How to choose a browser
Gone are the days where we all lived with the default install, the internet is where many of us spend the majority of our time these days so user an interface (browser) that connects how you want it to is important. Consider it a bit like choosing a house or an office, you want to make sure the look and feel are right and then you want to make sure you can do everything you want to within it. Remember its name too. Browser suggests almost a casual approach and indeed the best browsers operate without you even thinking or noticing the intricate processing it is carrying out. Yet, the choice is massive and while many of the features cross-over, how they interact with other programmes, how fast they are and how powerful they are all varies and with add-ons and plug-ins it is very possible to completely personalise your browser for just your needs, but you need to understand what browser has the best basic set-up for you before you begin that journey. The 2012 Internet Browser Software Product Comparison from TopTenReviews.com isn’t the only site to offer its opinions, but is one of the best in terms of presenting you the information and a comparison chart of what, does this and what can’t do that. As with any good comparison site there are benchmarks and ticks alongside the relevant features and it is only when looking at the list of the top ten browsers that you begin to realise how different they all are. Like many working in this industry I have a selection of browsers installed on each of my machines – my smartphones too. This used to be for design reasons so I could immediately see how the odd tweak responded in different browsers. Nowadays, it is as much to do with functionality. For example, I am a big fan and advocate of podcasts, yet Gooogle Chrome doesn’t always like the standard .xml RSS feeds many of these use. For that Firefox is best, enabling the feed to load correctly and letting me click straight through on the link for the podcast to play straight out in my browser. Now I am sure there is a plug-in for Chrome that would probably fix that, but I know Firefox works and trust it, so for me familiarity wins over hunting for possibly a more effective solution. The same is true of my mobile devices. I’ve designed in Flash, it was great, but WAS is the operative word. I’ve not designed in flash for years, but too many people still do. Especially those embedding video. So the default browsers on my smartphone and tablets can’t read them. Frustrating! Yet, I know that a minority browser like Skyfire (One of four browsers installed on each of my tablets and smartphones) is clever enough to identify flash on a site and open the video in a separate window. Hey presto, I can watch almost any Flash video components on the move. It’s not perfect however, in fact it is rather clumsy and it doesn’t look great either, but it works. Again functionality wins. So while this blog may be entitled how to choose a browser, I guess it probably should be browsers plural. You see each of us is different and each of our needs is different each day too. So unless you are a whizz at coding for a specific browser the chances are that your every need may not be met by a single option. It is as much about trial and error as it is research but certainly the comparison chart above is a great starting place for those looking to find the browser that best fits their internet use. What is your browser of preference? Have you found any great browser comparison tools?
Ifttt may make your life easier
The home page for IFTT simply reads: “Put the internet to work for you” It’s so simple, you think somebody must have invented this before, but to be honest this is the first time we’ve come across IFTT or any of its ilk and we love it. So what is IFTT? Well IFTT stands for “If This Then That”. In programming terms its the very basic function that makes the internet, applications, operating systems and the like, all work. Now with the help of APIs and some clever tweaks it is being put to use on the internet and internet driven applications. So if everytime you take a photo with your phone app you want it published to Twitter and stored in your online drive you can. The very steps that might take you an hour to manually complete, you can automate within seconds. You just use IFTT to set up the triggers and hey presto no more worrying about human error meaning a missed-out step. It is all based around tasks, triggers and actions. Simply choose the channel – Facebook, Google Calendar, etc and follow the step-by-step instructions. You can turn actions on or off, edit them or delete them. Yet its value is in the fact that if you set it up once correctly, you may never need to worry again, you can automate the ‘knock-on’ actions. You’ve probably been using similar tools without knowing. Plug-ins that automatically tweet your latest blog, automating Facebook comments to be tweeted etc. Yet IFTTT goes even further. You can even include the weather. We’ve just set-up an auto-tweet to send out a message to our followers when the weather is predicted to drop below 5 degrees C. So like other tools you can schedule your tweets but with IFTTT that needn’t be based on time, it can be based on various other conditions. What’s more you don’t need a smartphone to use it, just a plain, simple browser. We are only just getting to grips with IFTTT ourselves but what we’ve seen so far we love. We’re sure there will be many clones to follow. Life just got easier. Have you used IFTTT? Can you recommend anything similar?
Is Facebook set to unify platforms?
As more and more applications are developed and consumers continue to be led by social media, could it be that instead of HTML5 driven websites, 2011 will become all about developing enhanced presences on Facebook for your business? It seems online retailer ASOS certainly have that thought in their mind. They have announced that they will launch a fully transactional Facebook shop, allowing people to buy from its entire range from within the social network. It is thought that the ASOS Facebook app will be one of the first, certainly from a big brand, that will allow people to buy directly from a brand without leaving Facebook. In the past Facebook apps have been used as a shop-front for sales, directing customers interested in products through to the brand’s main website to carry out transactions. This however, will lower clicks, improving conversion rates and also keep customers within the same social network environment. With changes in data usage and charges by mobile phone networks in the past year, the mobile shopping experience has probably not progressed as quickly as many may have expected. However, with many of those same networks including ‘free unlimited’ usage of applications like Facebook, transactions within a Facebook store like this could technically be free to customers, removing one of the biggest barriers to mobile ecommerce take-up. ASOS says it will have its entire stock – which is ever growing at the rate of 1,300 products each week – on the Facebook store. The app will also allow for ‘peer-review’ of products with like buttons and comments being enabled to assist customers in making their purchasing decisions. As a customer of ASOS from its very early beginnings I am for one am certainly looking forward to seeing how it works and if it will change the way people do ecommerce. Would you consider buying via a Facebook application? Would you consider using a Facebook application to sell your goods?