Mobile Web Standards (OMA, BONDI, GSMA OneAPI, HTML5)

There are a number of bodies that develop Web-related standards and specifications. Of these, the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) is the main international standards organization for Web standards. Its work includes both desktop Web standards, as well as those for mobile use. In the mobile arena, the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) specifies mobile service enablers to ensure interoperability, and with respect to mobile browsing, has developed a number of specifications and recommendations, which are discussed in a subsequent section.

A relatively new group, Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP), has the goal of simplifying the customer experience for mobile data services and improving mobile device security. OMTP does not develop standards, but does issue requirements and specifications such as BONDI, which is discussed in a subsequent section. As a member of W3C, OMTP can make submissions to W3C activities that affect BONDI.

The GSMA (GSM Association), representing operators and mobile ecosystem providers, develops technical recommendations including OneAPI, which is discussed in a subsequent section. GSMA collaborates with OMA and OMTP BONDI. OMA will develop specifications for OneAPI.

The Parlay Group develops telecom APIs, and has worked jointly with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), Parlay, and the Third Generation Partnership Program (3GPP) to develop the Parlay X 3.0 specifications, which define a wide range of telecom functions that entities can access using Web Services. The Parlay X specifications are now managed by OMA.

The OpenAjax Alliance has the goal of successful adoption of open and interoperable Ajax-based Web technologies. The alliance provides feedback on projects such as BONDI.

Open Mobile Alliance Browsing

The OMA based its browsing specifications on Internet technology, but limits profiles for constrained resources and user interfaces of mobile devices. For instance, it assumes reduced memory, processing power, bandwidth, and user-input methods. It defines application-level protocols, semantics, syntax, content formats, user-agent behavior and use of hypermedia transfer protocols.

The foundational elements of OMA Browsing include:

• WAP Architecture (with or without proxy)
  
• XHTML Mobile Profile
• ECMAScipt Mobile Profile (including Document Object Model), providing for local application scripting capability (akin to JavaScript)
• Wireless Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
• Binary XML (efficient communications)
• OMA Push (asynchronous server-initiated content delivery)
• XMLHttpRequest (forthcoming in OMA Mobile Browsing 2.4, an important Ajax method)
  

For further details, refer to:

OMA Browsing v2.2: http://www.openmobilealliance.org/Technical/release_program/browsing_v2_2.aspx

OMA Browsing v2.3:
http://www.openmobilealliance.org/technical/release_program/browsing_v23.aspx

OMA Browsing v2.4
http://www.openmobilealliance.org/technical/release_program/browsing_v24.aspx

BONDI

BONDI is a browser and widget specification developed by the Open Mobile Terminal Platform in collaboration with W3C's WebApps working group. The core members of this group are operators and include AT&T, Hutchison 3G, Orange, Telefonica, Telenor, TIM Telecom Italia, T-Mobile and Vodafone. It is actively supported by a wide range of network and device vendors.

BONDI standardizes access to a wide range of device features such as local-application invocation, messaging (SMS, MMS, e-mail), local file I/O, phone status (e.g., signal strength), contacts, location and camera functions.

Due to security concerns, JavaScript applications don't normally have access to these functions. BONDI addresses this concern by enforcing security through an elaborate structure of policies, certificates and certification. Independent testing labs will test and verify BONDI Web services and widgets for security and functionality in order that certificates can be issued.

Version 1.0 was released in June 2009. The current BONDI reference implementation, a collaborative effort of OMTP members, supports Windows Mobile 6.1 and can be used to develop widgets. It supports two execution environments:

1. Aplix's WebVM: a widget runtime environment which has been updated for BONDI compliance
2. Windows Mobile IE, through an BONDI ActiveX extension implementing the BONDI API's usable in the browser

Information, SDK and reference implementation are available at http://bondi.omtp.org.

The following figure shows the BONDI architecture.

BONDI Architecture

GSMA OneAPI

The GSM Association has an initiative to define a commonly supported API for mobile operators to expose network information to Web (and other) application developers called OneAPI. These APIs will use both RESTful and Web Services interfaces. The basis is for this work is Parlay X as defined by 3GPP in TS29.199. The first APIs to be implemented will be for messaging and location functions.

The benefit for developers will be that their applications will be able to obtain information in a consistent fashion across multiple operators that support OneAPI. Applications leveraging OneAPI can operate either on a server or on a mobile device, though most applications will favor server implementations.

GSMA OneAPI

The following table summarizes the first phase of OneAPI functions.

Table 6: First Phase of OneAPI Functions

Further information is available at https://gsma.securespsite.com/access/default.aspx

HTML 5

HTML 5 (http://dev.w3.org/html5/spec/Overview.html) is the next version of HTML and is currently in development with the first public working draft of the specification available in January 2008 and completion expected around 2012. Browser vendors, including mobile browser vendors, are already implementing some HTML 5 features as they are defined.

One objective of HTML 5 was to create a framework for much more capable applications than previously possible, hence the original name of the specification work, which was "Web Applications 1.0." HTML 5 is being developed as joint effort of W3C and the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WhatWG).

Some key features of HTML 5 include:

• Better page structuring through new elements (e.g., section, header, footer, article, nav and dialog).
• A canvas element with 2D drawing API for dynamic graphics and animation.
• Direction provision for audio and video content.
• Client-side persistent storage (key/value and SQL).
• Offline application APIs.
• Editing and drag-and-drop APIs.
• Network Web Socket API.
• Cross-document messaging.

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