We all know the fight going on between Flash and Apple over the iPad and iPhone……so it looked like we were going to see HTML5 as a potential  standard cross-platform for mobile and online potentially little faster then normal.  Blackberry 6 has brought WebKit and HTML5 to the world of mobile browsing, and Android keeps pushing the envelope with HTML5 evangelism even though they do have been a strong believer as well in Flash 10.1.

However, yesterdays news that Microsoft will not include HTML5 in IE7,IE8 might not have been the most strategic move even though there was the discussion of HTML5 in IE9.    In my opinion it is not HTML5 vs. Flash, but Developer vs. Platform we are talking about here. Now there is a very strong split between the camps supporting either HLML5 or Flash.    If Microsoft would have made the strong statement right away to move forward with HTML5, at least there would have been one platform for all that would bring mobile and online together in a very eloquent way today.  So Developer, it is just going to take time to get that consistency across all devices…..

In a diagram laid out by Tim OReily back in the end of last year, he showed the possibility of a unique convergence between Native and Browsing in 2010.

Well it looks like it is going to take more time.  Either Apple will come to grips and add Flash Support, or we need to wait on Microsoft to move a bit faster to integrate HTML5 support in existing browser platforms.

All and all, I believe in a couple years time we will see both platforms ubiquitous, so why all the fuss in 2010.  Why not make everything open and available for the web developer community and let them decide what is best.  At least this way we will not have inconsistencies for the end-users….or double to money and effort for developers

Maybe this will be outdated thinking after WWDC next week where Apple unveils iPhone 4.0 and the opportunity for iPhone Native Apps, but for some reason I do not so….

As Smartphone penetration continues to grow and grow, developers are going nuts with all the different platforms.  Google has thrown more and more fuel in the fire by creating a platform of fragmentation with all the different Android Versions.

Was this on purpose? Well after the Google I/O conference it really feels like that is the plan….. Create as much confusion as possible so that everybody reverts back to the Web and HTML5

Now look at Apple.  Fighting like hell with Adobe over Flash. Making it even more difficult for developers to decide which way to go?  Should I build a application in Flash and not see the distribution or should I go with the iPhone App.  Well Google threw another wrench in the game by saying that they are fully supportive of Flash and let this platform thrive on Android;  “We are Open, Apple isn’t” .

So where does leave developers as the full HTML5 integration is still not on all devices browsers yet, but it is pretty clear that if you build a great version of a mobile site instead of an app in HTML5 you get all the benefits of the web and also a great user experience.   Look at what Google has done with Gmail ( one of their Flagship applications besides Search).

There are many tools for web developers to create mobile sites.  It is clear in my mind the ones that bring a consistent web experience to mobile that incorporate application development tools and enablers to replace making a separate application is where the market it going. Many of the mobile site builder companies lost focus by trying to become everything  ( incorporating ad servers, creating separate content management systems) but what a great mobile site builder company needs to do is to just create tools for developers that gives then the best integration of HTML5 and mobile specific enablers and applications ( such as maps, etc….).

What I find interesting is that Adobe is driving HTML5 more then anybody else, and with the lastest release of Dreamweaver CS5. Designers can simultaneously create one-website with multiple views.  What ever happened to the Openscreen Project? Just make it HTML5!

The ADO team will be visiting NYC for Internet Week.

Last night at C’est Way Night Club there was a great showcase of BCMusic artists from Vancouver. Adaline was terrific with her emotional song ” Chemical Spill” and Dan Mangan with ” Robot” here are two of the four artists sites…. more to come…deployment coming soon….

It is exciting to be in Toronto for the Canadian Music Week and Fest….. I arrived today with Igor Faletski of Mobify.Me and we have started to have some of the fun of the festivities…. As ADO is sponsoring mobile as a consultant this year, we decided to do quick mobifications ( mobile-views) of some of the bands websites. We started today with Val Halla ( http://www.Valhallaonline.com). Here is the mobile view of the website…. just now getting ready to deploy.

Here is the website

…..and here is what the mobile view of the site looks like powered by Mobify.Me

ADO and Mobify.Me will be at the Royal York at Booth #3.  Come by and see us for a FREE 1-page Mobified Site for your Artist/Band/Venue.

Here are some visuals of  the Trews and their mobified site. As you can see below, the main site has been streamlined to the smaller view for mobile.

Now what is so unique about the mobification process with Mobify.Me is that these two views are the same site! This is what makes this so special.

For CanadianMusicFest there are the artists and venue listings on the festival website that have been mobified.  When you click on the website link in the CanadianMusicFest mobified landing page, the mobified site for the band is the site that you get from your device.  This auto-redirecting completely in mobile with all the right domains  http://m.thetrewsmusic.com unique.  Could you imaging if all 600+ Bands had all theirs sites mobile?

This year ADO had the great opportunity to be the mobile consultant for the event. We decided to first focus on the Canadian Music Fest with the CMW team by mobifying their website- see http://www.mobify.me and also added the text search functionality for any artist, venue at the event.  The way it works is to TEXT ” Venue or Artist Name” to 898 898 ( Standard-Rates apply, no additional cost service).   This service will only work in Canada, but it is a fully functional service for over 600 bands and 50 venues linking them back to the CanadianMusicfest.com mobile-view of the online website from your mobile phone. By texting “CMF” to 898 898, you will get a link to the home page of the mobile-view.

The mobify.me product is unique in that there is no mobile website created. The service works so that a web designer is in full control of the lay-out of the site when it is hit by different mobile browsers. This enables a one-web/two-view of the site ( Online view, and mobile view). We also added a mobile-tab page in the main Canadianmusicfest.com site to for users to get the mobile-view as a Text-push and also register for alerts during the event. We do not plan on having many alerts this year unless there is a sponsor. If you are interested in sponsoring, please contact Mary Simon’s Sponsorship@cmw.net.   Below is an example of the mobile site.