This whole discussion came up when we were discussing the merits of trying to use XML socket connections and FL 2.1. Suddenly one of us asked the very good question of how many phones out there actually can do this. The answer is 7 Nokia models on the market in Denmark. We think. And that last thought is the reason for this post...So what is the truth - and why is it so hard to come by?
Here we have tried to compare some different sources of information about FL implementation on different OEM's and different models. As the basis we have used Bill Perrys overview chart, the OEMS (Nokia and Sony Ericsson) webpages and WURFL.
As is plainly obvious there is no truth. If you compare for instance Bills otherwise really cool FL penetration chart with the official Sony Ericsson charts on the webpage there is absolutely no connection between them. And the same goes for every other source of data out there. There seems to be alot of half truths flying about...
And this puzzles me. Because as I see it it's not as if this is state secrets? Or rocket science? It's a fairly limited list of data... And there has to be some Adobe/Nokia/SE databases out there that contain the absolute thruth and it should be possible to deliver this to all of us developers who need this information in the best, most stable manner as possible like a junkie needs a fix.
As I detailed in a previous post penetration is one of the really tough things we have to deal with at the moment - and generating more doubt for us in this area just makes this task of convincing clients to go with an FL solution that much more daunting...
My point being that it's hard enough because of the carriers reluctance to try new things and the OEM's reluctance to help push any one particular technology. This is something that should not have to be an issue. The complete list of exactly what phones that are live today and exactly what FL capabilities they have should be in some database somewhere and we could all benefit from having this one source of data publicly available as it would be very convincing towards our new clients. I am not sure if this is something Adobe would have available - but they should have in my opinion. Maybe I am wrong?
The effect of this is staggering. Or at least could be. As we develop all sorts of cool redirection mechanisms to ensure users get great experiences based on what handset they have we could end up with a user having just bought the brand new Nokia whatever model with FL 3 and all sorts of coolness and he would end up being redirected to a really boring unengaging WAP experience because we do not have access to the most current data and probably will never have unless someone starts sharing this info in an intelligent dynamic way with the world...
So I am hoping we could see some responses to this post from Adobe, Nokia or Sony Ericsson. And if there is a good reason why this is so hard to accomplish I would love to hear it so I can go on ranting about other more constructive stuff :-)
