The "Web 2.0 Expo" show coming up March 31 - April 3 in San Francisco is expanding its relevance beyond the category for which it is named. Web 2.0 applications are now also mobile applications and Web developers are coveted by mobile platform vendors for their experience and insights.
For example Nokia who has exhibited at prior shows with the S60 group will make another appearance this year. Their pre-show announcements are notable for recruiting Web developers to publish on the Ovi platform through the store of the same name which Nokia announced is launching in May 2009.
It's increasingly looking like a race for hearts and minds not dissimilar to earlier pitched battles to win over desktop developers. The difference in mobile has been more fragmentation in hardware and OS combinations. The complexity of developing for so many versions had dampened the market for mobile games and applications until now. The mobile market rapidly matured in the past 18 months and after the shake-out it's a market where the 3 leaders that have emerged each have the 3 components that seem to be pre-requisites to attract developers: a popular hardware platform, native development platform for faster time-to-market and a distribution platform with fair rev share built-in.
If you're a U.S.-based commercial Web developer looking to get into mobile your choices look more manageable today and are probably between Nokia, Apple, and RIM based on the ecosystem they have built. (The RIM store has also been announced for May 2009.) There are many venerable mobile companies not in this list either because they are exiting the market (Sony Ericsson), retooling (Palm), relying on separate manufacturers to create memorable devices (Android, Win) or are pursuing a more focused approach such as only hardware or software (Samsung, LG, J2ME, Adobe) in the U.S.
So as Nokia, Apple and RIM ramp-up their outreach to Web developers, Web developers need to get ready with tools that will help them be first to market in their categories.
At Web 2.0 next week Keynote will be giving sneak peaks into a new on-demand mobile testing service that uses real devices. If you're a Web developer looking to break into mobile, stop by our booth to get an early look.
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