N • E • W • S

 August 2008
 

 RISCOScode on the iPhone 

 
This summer's top computing event is the launch of Apple's 3G iPhone. Released to the public on July 11^th, many shops promptly sold out. Offered at a fraction of its predecessors price and with new features attracting rave reviews, the stampede for the latest 'must have' was somewhat predictable. In spite of the supply problems, this webmaster has a 3G iPhone.
 
Much effort has gone into ensuring that this website displays well on a variety of desktop browsers, including NetSurf, Safari, and Internet Explorer. The big question as I powered up my new iPhone was, "Is it any good as a web browser and, if so, how well does it render RISCOScode ?"
 
The iPhone is far more powerful as a browser than I'd have thought possible on a 7.5 by 5cm screen. The device has a very slick method of zooming in and out of webpages using a thumb-with-finger "touch and spread" technique. It's clever. To my delight, the generous font size used on RISCOScode made this site easy to read.
 
Having a colourful surround on each page that you touch to turn to the next makes it easy to breeze through this webzine on the iPhone. On sites with several links close together it's difficult to touch the correct link, even after zooming in.
 
The one disappointment is that the iPhone can't play GIF animations that exceed 2MB. This sounds generous but is the limit AFTER decoding. In practice, the modest GIF animation on this issue's front page is well beyond what the iPhone can handle.
 
To recap : a website built using 100% RISC OS software such as WebWonder, ArtWorks, MoreDesk, Zap, Paint, Draw, and BBC BASIC displays better than most on the latest mobile device. RISC OS does cutting edge.
 
Tragically, many websites are designed around a font size that's too small for easy iPhone viewing. You can view them but it's a faff. If mobile phone web browsing takes off, they will come under pressure to rethink the assumptions embedded in their designs.
 
Worldwide, Apple are predicted to shift 14 million 3G iPhones by the end of the year. Webmasters need to take the iPhone seriously and adjust their sites accordingly.

There's something Dutch about the latest issue of Archive....