Sprint may have some of the world’s sophisticated smartphones in its portfolio, but for its next application initiative it is targeting something decidedly more basic than the Android operating system: the humble mobile browser. Using Openwave’s Integra platform, Sprint is opening up its phones’ browsers for developers to create any number of applications and value added services that can run on any device regardless of platform. It’s an approach the wireless industry worldwide has warmed up to under the Wholesale Application Community initiative, but Sprint appears to be taking it one step further, launching its own app store and developers program.
Building apps for the browser has a lot of advantages: apps don’t have to be designed for a specific OS, run-time environment or even for a smartphone. As long as phone supports a decent browser, it can run the app. But building to browser might also mean building to the least common denominator. Not every feature phone, nor every mobile browser can support many of the functions an developer wants to build into their application.
As the HTML5 specification gains traction, a lot of the browser’s limitations will fall by the wayside, allowing any device to support more sophisticated features like video playback. But until that time arrives, browser development will likely be limited to more basic apps that can’t access the full set of device application programming interfaces at smartphone platform would provide.