Commentary

Beyond the Browser

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Roaming through the post-Web world of networked computing

In the 20 years since British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee introduced the world's first browser, effectively ushering in the era of the World Wide Web, the simple software application has dominated networked computing as we know it. And even as software giants from Microsoft to Apple to Mozilla and Google continue to battle for dominance in the browser market, a new generation of devices, platforms and services has quietly been changing the way people connect with computer-enabled content, and with each other.

"The idea that traditional Web browsing is dying is true," says Wendy Jenkins, president of Key Ingredient, an Austin, Texas-based cooking and recipe service that once was Web-only, but now has its own browser-free e-reader for cooks to use in the kitchen. "People are a little overwhelmed by everything that comes from a Web browser and are sort of migrating to what's really important to them."

Browsers are facing challenges from every direction, even from inside. Microsoft, Google and Mozilla are all struggling to deploy new technologies with names like html5 that promise to add powerful new features to the Web-browsing experience, including 3-D imaging and new interactive functionality. But developers are hesitant to adopt these tools on any meaningful scale: The result has been a rapid fragmentation of the browser market, which is driving up the cost and complexity of developing for the Web.

"Now, not only do we have to worry about how [these languages] work on PCs and desktop browsers," says Rob Gonda, global lead for creative technology at SapientNitro, "we have to worry about how they work in mobile browsers. Every browser interprets things differently."

Meanwhile, a new generation of portable devices are coming to market that either minimize or avoid browsers entirely. That's significant, because for most of the people in the world, their first networked computing device is not a PC, or even a Mac, but their smartphone or other handheld device.

The star of this show is, of course, the Apple iPad. Though it nominally supports Apple's Safari browser, the tablet computer severely limits even that browser's functionality by not supporting popular software, like Adobe's Flash, and by driving users toward its controlled-app, non-browser environments.

Amazon's family of Kindle e-readers, meanwhile, offers what amounts to a fully integrated Web experience, including magazines, games and news, but with little browser support.

Beyond those examples is a new generation of intelligent devices from start-ups like the Demy, a digital recipe reader ($200), to a purpose-built laptop computer called litl ($399) that cleverly offer browser-like features through simple on-screen apps. And then there are major appliance makers like Whirlpool and Samsung, which are offering everything from connected washing machines to smart refrigerators, without the use of traditional browsers.

For marketers trying to navigate this post-browser world, communicating with the modern digital consumer is becoming less about a pure Web experience and more about managing an avalanche of multiple touch points offered on multiple platforms.

"If you want to be selling effectively today, you need to be developing on many formats," says Erika Brown, executive vice president for corporate strategy at Frost & Sullivan, an international research firm that focuses on emerging advertising.

"The traditional Web browser is part of what you do, but not the only part."

Browsers Aren't Smart on Smartphones

The greatest threat to Web browsers comes from the next generation of app-enabled smartphones. Sure, plenty of traffic still flows across the Internet via the mobile Web, but it also limits the functionality of browsing, while amping up the features and performance of apps developed specifically for those devices.

"If you want to build a game or have an app with a neat UI, multimedia, or 3-D in it, you're much better off going down the native [app] route," says Alex Caccia, president of UK-based Ideaworks Labs, a technology and game development company. "You get more flexibility to build the app you want."

All the major wireless carriers - Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile - are pushing devices that rely less on browsing and more on apps. A prime example is the new HTC ThunderBolt from Verizon. Priced at around $199, the unit has Verizon's 4G LTE connectivity and a bright 4.3-inch LCD screen that guarantees speed and graphical prowess.

Using a Web-based word processor like Google Apps on the ThunderBolt's mobile browser, users get a fast and portable way to manipulate documents. Editing is basic, spell check is limited and the tool is mostly about displaying content rather than manipulating it. Compare that to a common word processing app like DataViz's Documents To Go, which comes preinstalled on the ThunderBolt. While nowhere near a full word processor, Documents To Go offers a surprisingly robust document management experience that includes full manipulation of documents, spreadsheets, presentations and more.

"What makers are trying to do here is to offer users the best possible blend of a mobile experience," says Sue Forbes, vice president of apps and experiences for Motorola Mobile Devices, which develops the company's small business products. "And in most cases, the best way to do that is with a dedicated app that developers can control."

Other promising devices are coming to market that have little need for a browser. The Motorola ATRIX 4G, available now from AT&T for $199, sports a powerful dual-core processor and a unique family of accessories, including one called a Lapdock. This plug-in keyboard-like device provides laptop features, but at a fraction of the cost. Motorola went as far as developing its own Linux-based user interface for Web access. Sure, the software supports a limited version of the Mozilla Firefox browser, but it is not the original Firefox browser found on the larger Web.

"I think the Motorola ATRIX is a true game-changer for the enterprise world and the business traveler," says Kyle Sandler, editor-in-chief of thedroidguy.com. "In some cases the ATRIX combined with the Web-top accessory will replace a laptop or desktop all together."

These Tablets Aren't Hard to Swallow

The new generation of tablet computers is also impacting the prominence of the browser for consumers. Tablet computers are, by far, the fastest-growing sector of the hardware market. Gartner, the Stamford, Conn.-based technology research firm with a practice in mobile computing, predicts a whopping 181 percent growth in sales in 2011 over 2010 - which works out to a total of 54.8 million tablets. Besides the Apple iPad, which famously doesn't support Flash, a flock of new tablets with names like the Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, lg G-Slate, and Acer Iconia all seek to push users away from the Web and toward controlled, purpose-built apps. Two emerging media apps, Pulse and Flipboard, illustrate the effect. Both take standard news content and render it either as a gorgeous newsreader that integrates once-strictly-for-browser content from CNN, Fox News, Gawker and others, or it curates stories based on what your friends on Facebook and Twitter are sharing with you. Both take browser-based content and devilishly "de-browser" it.

More complex types of content like mobile games, including popular titles like Rovio's Angry Birds, openly reject the browser entirely. They can only be run in a non-browser, natively coded app. The practice is followed by most major game developers, including Electronic Arts and Square Enix, and looks to become the standard practice in the video game industry.

"It does boil down to the developer's choice," says Caccia of Ideaworks. "But if you want to stand out from the crowd, it is a good decision to make."

Avoiding the browser helps equipment makers as well. Canadian-based Research in Motion, best known for its popular-but-aging BlackBerry smartphones, is rolling out its new BlackBerry PlayBook in mid-2011. The unit features a proprietary operating system, being made by fellow Canadian firm GNX. The PlayBook features a slick, tightly coded black interface and a unique, module-based approach for displaying Web content. Early demos of BlackBerry-based apps like Poynt offer content like news, weather, geotargeted information and other data in a controlled environment that eliminates the need for the browser.

"The Blackberry PlayBook not only looks to be a solid tablet contender, but it actually seems to be the first real sign that rim can compete in the game of modern-day mobile operating systems," says Joanna Stern, Engadget reviews editor. "GNX looks incredibly promising, and certainly seems to give rim the flexibility to craft an OS with loads of eye candy and robust functionality." The dump-the-browser ethic is spreading to start-ups, too. A company called LITL, based in Boston, is making a portable computing device the company dubs a "Webbook." It relies on "channels" that are essentially apps that support traditional computing functions including alarm clocks, TV, music, radio and other forms of content. The unit uses Wi-Fi to connect to the Web, and while it includes a version of Google Chrome inside, the channels or apps are the basis of the home screen for the device that simplify and do away with the browser-based experience. "It has very different parameters versus a conventional Web experience in a browser," says James Gardner, vice president of marketing for LITL. "We thought, 'How can the Web still be relevant, still be fun and still be useful but with a different reality?' That's driven us to accessing the best of the Web, whether it's video or RSS feeds, but presenting it in a very different mode." Content providers also are smelling opportunity in hastening the demise of the browser. Never mind that almost every major content producer from The New York Times to GG is betting heavily on a post-browser ethic. The News Corp. went so far as to create an app-only news brand called The Daily on the iPad.

And even start-ups now see the browser as a low-margin place to try to do business. Take New York-based e-reading service Copia, which gives users the freedom to download and experience e-books from multiple platforms, from the iPad to Android phones to Windows Phone 7. Seth Kaufman, vice president of merchandising and marketing at Copia, says the company understands the importance of reaching all potential customers and sees the benefits of mobile apps.

"Apps can circumvent portability and connectivity limitations," says Kaufman. "Once you've downloaded content to your app, you don't need to be wired to use it, so that's a win for users. We've used our app to sync to the Web, as well. So users can take notes on a device, but they can also access them on thecopia.com Web site."

The Rest of the Connected Device Pack

Remarkably, all that is just the start of an avalanche of devices that step away from browsers in one form or another. The recently released Barnes & Noble Nook Color stands out among the e-reader pack because of its 7-inch color touch screen, magazine and newspaper access, social media capabilities and a catalog of apps, all for $249 - half the cost of an iPad. And, though the unit supports the stock Android browser, the experience centers around tightly coded, non-browser-based software that launches from a home screen. TVs are also openly embracing a new generation of browser-free, purpose-built apps. Samsung, LG, Sony, Vizio and other makers now support wireless Web connections and sophisticated software that eschew the need to browse the Web for content. These app-enabled TVs are supported by the digital content elite: Netflix, Blockbuster On Demand, Pandora, VUDU, Hulu Plus and Yahoo. And the trend is to make these experiences less Web-browser-like rather than more.

"It's basically a matter of convenience to incorporate some connected feature sets to the TV," says Rey Roque, vice president of marketing at Westinghouse Digital, the Orange, Calif.-based TV maker. Roque says sets are evolving to offer complex services that bridge the gap between PCs and TVs. But for now, the trend is about making the TV experience unique. "Connected TVs need to make sure that they don't try to re-create the PC experience," Roque says.

Steve Sechrist, senior analyst at Insight Media, sees the connected TV market as a bastion of confusion between what media providers want and what consumers want. He expects the next few years to be trial-and-error to find what works best. "Like with the light bulb, there were 10,000 attempts and it was 10,001 that got us the incandescent bulb," Sechrist says.

A similar evolution is happening in the printer world. The hp Photosmart eStation not only has a high-quality photo-printer but also a full-color, 7-inch detachable touchscreen - really an Android tablet. The unit yet again comes loaded with apps like Yahoo and Facebook, has e-reader functionality that lets users look at books, magazines and newspapers from Barnes & Noble and it does it all without a browser.

Even home appliances are getting in the kill-the-browser business. New products from Whirlpool, LG and Samsung do boast Web connections - but are almost entirely browser-free. Samsung is expected to offer a new Internet-enabled refrigerator in May that has a touchscreen above the ice dispenser that users can tweet from. No browser needed, thank you very much. lg has connected washers and dryers that can be controlled from your smartphone. Whirlpool is partnering with energy management company Tendril to create a platform that connects consumers, appliances and energy providers in an effort to cut energy costs.

Swedish company Electrolux also plans to release washers and dryers with networked features. "We considered developing our smart appliances using traditional Web standards," says Robert A. McCoy, director of North American electronics for Electrolux. "But we felt that developing our own independent software from scratch made more sense. We wanted to offer a better appliance experience before we offered a better Web experience."

Even thermostats, once considered the inevitable future of the browser, are developing sophisticated screens with little browser-enabled functionality. Energy-control giant Trane, which is a unit of Ireland-based Ingersoll Rand, is shipping a residential thermostat slated for release in 2011. The unit features a 7-inch HD color touchscreen that provides apps like a calendar, weather and help managing energy use. And, yet again, little browser support.

"Today's consumers are looking for a more interactive, personalized experience when it comes to technology, especially when it comes to energy management solutions for the home," says Tim Storm, a residential solutions product manager for Trane's parent company, Ingersoll Rand.

Where We Go from Here

Is surfing the Web, say, via Windows Explorer actually going to go away? Of course not. The vast majority of Web traffic still comes via the browser. So it will be critical for any marketer who hopes to have an effective digital strategy to have an effective Web-based, browser-based solution at hand.

But the fact also is, most of those browser-based experiences will not be at the leading edge of how users consume digital content. That cutting edge now clearly belongs to simpler, more streamlined, purpose-built apps, which make the browser-based Web as we know it just part of the marketing mix.

And probably not the most interesting part.

"Technologies such as mobile devices, social networks and cloud computing are transforming commerce and unifying the channels where consumers interact with your brand," says Ron Brien, vice president of marketing at Venda, a major ecommerce firm. "Today's 'always on' consumers want to compare, share, buy and receive anywhere anytime. Brands need to meet their consumers where they are - on Web sites, on social networks or on their mobile devices."

The trick will be balancing what message works well on the browser-based Web and which forms of communication work for apps and devices.

"It is essential to understand your target consumers and communicate with one voice across all their preferred channels," says Brien. "Armed with this understanding, marketers can optimize their marketing mix to connect with buyers where they prefer engaging with your brand."

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