Verizon Using Novarra’s Transcoder

The largest US mobile carrier, Verizon Wireless has started funneling traffic between Verizon feature phones and the  web through a transcoder from Novarra.  Verizon calls the service “Optimized View” and has added promotional information and a FAQ to their customer website  There is also a page on the carrier’s developer site which has links to a opt-out form and to a  PDF document detailing the rules that the transcoder uses to determine which sites to transcode. Given the disastrous effects … Continue reading

Microsoft to Use InfoGin’s Transcoder

InfoGin announced today that they have signed an agreement to provide data transformation services for Microsoft’s Live Mobile Search.  Microsoft had been using an in-house transcoding engine for Live Search. InfoGin has one of the best of the current crop of transcoders.  It partially converts Adobe Flash content by rendering Flash animations as animated gifs and allowing users to follow URL links within Flash. What I like best about InfoGin though is that they do not alter the HTTP User … Continue reading

Opting Out of Transcoding

Remember the furor that erupted on the web and the wmlprogramming Yahoo group over transcoders? Specifically, the ones that Vodafone UK and other carriers implemented with the goal of making non-mobile web pages more usable on mobile handsets? The issue was that these services had the (hopefully unintended) consequence of degrading or completely breaking numerous mobile web sites and services. Ring tone and game downloads no longer worked, some mobile web sites didn’t load or displayed malformed content. Sites that … Continue reading