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Mobile Computing
and Wireless Standards
Mobile Data User
Interface, Globalization, Internationalization and Localization Standards
On the desk top,
Microsoft has indeed set defacto world-wide standards for presenting data on the screen.
In fact, user interface in Windows95, 98 and now Windows XP
represents those standards. However, in the case of
handheld devices, including small screen PDAs and smart phones, there
are virtually no standards. The
problem is far more difficult because of different form factors,
screen sizes, number of real or virtual keyboards (or lack of),
additional forms of input (pen, grafitti, speech recognition) and how
operating systems support these user input and output presentation
requirements. It is fair to stress that as of early 2002), there did not exist
similar user interface standards as we have on the desk top.
Of course, there is a
paramount need to set some standards so that different manufacturers can design
hardware, software and applications in a consistent manner. Some phone
manufacturers have started thinking about it. Nokia has talked about
it and done some preliminary groundwork. Now there is an
organization called LISA that is trying to set standards for
localization and establish
best practices in this area.
The Localization
Industry Standards Association (LISA)
LISA was founded in 1990
as a non-profit association, LISA is the premier organization for the
(GIL) Globalization, Internationalization, and Localization business
communities. Consisting of over 200 leading IT companies, solutions
providers, and an increasing number of vertical market corporations
with an internationally focused strategy -- LISA provides best
practice, business guidelines, and multilingual communication
standards for translation and localization workflow, and enterprise
globalization. LISA Initiatives, Conferences, and Training Programs
help companies implement cost-effective international business model.
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