "build a website iPhone compatible."

If they care (or one person there cares) and we see 2 years of traffic on this same topic - then it's still relevant.

So what do we do?

Develop your site correctly. Build a website with the content separate from the formatting. In doing so a developer can create a set of stylesheets specific to the browser technology. You are essentially building a website optimized for the iPhone. The content is the same but the formatting is served dynamically for the mobile visitor.


If a visitor arrives to your website with an iPhone, the website will send them a stylesheet with imagery optimized for their use.


One additional item - be nice to your mobile visitors. Make your pages short to alleviate excessive amounts of scrolling.

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Is Your Website Apple iPhone Compatible?

Internet technology and marketing trends change change rapidly. Twelve years ago Google was nary a thought in some one's head and now they eclipse the Gross National Product of most countries.

The next big wave is coming...

If you've yet to hear of an iPhone™ -- Then you better sit down.

On June 29, 2007 Apple Inc. is set to release the iPhone. It is a touch screen cellular phone that can surf the Internet at near broadband speeds. For all intents and purposes, they built a pocket-sized Macintosh with the handiest connection to the Internet yet.

What is the impact?

Only a small segment of Internet traffic will be surfing with any intensity from an iPhone for the foreseeable future. That being said, this technology will likely impact businesses in the next 6-9 months.

Most businesses rely on some portion of their business from one of the iPhone's target audience. You should reconsider your web presence if you sell goods to any of the following marketing (more obvious) segments:

1. Young people between the ages of 20 and 35
2. Affluent teenagers
3. The traveling "jet-set"
4. "Mobile" employees who do a portion of their work on a "work site"

Segments 1, 2, and 3 are obvious. These people tend to be the technological trend setters and the first to absorb the latest technology. You need to act quickly if this is your core market.

The problematic segment 4

Segment 4 is less obvious but it concerns us the most. Segments 1-3 are used to new technology so they will absorb a few glitches in trade for the coolest technology. Segment 4 folks generally represent trend followers so they may be forced into this new position and therefore they're not receptive to bugs.

Think in terms of the real estate at a home site with a client. They need information from an MLS listing and they need it now. The sites they visit on the way had better work on their phone.

Or possibly the remodeling contractor compiling estimates, the electrician ordering product, the surveyor updating maps, or the Over The Road trucker away from home.

All of these examples represent a demanding web visitor with a smaller tech. pain threshold - it needs to work. Some of them will have just received their new iPhone and they're under duress to integrate it into their routine.

Their FIRST VISIT to you make the difference between a frustrating departure or a lasting client relationship.

How do I get on board?

The iPhone has two primary issues when it comes to surfing the web (versus a desktop computer) :

1. Slower download speeds
2. Small screen resolution

Both of these issues can be mitigated by judicious use of style sheets to control the user experience with your website.

Download speeds - As broadband Internet becomes more prevalent, it becomes easier to forget that a solid portion of visitors are connecting at sub-broadband speeds. Remember that the latest and greatest is fine for certain markets but dial-up and mobile connection rates demand a fast website.

Screen resolution - The wide-screen iPhone has a screen resolution of 320 by 480 pixels. The interface allows you to zoom out to see an entire page and the touch-screen enables left to right scrolling.

We encourage you to develop your new iPhone web design in a way that senses the mobile visitor and shows them a website with as little scrolling as possible on their iPhone.

Make it work for the iPhone

Build your website to load fast and scroll less and your visitors will appreciate it. There are also new JavaScript plugins which will recognize the iPhone's mobile browser and serve a mobile version of the site.

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Apple Releases A Browser For Windows

Apple Inc. released a beta version of its Safari Web browser for Windows this week to compete with Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla FireFox.

"What we've got here is the most innovative browser in the world and the most powerful browser in the world," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said during his keynote speech at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference.

Unfortunately, we downloaded the beta version for Windows XP, Service Pack 2 and the browser was buggy enough that we decided to uninstall and wait for the next version. - Download Safari

Regardless of our initial experience, we are excited to see some competition in the browser world.

The new iPhone will enter the market at the end of June, '07 and Safari will undoubtedly be the browser of choice on that equipment. We suggest testing your site(s) in Safari and fully expect to see more Safari visits in your analytics as Macintosh, iPhone, and Safari for Windows grow in market share.

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Internet Explorer 7.0 Taking Hold

According to the latest at Dailytech (http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5712) Internet Explorer 7.0 is starting to take off as a prevalent browser of choice.

The latest browser usage figures show IE7 has achieved 100 million installations to date. This number should climb rapidly once Microsoft Windows Vista is released on January 30th with IE7 as the standard browser.

IE7.0 was released on October 18, 2006 and reached the major milestone January 8, 2007 - quickly eclipsing the user numbers of FireFox within 90 days of release.

The current browser statistics stated by DailyTech show Internet Explorer holding a full 87% of all visitors to U.S. websites in January:

1. Internet Explorer 6.0 - 62%
2. Internet Explorer 7.0 - 25%
3. FireFox 10.7%

We are currently testing all of our new designs on IE7 and FireFox 2.0. Compatibility issues appear to be minimal with the latest upgrades inherent in IE7.

Ken Kralick
Director of Search Engine Marketing

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